[GB] The Smallfry Keyboard Kit (Closed for Orders, 97% shipped. SEE LAST POSTS)

[fatchoi]

Are we getting anything or mkawa has run away...?
Could anyone please contact him if you have his personal details?

Sent from my SM-T810 using Tapatalk

[Photoelectric]

Hey guys,

I talked to mkawa   He, as it turns out, still lives in my area.  I'm going to see about helping with shipping domestic orders.  He said that Zeal and TechKeys should also be helping with international orders.

Hopefully this will get moving to completion soon.  I believe shipping cost will need to be covered better.  Will know more details soon.

[MaNiFeX]

If there are any still available for purchase, I'm interested.  Glad to see this back on its feet.

[Photoelectric]

If there are any still available for purchase, I'm interested.  Glad to see this back on its feet.

I'll have to check with mkawa if there are any upaid-for but produced kits.  The priority right now is to ship out all the paid-for orders.

[Skuloth]

If there are any still available for purchase, I'm interested.  Glad to see this back on its feet.

Id be willing to sell you mine.

[Photoelectric]

Please don't do any person-to-person transfers of orders at this time--PM me about it first.

[fatchoi]

Hey guys,

I talked to mkawa   He, as it turns out, still lives in my area.  I'm going to see about helping with shipping domestic orders.  He said that Zeal and TechKeys should also be helping with international orders.

Hopefully this will get moving to completion soon.  I believe shipping cost will need to be covered better.  Will know more details soon.

Thanks man! I'm with an international order and will wait for the shipping details, before deciding whether I should transfer the order later on... I don't quite want to spend additional $ yet...

[tahuds]

Is this finally happening? OMG.

[Photoelectric]

That's the plan!

[bboyer]

Awesome, if this goes through would it be Ok to contact you about updating our shipping address?

[Photoelectric]

Yes, please.

[Skuloth]

Awesome, if this goes through would it be Ok to contact you about updating our shipping address?

I'm sure a fairly large portion of the participants have had address changes.

[Photoelectric]

Awesome, if this goes through would it be Ok to contact you about updating our shipping address?

I'm sure a fairly large portion of the participants have had address changes.

Don't worry, people will be e-mailed first for address update before shipping takes place.

[Photoelectric]

Hello everyone,

I had the chance to look at all the GB parts yesterday.  Just about everything is ready to be sorted and packaged for shipping, though we're still working out the method of connecting the top and bottom plates together (can't bolt-through, because there's a thick sorbothane gasket between the titanium plates, and its purpose is to dampen the typing impact--having solid through bolts would defeat that purpose).  The colored titanium plates are actually coated with Cerakote on the outside.
 
Photos of parts (click MORE for a lot of them):

[Skuloth]

Hello everyone,

I had the chance to look at all the GB parts yesterday.  Just about everything is ready to be sorted and packaged for shipping, though we're still working out the method of connecting the top and bottom plates together (can't bolt-through, because there's a thick sorbothane gasket between the titanium plates, and its purpose is to dampen the typing impact--having solid through bolts would defeat that purpose).  The colored titanium plates are actually coated with Cerakote on the outside.
 
Photos of parts (click MORE for a lot of them):

More

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iirc he was talking about using those orings on the outside of the case to pull the top and bottom plate together around the gasket.

[Zeal]

Nice, thanks for the pictures, Photoelectric!

Though I was under the impression that as long as the sorbothane is applying a bit of pressure onto the two plates (when bolted), there would still be a dampening effect? Sure a bit of vibration would transfer through the bolts and into the bottom plate, but wouldn't the bottom half of the sorbothane absorb that vibration too? 

Or maybe just use 3M permanent adhesive such as 200MP? Would be a semi permanent option...if you don't plan on swapping / modding switches.

[Photoelectric]

Yeah that's the safest plan still, Skuloth.  Also we tried #2 and #4 short wood screw bolts yesterday going *through* sorbothane on either side, which does work well to keep the top and bottom together, and looks clean.  But it does put stress on the sorbothane gasket around the corners--not completely safe with #4 thickness bolts, but could be okay with #2.  Just working out what is also the best looking option given the limitations of the sorbothane sandwich filling.

