[GB] Alpine Winter (Shipping Replacements)

[SJHL]

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Nubs! by Nick Bair, on Flickr

Damn those look fantastic! Unfortunately, I don't think I'm in the raffle....

[E3E]

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Nubs! by Nick Bair, on Flickr

Damn those look fantastic! Unfortunately, I don't think I'm in the raffle....

I've got two shots to win, but I've never won any raffles so I'm not holding my breath. :P

[shoostep]

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Nubs! by Nick Bair, on Flickr

Wow, these nubs are epic! I hope the raffle gods bless me with some luck.

[kennardsmith]

I'm filled with deep regret not buying blanks now that I have my happy hacking alps board all built ;_;

Super excited for my order, tho!

[Texchappy]

What Pexon cable do you think would go best with this set?

[njbair]

After some furnace trouble earlier this week, I've finally made some time tonight to make some shipping labels! I'm starting with the US orders. Then once I get all those labels created I'll do the international orders and send out invoices for international shipping. But the first wave of US orders will go out tomorrow.

[Badwrench]

After some furnace trouble earlier this week, I've finally made some time tonight to make some shipping labels! I'm starting with the US orders. Then once I get all those labels created I'll do the international orders and send out invoices for international shipping. But the first wave of US orders will go out tomorrow.

Sweet! 

[SJHL]

After some furnace trouble earlier this week, I've finally made some time tonight to make some shipping labels! I'm starting with the US orders. Then once I get all those labels created I'll do the international orders and send out invoices for international shipping. But the first wave of US orders will go out tomorrow.

I cant wait!

[Muffinbottoms]

Wooooh! 

[merlin64]

I sure hope I'm in that first wave of US shipping =)

[kennardsmith]

After some furnace trouble earlier this week, I've finally made some time tonight to make some shipping labels! I'm starting with the US orders. Then once I get all those labels created I'll do the international orders and send out invoices for international shipping. But the first wave of US orders will go out tomorrow.

 

[njbair]

So the first batch of orders made it out yesterday. I haven't emailed out the tracking info yet but they are in the mail.

In other news, I broke a stem yesterday while pulling caps. Fortunately it was a modifier key so I can steal a replacement from my other set which I'm pairing with Badwrench's mods.

PSA: Please, please take care removing these things, especially if you are new to Alps. DO NOT rock the key puller back and forth to jiggle the cap loose. Take your time and try to minimize your cap swapping. Take Badwrench's advice and use a loose Alps switch to break in each cap and remove any excess flashing before mounting to their final home. Remember, I do not have any spare sets or replacement keys.

[braidn]

Double down on the above. I have broken one of my badwrench tabs. Thankfully I have the one that isn't the correct font but, yeah. Everyone be super careful

[nubbinator]

In other news, I broke a stem yesterday while pulling caps. Fortunately it was a modifier key so I can steal a replacement from my other set which I'm pairing with Badwrench's mods.

PSA: Please, please take care removing these things, especially if you are new to Alps. DO NOT rock the key puller back and forth to jiggle the cap loose. Take your time and try to minimize your cap swapping. Take Badwrench's advice and use a loose Alps switch to break in each cap and remove any excess flashing before mounting to their final home. Remember, I do not have any spare sets or replacement keys.

Ouch, that sucks.  That's part of why I wish SP used a more robust solid stem with a chamfered lip. 

And definitely want to reinforce that with pulling caps.  The only time I have even broken a stem with Alps is when I've rocked the cap when pulling it.  Just you a constant gentle pressure to pull it.

Filling the stem with epoxy putty and lubing the stem (like some people have done with MX Clears) might help if it seems like it's still a problem.

[njbair]

In other news, I broke a stem yesterday while pulling caps. Fortunately it was a modifier key so I can steal a replacement from my other set which I'm pairing with Badwrench's mods.

PSA: Please, please take care removing these things, especially if you are new to Alps. DO NOT rock the key puller back and forth to jiggle the cap loose. Take your time and try to minimize your cap swapping. Take Badwrench's advice and use a loose Alps switch to break in each cap and remove any excess flashing before mounting to their final home. Remember, I do not have any spare sets or replacement keys.

Ouch, that sucks.  That's part of why I wish SP used a more robust solid stem with a chamfered lip. 

And definitely want to reinforce that with pulling caps.  The only time I have even broken a stem with Alps is when I've rocked the cap when pulling it.  Just you a constant gentle pressure to pull it.

Filling the stem with epoxy putty and lubing the stem (like some people have done with MX Clears) might help if it seems like it's still a problem.

