IntroductionHello, my name is Brian and I am a long standing member of the community who has almost a decade of experience in engineering/CAD. I make this post here today to introduce my brand new company, Nazaré Engineering, alongside its very first project. The name of the company, Nazaré, takes after the Portuguese city home to the largest ocean waves on Earth. This name embodies Nazaré Engineering’s vision perfectly, as the company stands for a breathtakingly large wave of innovation and brilliant design. Through this company vision, I set out to design Nazaré Engineering’s first keyboard to look special, feel premium, and sound elegant. With these goals in mind and meticulous attention to detail, the Nazaré 1-60 was born.
(https://i.imgur.com/ZYJgL2G.jpg)
Naming Convention for Nazaré Keyboards- The first number (in this case, 1) signifies the design series of the specific form factor of the keyboard.
- The second number (in this case, 60) denotes the form factor.
- When applicable (as not every design, including this one, is guaranteed to rerun), group buy rounds will be numbered and referred to as recurring waves (W1, W2, W3...etc.).
(https://i.imgur.com/qsqHs3G.gif)
Design Approach- The top of the keyboard is designed to look special and captivate your attention, as the bottom right blocker badge provides a signature aesthetic never before seen on a 60% keyboard. The symmetrical bezels also allow for a clean top-view look that compliments the low front height of the keyboard. Even the carefully selected fillets and chamfers work together to showcase a soft, yet sharp and modern look.
- The bottom of the keyboard is designed to portray the concept that the gravitational pull of the sun and moon causes ocean waves. This is why the keyboard bottom showcases a copper weight that represents the sun, a brass weight that represents the moon, and an ocean blue polycarbonate "weight" that represents Nazaré’s ocean waves.
- I designed a brand new mounting style for this keyboard, which I have called the “Rail-Ring” gasket mount system. This new “Rail-Ring” gasket mount system is basically a hybrid of isolation gasket mount and o-ring gummy gasket mount. This mounting system consists of wrapping o-rings around every edge of the plate to dampen all contact between the plate and case. The left/right edges of the plate have 1 o-ring wrapped around them. The top/bottom edges of the plate have 3 o-rings wrapped around them. All 8 o-rings then rest inside of tunnels machined into both the top and bottom of the keyboard. These tunnels are meant to keep the plate in place and provide a little bit of o-ring compression. The depth of these tunnels also keeps the plate in a floating position where the plate doesn’t make any contact with the case. This system was designed with the intention of providing a consistent typing experience across the whole plate, as well as hopefully improving upon the already satisfying typing experience associated with o-ring gummy gasket mounted keyboards.
(https://i.imgur.com/jsVrZU2.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/h8ms26Y.jpg)
Specifications- 6063 Aluminum Case
- Color Options: E-White Top w/ Anodized Black Bottom and Anodized Black Top w/ E-White Bottom
- Bead-Blasted (Renders are Mirror Polished) Stainless Steel Bottom Right Blocker Badge
- Default Anodized Black Aluminum Plate (of either ISO or ANSI layout)
- Eight 50A Silicone O-Rings
- Four Different Bottom Accent Weights:
- Bead-Blasted (Renders are Mirror Polished) Stainless Steel Weight #1
- Bead-Blasted Copper Weight #2
- Ocean Blue Polycarbonate "Weight" #3
- Bead-Blasted Brass Weight #4
(https://i.imgur.com/hxlfS1R.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/VBi56lL.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/gvtRoEP.jpg)
Features- Bottom Right Blocker 60%
- “Rail-Ring” Gasket Mount System
- 6.9 Degree Typing Angle
- Low Front Height (≈18.5mm)
- Seamless Case Design
- Centered USB-C Unified C3 Daughterboard (Designed by ai03 and friends)
- Solder PCB - Compatible with QMK and VIA (Designed by Gondolindrim)
- Supported Layouts (ANSI & ISO):
(https://i.imgur.com/ptS5e1w.jpg)
What comes in the box (excluding add-ons)?- Nazaré 1-60 Keyboard
- Default Aluminum Plate (of either ISO or ANSI layout)
- PCB, USB-C Daughterboard, and JST Cable
- All Necessary O-Rings, Bumpons, and Screws
- Hex Key
- Custom Microfiber Cloth
- Custom Carrying Case:
(https://i.imgur.com/NpKmos8.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/0zhlsbK.jpg)
What add-ons will be available?- Extra Anodized Black Aluminum Plate Add-on (of either ISO or ANSI layout)
- Extra PCB, USB-C Daughterboard, and JST Cable Add-on
- Extra Forged Carbon Fiber Plate Add-on (of either ISO or ANSI layout)
Sale Info- Kit Price: 650 USD
- Add-on Prices:
Extra Anodized Black Aluminum Plate Add-on (of either ISO or ANSI layout): 35 USD
Extra PCB, USB-C Daughterboard, and JST Cable Add-on: 65 USD
Extra Forged Carbon Fiber Plate Add-on (of either ISO or ANSI layout): 45 USD - Vendors and GB Info (Unit Numbers TBD by Vendors):
Ashkeebs (https://www.ashkeebs.com/) (CA) - Raffle on February 21st, 2022 (https://discord.com/invite/xQYEn5tprR)
Space (https://spaceholdings.net/) (US) - Raffle on February 19th, 2022 (https://discord.com/invite/spacecables)
RHESET (https://rheset.mx/) (MX) - Raffle on February 19th, 2022 (https://discord.com/invite/44uYxqW2SD)
MyKeyboard (https://mykeyboard.eu/) (EU) - Raffle on February 19th, 2022 (https://discord.com/invite/2uXeq4w)
KeebCats (https://keebcats.co.uk/) (UK) - FCFS on February 21st, 2022 (https://discord.com/invite/qWPNjRpAx2)
iLumkb (https://ilumkb.com/) (SEA) - Raffle on February 19th, 2022 (https://discord.com/invite/52kkJ28)
SwitchKeys (https://www.switchkeys.com.au/) (OCE) - FCFS on February 21st, 2022 (https://discord.com/invite/switchkeys) - Estimated Fulfillment Date: Q4 2022 - Q1 2023
Answers to Possible Questions- Why no tsangan bottom row?