Zeal: this is a *very* small case with pretty thick titanium plates on the top and bottom, so having 6 through bolts would definitely eliminate absorption reduction pretty effectively.

[BunnyLake]

Nice, thanks for the pictures, Photoelectric!

Though I was under the impression that as long as the sorbothane is applying a bit of pressure onto the two plates (when bolted), there would still be a dampening effect? Sure a bit of vibration would transfer through the bolts and into the bottom plate, but wouldn't the bottom half of the sorbothane absorb that vibration too?

i have one of these cases already with the above mentioned gasket , and personally i find it considerably better when using hard through bolts versus a semi floating system, which is interesting, but incredibly annoying to actually live with for myself, some people im sure would love it, but it just has way to much give in it for me

i do like the gasket, but id highly recommend it with full through bolts

[BunnyLake]

Hello everyone,

I had the chance to look at all the GB parts yesterday.  Just about everything is ready to be sorted and packaged for shipping, though we're still working out the method of connecting the top and bottom plates together (can't bolt-through, because there's a thick sorbothane gasket between the titanium plates, and its purpose is to dampen the typing impact--having solid through bolts would defeat that purpose).  The colored titanium plates are actually coated with Cerakote on the outside.
 
Photos of parts (click MORE for a lot of them):

More

Show Image

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Show Image

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iirc he was talking about using those orings on the outside of the case to pull the top and bottom plate together around the gasket.

i have those and have extensively tested them, again all comes down to preference, but definitely not the way to go IMO

[Skuloth]

Nice, thanks for the pictures, Photoelectric!

Though I was under the impression that as long as the sorbothane is applying a bit of pressure onto the two plates (when bolted), there would still be a dampening effect? Sure a bit of vibration would transfer through the bolts and into the bottom plate, but wouldn't the bottom half of the sorbothane absorb that vibration too?

i have one of these cases already with the above mentioned gasket , and personally i find it considerably better when using hard through bolts versus a semi floating system, which is interesting, but incredibly annoying to actually live with for myself, some people im sure would love it, but it just has way to much give in it for me

i do like the gasket, but id highly recommend it with full through bolts

What type of bolts are you using?

[BunnyLake]

It takes very little pressure to have this much play between the case

[Photoelectric]

Those are old o-rings.  We're going with smaller diameter tighter kind that won't stretch this much.  I got some 19mm today for testing, and they are pretty good.  18-19mm seems about right, depending on what type of bolt or large locking nut is used on the outside.

[BunnyLake]

Those are old o-rings.  We're going with smaller diameter tighter kind that won't stretch this much.

ive tried plenty of orings, those are the original ones for the board, but whilst tighter orings do change the feel, ultimately its a feeling i didnt like, as rather than absorbtion, what i felt was a more floating jelly type experience

as above, im not saying its in anyway bad, im subjectively saying i didnt like that, but i did find a benefit in the gasket when using full through bolts, it gave the entire keyboard a more solid, grounded feeling and that happens to be what i personally go for

[Photoelectric]

It's certainly something to consider!

[fatchoi]

It's finally happening. Thanks a lot Photoelectric and mkawa.

[William_S_Jones]

Good day, reading over the post, I'm interested. Once the paid orders are shipped, if you have any remaining green or light blue kits, I'd like one. Well, I'm looking forward to the extras news & hope everyone enjoys their JD40s when they receive them!

[Photoelectric]

Good day, reading over the post, I'm interested. Once the paid orders are shipped, if you have any remaining green or light blue kits, I'd like one. Well, I'm looking forward to the extras news & hope everyone enjoys their JD40s when they receive them!

Unfortunately there are only a very small number of those green and blue parts, and they are for those who've entered the group buy already.
. . .
I have long bolts on the way to test out the bolt-through scenario.

[William_S_Jones]

Good day, reading over the post, I'm interested. Once the paid orders are shipped, if you have any remaining green or light blue kits, I'd like one. Well, I'm looking forward to the extras news & hope everyone enjoys their JD40s when they receive them!