I like the lube idea. I don't know how the epoxy would help, though. Seems to me like the middle opening could only help with wiggle room.

[nubbinator]

My logic there is that it flexes more which weakens it over time.  I could be wrong with that, but it's what I've noticed.

[E3E]

In other news, I broke a stem yesterday while pulling caps. Fortunately it was a modifier key so I can steal a replacement from my other set which I'm pairing with Badwrench's mods.

PSA: Please, please take care removing these things, especially if you are new to Alps. DO NOT rock the key puller back and forth to jiggle the cap loose. Take your time and try to minimize your cap swapping. Take Badwrench's advice and use a loose Alps switch to break in each cap and remove any excess flashing before mounting to their final home. Remember, I do not have any spare sets or replacement keys.

Ouch, that sucks.  That's part of why I wish SP used a more robust solid stem with a chamfered lip. 

And definitely want to reinforce that with pulling caps.  The only time I have even broken a stem with Alps is when I've rocked the cap when pulling it.  Just you a constant gentle pressure to pull it.

Filling the stem with epoxy putty and lubing the stem (like some people have done with MX Clears) might help if it seems like it's still a problem.

Yep, lubing works well for MX clears, either the clear stem itself or the cap's stem.

Lube might work for Alps, but I would indeed make sure to remove all flashing first. You could just do this with some sand paper or a nail file if not with a loose switch.

[sean]

Monday is going to be an exciting day!!

[njbair]

My logic there is that it flexes more which weakens it over time.  I could be wrong with that, but it's what I've noticed.

If you're going to use epoxy, I think it would help to fill in the cavities between the support braces on all four sides of the stem.



In the cases where I've popped a stem, the whole thing came off including the braces. Especially on a doubleshot cap, where the bottom surface is "striped" with both colors, and AFAIK the stem is only really bonded to its own color plastic, thereby decreasing the strength by roughly half. Filling in the corners with an epoxy which actually bonds to plastic would probably help a whole lot.

That said, all of this is probably unnecessary if you do a thorough job removing the flashing, and take steps to limit the number of times you pull caps.

If I were going to go through the trouble to do this, I would probably limit it to the caps that cover case screw holes and/or have stabilizers, since those are the ones most likely to be removed.

[kinglukas38]

So the first batch of orders made it out yesterday.

Can't wait for Canadian orders to get shipped out 

[merlin64]

Can it be assumed that if you didn't get a pm, you probably weren't in the first batch?

[njbair]

Can it be assumed that if you didn't get a pm, you probably weren't in the first batch?

Yeah man you're like at the very end. I didn't get that far yet.

[stoic-lemon]

Is that a picture of one that has had the flashing filed down? Not quite sure what needs to be removed and how much.

[njbair]

Is that a picture of one that has had the flashing filed down? Not quite sure what needs to be removed and how much.

No actually that's an untouched cap, which I grabbed because I had it handy, just to show the support braces I was talking about in that post.

I would guess the biggest problem areas would include any and all corners on the stem. If I get a chance this week I might try lightly breaking all the corners (the four sides and all around the top) to see if that makes them easier to remove.

[merlin64]

Can it be assumed that if you didn't get a pm, you probably weren't in the first batch?

Yeah man you're like at the very end. I didn't get that far yet.

Sigh...I guess that's what happens when I'm indecisive and wait to buy at the last minute. LOL. I'll be patient....I promise...I'll try.......

Have you shipped my package yet?? LOL

[nathanrosspowell]

Can it be assumed that if you didn't get a pm, you probably weren't in the first batch?

Yeah man you're like at the very end. I didn't get that far yet.

Sigh...I guess that's what happens when I'm indecisive and wait to buy at the last minute. LOL. I'll be patient....I promise...I'll try.......

Have you shipped my package yet?? LOL

Are you going to ask every day? lol... Chill with asking about your package! I'm international so you are going to get it before me

njbair has enough on his plate!

[merlin64]

LOL. I'm totally just playing. I understand that shipping takes awhile and as I mentioned in the previous post, serves me right for being indecisive and buying at the last minute haha. Meanwhile I have another ALPS project keeping me occupied.

Moral of the story: Don't procrastinate haha.

[nathanrosspowell]

LOL. I'm totally just playing. I understand that shipping takes awhile and as I mentioned in the previous post, serves me right for being indecisive and buying at the last minute haha. Meanwhile I have another ALPS project keeping me occupied.

Moral of the story: Don't procrastinate haha.