Sorry guys, I really wanted to support 7u, but I eventually decided to fix the bottom row to 6.25u for a number of different reasons.
Reason #1) To make the bottom right blocker/badge look more square and less rectangular. I basically wanted the board to look more like a top right blocker board and less like a HHKB, as I feel like this would give the board its own signature look never-before-seen on a 60% keyboard.
Reason #2) To make the aesthetic of the board more symmetrical in spite of the bottom right blocker, as fixing the bottom row to ANSI allows the space bar to have three keys on both the left and right of it. If I were to support tsangan, the board would have three keys on the left and only two on the right. This would also force me to design two different tops, as the blocker would have to be a different size in order to support tsangan.
Reason #3) To lower the number of SKUs for this first run. - Why is this 650 USD?
This price is a result of: the microchip shortage + the low unit count of the project + the 5 different materials used across the whole board (aluminum, stainless steel, brass, dyed polycarbonate, and copper) + complex machining + working with reputable manufacturers.
R1 Prototype Information- The color for this prototype is E-White Top w/ E-Black Bottom (The GB units will be Anodized Black instead of E-Black, so keep this in mind).
- The stainless steel pieces (badge and backplate) for this prototype are both Bead-Blasted.
(https://i.imgur.com/ogXP8c0.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/DpQ44cX.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/q5s0wqt.jpg)
R2 Prototypes Information- The colors for these prototypes are E-White/Anodized Black (so the same as what will be offered for the GB).
- The stainless steel pieces (badge and backplate) for these prototypes are also Bead-Blasted (so the same as what will be offered for the GB).
- Changes made to R2 Prototype: optimized plate consistency/feel through flexcut changes, increased space in case for PCB flex, made usb-c hole larger, improved assembly design for badge, made adjustments to the o-ring rails for improved durability, added daughterboard stands, and made a JST cable channel.
(https://i.imgur.com/8YmkoGJ.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/vFrOrTI.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/F3tyxI9.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/En2SKle.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/InyVZAw.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/uRszaM6.jpg)
Production Units Information- Changes made to Production Units: removed the (interiorly located) bottom left screw from the stainless steel weight to eliminate any odds of the switch pins making contact with the screw (when the left control key is pressed), the LEDs on the PCB will be moved further out so the lighting diffusion is improved and so that the LEDs themselves are not visible through the polycarbonate "weight," made slight adjustments to the fillets of the holes on the plate for improved switch fitment, made slight adjustments to the stab cutouts on the plate to accommodate the fillet adjustments made, added an engraving to the interior, and increased the front height of the keyboard to 18.5mm for increased space under the PCB.
Connect With Nazaré EngineeringTo stay up to date with this project and any future projects, follow the instagram page and join the discord server below!
Instagram Page: https://www.instagram.com/nazare.engineering/
Discord Server: https://discord.com/invite/qtmRtdCBJv
GiveawayIn preparation of the February GB, alexotos and I have teamed up to giveaway the Nazaré 1-60 R2 Prototype in the typing test above! Go check out his post to find out how to join the giveaway! Here is the link to it: https://www.instagram.com/p/CZNZqOpOuKP/?utm_medium=copy_link. The giveaway will close on February 14th, 2022 at 10pm EST.
Special WordsI would like to thank the whole rat pack, the entire Nazaré discord, Gondo for the PCB work, Pikku for doing all of the renders, CookieCurls/alexotos/Lulzthax/clack labs/WilsonKeebs/Poesjuh/sj_does_things/KneeDeep for the builds/pictures/typing tests/streams/patina work, and anyone else who helped support this project along the way<3 This project wouldn't have been possible without any of you.
NotePlease consider this post a living document, as I am constantly updating the post to keep everyone informed with the most accurate details.