Unfortunately there are only a very small number of those green and blue parts, and they are for those who've entered the group buy already.
. . .
I have long bolts on the way to test out the bolt-through scenario.

Alright, thanks

[Vibex]

So when this GB started I was going to have thechemist build my board. But he hasn't been online in like 2 years. Who should I pm about changing my address, cause if he's not building it, no need to ship it to him.

[Photoelectric]

So when this GB started I was going to have thechemist build my board. But he hasn't been online in like 2 years. Who should I pm about changing my address, cause if he's not building it, no need to ship it to him.

Yeah, we're not going to ship to him.  There were only a few kits that had assembly requested, and I'm not sure if any parts had been sent to thechemist or not.  Current plan is to ship directly to customers.  If there's a strong preference for building before shipping, I can put some kits together.  We'll be e-mailing for current address confirmation to the e-mails indicated during ordering.

[snoopy]

wow, good to see something is happening here

[Lurch]

i am a whirlwind of emotions regarding this thread. good to see some updates, and would love to see it finished up as soon as possible.

thanks for your help, photoE.

[Vibex]

Yeah, we're not going to ship to him.  There were only a few kits that had assembly requested, and I'm not sure if any parts had been sent to thechemist or not.  Current plan is to ship directly to customers.  If there's a strong preference for building before shipping, I can put some kits together.  We'll be e-mailing for current address confirmation to the e-mails indicated during ordering.

I would definitely be interested in getting it built. I have horribly unsteady hands, and because of that have ****ed up everything I have tried to solder on my own.

[Photoelectric]

Yeah, we're not going to ship to him.  There were only a few kits that had assembly requested, and I'm not sure if any parts had been sent to thechemist or not.  Current plan is to ship directly to customers.  If there's a strong preference for building before shipping, I can put some kits together.  We'll be e-mailing for current address confirmation to the e-mails indicated during ordering.

I would definitely be interested in getting it built. I have horribly unsteady hands, and because of that have ****ed up everything I have tried to solder on my own.

No problem!  Also looks like you're local?  Boston area.  I need to look into what was arranged with TheChemist--whether you were to send switches to him or if he already has them, etc.

[Vibex]

No problem!  Also looks like you're local?  Boston area.  I need to look into what was arranged with TheChemist--whether you were to send switches to him or if he already has them, etc.

Yeah, go to Northeastern University. Though I'm back home in NY for the summer. I'll check through my messages and see if I can figure it out. Was so long ago that I completely forget.

[HoffmanMyster]

Thank you so much for taking this on, Photo.    Won't be easy, but I'm happy to see this gaining traction again.

Also, the plates look great. 

[Photoelectric]

Ok, where do things stand as of 5-9-17:

- we've settled on the fastener method (through-hole 20mm long M2 bolts in black color, to match the black sorbothane gasket) + black M2 nuts. 

- I ordered black 3M bumpon feet (2 small for the front and 2 large for the rear per kit) today.  The bottom of the case does have holes for those conical aluminum feet you can buy from many sources, if you prefer to use those.

- Individual parts are pre-packaged with a bagging machine, PCBs are in anti-static custom-cut bags

- I'm going to be sending e-mails to people in batches to confirm shipping addresses, using a custom gmail address.  If you see an e-mail from "SmallFryGBgeekhack", that's not spam, it's from me.  Going by e-mail because while I've identified most people's usernames by their e-mails, over 50% of those who joined the GB have not been active on geekhack for a long time, some for years.

- ZealPC will be distributing Canadian orders, TechKeys will be distributing non-US or Canada orders.

- I will be getting shipping address updates for international orders first (so that we can organize and ship out the parts in bulk to Zeal and TechKeys first)

- mkawa/myself will be boxing and shipping US orders

- People who requested assembly from TheChemist will be getting assembly courtesy of myself.  We may not have the switches you wanted on-hand, but I'll be contacting everyone who wanted assembly and discussing options individually.  I'm currently already assembling 4 such kits, which will be shipped out within the next week.