Hahah 

Well I was in the first 50... but the curse of living an hour away from the US boarder.... international status 

[njbair]

I just finished boxing and labeling another batch of orders. That makes 40 out of 90 sets, almost halfway done. I'll have them in the mail by the end of the day, then I'll try to PM the tracking #'s later this evening.

If you received a PM this weekend and it hasn't updated, I found 4 boxes sitting here this morning that I forgot to take with me to the post office on Friday afternoon. Rest assured your package will go out today with the others. Sorry for the delay.

[mashby]

My set arrived this morning njbair. Thank you for putting this buy together. This set looks AMAZING! 

[tofgerl]

Dem mountaintops, though...

[E3E]

My set arrived this morning njbair. Thank you for putting this buy together. This set looks AMAZING! 

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Oh I can't wait!

[nickheller]

Dang these turned out nice! My sets were estimated to come in today, but seem to be delayed till tomorrow. Its ok, I can wait another day  )

[sean]

I got home from school today and the caps were waiting in the mailbox.

Here it is all put together (unstabilized). Apologies for potato quality.




It wasn't easy getting all of the caps on but I took my time and didn't break any stems. Maybe I'm just crazy but it appears some of the caps on rows 2 and 3 have varying levels of height. Unfortunately I don't have any good way to photograph what I'm seeing. Either way it's all put together and looks really great so thank you very much njbair!

Now to attempt to stabilize the modifiers...

[deductivemonkee]

These look darker that I had expected, cant wait to see them in person!

[njbair]

These look darker that I had expected, cant wait to see them in person!

Just normal variance between people's cameras. They really do look a lot like the renders in person.

[jbondeson]

Apparently my package was either: 1) Left on the truck (but marked delivered), or 2) got delivered to someone else...

rip me x_x

[sean]

These look darker that I had expected, cant wait to see them in person!

Just normal variance between people's cameras. They really do look a lot like the renders in person.

Yeah that was totally just my camera and the fact that the pictures were taken without natural sunlight.

[E3E]

These look darker that I had expected, cant wait to see them in person!

Just normal variance between people's cameras. They really do look a lot like the renders in person.

I really can't wait to slap these on my Infinity, especially since these were designed around the scheme I had going for my Infinity AND the Alps DCS Modifier pack, of course! :DD

[BlueNalgene]

I got mine tonight.  Time to load it up.

First person to successfully bend a Matias spacebar wire to fit this set and post a guide wins a golden brownie point from me.

[nickheller]

I got mine tonight.  Time to load it up.

First person to successfully bend a Matias spacebar wire to fit this set and post a guide wins a golden brownie point from me.

I have bent a 6u one for my self. Will be able to make sure it actually works tomorrow.

[geniekid]

Received mine as well!  These look really good!  Very "Alpine".  I plan to put together everything this upcoming weekend.  Will post pictures.  Really good job with this GB njbair

[BlueNalgene]

I got mine tonight.  Time to load it up.

First person to successfully bend a Matias spacebar wire to fit this set and post a guide wins a golden brownie point from me.

I have bent a 6u one for my self. Will be able to make sure it actually works tomorrow.

I hope it is successful.  Pictures and/or measurements are requested.

[axtran]

I got mine tonight.  Time to load it up.

First person to successfully bend a Matias spacebar wire to fit this set and post a guide wins a golden brownie point from me.

I have bent a 6u one for my self. Will be able to make sure it actually works tomorrow.

It's easier to do ALPS 6U than Cherry

[njbair]

Just boxed up and labeled another handful of orders. I also sent out tracking links for every one I've shipped. Check your inboxes. As always, it may take 24 hours for tracking links to update, but most of the links I sent out today were for orders that I dropped off yesterday afternoon. The rest are going to the post office today.

This puts us just over the halfway mark for shipping. I have another evening's worth of boxing & weighing to do, then I will be able to send out the remaining US orders and shift my focus to international.

For those wondering why I'm doing it this way, it's because international participants haven't been invoiced for shipping yet. I need the actual package weights before I can calculate shipping costs. US postage was easier to estimate since it doesn't change a whole lot based on the destination address. I just weighed similar keycap sets on a postage scale and used that as a reference to get postage rates to a dummy zip code (90210, of course). That means some of you US participants may have paid slightly less or more than your actual shipping (and as it happens, with the USPS' Jan. 17 rate change, pretty much all of you paid less than actual).

I figured this was the most efficient way to handle it without causing further invoicing delays. I'm not sure how other GBs have handled shipping, but it's hard when you don't have the actual product in front of you. I'm used to dealing with e-commerce sites with a catalog of products and fixed item weights, where you just query the UPS or FedEX API and get a shipping total based on the items in the customer's shopping cart and the seller's pre-negotiated shipping rates. It's more efficient because you program the software to handle it for you, but that method doesn't really scale down to a one-off group buy with <100 orders.

[Badwrench]

Just boxed up and labeled another handful of orders. I also sent out tracking links for every one I've shipped. Check your inboxes. As always, it may take 24 hours for tracking links to update, but most of the links I sent out today were for orders that I dropped off yesterday afternoon. The rest are going to the post office today.

This puts us just over the halfway mark for shipping. I have another evening's worth of boxing & weighing to do, then I will be able to send out the remaining US orders and shift my focus to international.

For those wondering why I'm doing it this way, it's because international participants haven't been invoiced for shipping yet. I need the actual package weights before I can calculate shipping costs. US postage was easier to estimate since it doesn't change a whole lot based on the destination address. I just weighed similar keycap sets on a postage scale and used that as a reference to get postage rates to a dummy zip code (90210, of course). That means some of you US participants may have paid slightly less or more than your actual shipping (and as it happens, with the USPS' Jan. 17 rate change, pretty much all of you paid less than actual).

I figured this was the most efficient way to handle it without causing further invoicing delays. I'm not sure how other GBs have handled shipping, but it's hard when you don't have the actual product in front of you. I'm used to dealing with e-commerce sites with a catalog of products and fixed item weights, where you just query the UPS or FedEX API and get a shipping total based on the items in the customer's shopping cart and the seller's pre-negotiated shipping rates. It's more efficient because you program the software to handle it for you, but that method doesn't really scale down to a one-off group buy with <100 orders.

Sounds good.  Would you like a couple $$ more for shipping? 

[njbair]

Just boxed up and labeled another handful of orders. I also sent out tracking links for every one I've shipped. Check your inboxes. As always, it may take 24 hours for tracking links to update, but most of the links I sent out today were for orders that I dropped off yesterday afternoon. The rest are going to the post office today.

This puts us just over the halfway mark for shipping. I have another evening's worth of boxing & weighing to do, then I will be able to send out the remaining US orders and shift my focus to international.

For those wondering why I'm doing it this way, it's because international participants haven't been invoiced for shipping yet. I need the actual package weights before I can calculate shipping costs. US postage was easier to estimate since it doesn't change a whole lot based on the destination address. I just weighed similar keycap sets on a postage scale and used that as a reference to get postage rates to a dummy zip code (90210, of course). That means some of you US participants may have paid slightly less or more than your actual shipping (and as it happens, with the USPS' Jan. 17 rate change, pretty much all of you paid less than actual).

I figured this was the most efficient way to handle it without causing further invoicing delays. I'm not sure how other GBs have handled shipping, but it's hard when you don't have the actual product in front of you. I'm used to dealing with e-commerce sites with a catalog of products and fixed item weights, where you just query the UPS or FedEX API and get a shipping total based on the items in the customer's shopping cart and the seller's pre-negotiated shipping rates. It's more efficient because you program the software to handle it for you, but that method doesn't really scale down to a one-off group buy with <100 orders.

Sounds good.  Would you like a couple $$ more for shipping?

I don't think it's going to be that much of a difference, but I won't know where I ended up cost-wise until I've shipped all the US orders.

[mashby]

I'm happy to contribute to covering the balance. There's no reason you should have to go out-of-pocket on this.

[njbair]

I'm happy to contribute to covering the balance. There's no reason you should have to go out-of-pocket on this.

I appreciate the sentiment, guys. I built in some extra funds to the GB pricing to cover boxes, tape, etc., and i think I figured high on that, so I just have to see where things end up. The big lifesaver here is that I didn't invoice international orders yet. That would have killed me.

[njbair]

So after some trial and error, I believe I've found a good solution for the extremely tight stems on these things.

It appears that all of the holding force on these caps comes from the four corners of the stem. So I tried removing two of the corners from the equation. I took a sharp utility knife (x-acto knife would probably be easier to use) and cut a relief on the two back corners of the cap. Here's a pic to show what I'm talking about:



Now the cap is still held in place by the two front corners, and it provides just enough force to keep the cap snug, much like a well-fitting MX keycap.

If you foresee the need to remove these caps more than once or twice, I strongly recommend making this small modification before installing them. A little bit of extra time will save you a lot of grief later.