- Since there are a hair over 50 US orders, it will take a while to package and ship them all, but bear with us.

- Finally the colors.  I've done my best to assign the parts on hand to those who requested specific colors, and most people are getting what they ordered or close to that.  There was no "medium blue" nor "dark blue" made, so those orders will be filled with brushed titanium.  Light Blue, or Teal, or Aqua orders are getting the light aqua color I showed on photographs earlier (very nice color, it's a satin finish flat color that shows the brushed texture of underlying titanium well).  All manners of bronze orders will be getting "bronze", which is a shimmery darker bronze color.  All the colors are done with Cerakote on the outer-facing sides of the parts.  Green orders will be getting green.  THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH PURPLE PARTS, so I apologize in advance to the few people who ordered purple but will be getting titanium gray instead.

- Just opened up one of the sealed bags with a raw titanium part--looks like it's uncoated brushed finish titanium.  Still has a bit of machining oil on it, so dab that off with a paper towel before assembly.

[Greeeg]

Wow, I just saw the email come through. Took me awhile to work out what it was. I'd been trying to check this thread ~6 months, but basically given up hope last year.

Thank you for putting in time on this Photoelectric.

[slickmamba]

Thank you guys for making this happen!  I always had trust in mkawa.  Come back to us bb!

[panrc]

Was it ever made clear if people would be getting the notched plates we paid extra for?
Happy to hear this is going ahead regardless. Thanks to everyone helping out. 

[Photoelectric]

The titanium plates won't support switch top removal.  As it turns out, the paid kit price was not enough to cover even the work that's been done on the parts, and all the extras for a while now are all out of pocket.

[Photoelectric]

If by some remote chance, the Australian owner of order #1084 reads this post and could please contact me, it'd be great.  The e-mail address provided for the order is no longer in use, and I can't find a GH username associated with that e-mail. 

[tahuds]

This is amazing, and I cannot express how happy this makes me. My wife let me order this kit as a graduation present from my masters program and so much of my life has changed, and in many ways gone to ****, in that amount of time it's like a rainbow from the past brightening up today.

[bboyer]

Thank you so much Photoelectric, your the man.

Where should I send my fan mail and tasteful nudes?

[Photoelectric]

Haha, I'm good, thanks

[Photoelectric]

Large 3M bumpon feet are here, still waiting for the small ones to arrive (for the front of the case):


(Featuring a Bronze case top)

[Vibex]

Where should I send my fan mail and tasteful nudes?

Such tempting offers.

Large 3M bumpon feet are here, still waiting for the small ones to arrive (for the front of the case):

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(Featuring a Bronze case top)

OH MAN THE HYPE IS REAL! :eek: :eek:

[tahuds]

It's been so long that I don't remember what we need to actually build this kit. What sort of diodes and switches < plate vs. pcb mount> do we need?

[Photoelectric]

All the SMD parts are already attached.  Basically you just need switches and optionally LEDs.  Switches can be either plate- or PCB-mounted.

[Photoelectric]

Does anyone have a TaoBao connection or similar?

I'm looking at good metric nut options in black color.  At the moment, I'm mostly settled with self-locking black hex huts with nylon insert, but those are kind of a pain to screw on if you don't have a spanner or some tool to carefully screw those onto a bolt.

These are perfect, but only in a lot of 5000 pieces and from Alibaba...  Maybe there's similar on TaoBao?

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/China-manufacturer-best-price-black-head_60150868854.html?spm=a2700.7724838.0.0.CYCMJR


(Need size M2, black, knurled thumb nuts, about 420 pieces for the group buy)

I've contacted the Alibaba vendor in the meantime.

. . .

This is what the keyboard looks like fully assembled (though the nuts have not been tightened yet, so there's some gap still between the sandwich parts, and the nuts stick out too far still) with m2 socket head nuts on the bottom and m2 locking nuts on the top:





And also both sizes of the bumpon feet have arrived, and I positioned the rear ones to cover up holes made for screw-in aluminum feet: