Welcome to the Bacca70 Interest Check!
For those who do not know I am Chewwy the Co-Designer of the Bacca60/Squid60 along with BlindAssassin. After 3 successful runs of the Bacca60 and Squid60 (same board just a rename for a special run) I am here introducing the new Bacca70!
Group Buy is September 17th 12:00PM CT at https://3dkeebs.com/ FILL OUT THE FORM HERE!
https://forms.gle/svrhkDrk2GHYjvad9You can check with 3DKeebs for Group Buy Updates or the Mechs on Deck Channel
For up to date info on the Group Buy join the MechsonDeck Discord and type !bacca70 for updates. Link here
https://discord.gg/p8taPFGjDVI will also simultaneously post on the 3DKeebs discord here
https://discord.gg/sxRr9ynMGu
PRICEI want to go ahead and list the price right now because I know that many people will stop reading after the price is shown. THIS BOARD WILL BE $550
This is an expensive board. I know. I am not happy that I am having to charge that much for this board. Why is it so expensive? Aluminium prices are through the roof. Most raw materials are through the roof. MCU Shortages for the PCB have caused PCBs to be way more expensive than they usually are. This board is also a very thick and hefty keyboard that requires a lot of metal. To be able to afford extras so that I can ensure that everyone in the GB gets an A-Stock board, I have to charge $550.
The board can be purchased in either Anodized Black or E-White
What do you get with your purchase
Bacca70 Keyboard
Bacca70 Plate
Bacca70 PCB
(Still working out details for a carrying case)
PCBSo with this layout I had to have a proprietary PCB made to fit the case and layout. I highly recommend buying a second pcb. I don’t know when the next time I will run this board again and have no plans to keep the pcb in stock after the group buy.
The PCB was designed by BlindAssassin with a left mounted USB Type-C Port.
I am in the process of getting the PCB ported into QMK and VIA with the help of Keebnewb. It has not been 100% ported yet for mass use but I do not want to ship the PCBs or orders out without the PCB fully functioning.
The DesignI am sticking with the familiar design language as the Bacca60 with the unique side profile and focus on the plate having minimal layout options for maximum stiffness in the plate. The mounting style is sandwich mount.
This design is a continuation of the Bacca60. I bought a TX60 many years back and loved that board so much but thought there were a few things about it, especially the plate, that could be improved and I asked BlindAssassin to help me design the Bacca60.
The Layout
The Bacca70 layout was something I thought about a few years back. I really love how keycap sets look with the F-Row. My favorite layout (until getting this prototype) has been 60% for its symmetry but I always hated not being able to use the F-Row caps to round out the design of keysets. Having an F-Row has its benefits of adding more keys to layer one without adding any horizontal space to the board. I am not the first person to design a board in this layout but there are very few boards that have this layout and no public group buy that I can think of that did this layout.
Issues with my past boards and how they have been addressed.
WKL spacing on the original run of the Bacca60 has been fixed since the Squid60.
The plate had a small amount of rattle around the WKL blockers. This issue persisted with the Squid60. I have built the prototype Bacca70 and I can hear no rattle or ping from this area as we have taken steps to prevent this from happening again.
DEBACCABEAN
After a long courtship by Dededecline and JnlyBean, I have decided to release an ortholinear version of this board called the Debaccabean layout. This is a 79 or 81 keys ortholinear layout with the option for split 3u spacebars or a 7u spacebar on the bottom row. This version will cost $10 more than the group buy totaling $560 due to the extra machining on the plate. You also have the option to add a plate/pcb to the standard Bacca70 board with the plate and PCB costing $50 each.
Please indicate if you are interested in this layout in the google form at the bottom of the post.
Fulfillment and Quality of A-Stock
3Dkeebs will be selling and shipping the boards but I will be going to the warehouse to personally QC all of the boards. A-Stock boards are boards that have no blemishes or scratches when the board is completely built. There are also no blemishes or deep scratches on the inside of the board but I will not consider light machining marks on the inside of the board B-Stock. I also do not consider hook marks that are on the inside of the side of the case a B-Stock. These are things that once the board is built will not be seen or have any effect on the boards look and function.
Specs70% Layout(60% with F13 F-row)
7 degree typing angle
Sandwich mount
Aluminum case
Brass Plate
Brass Weight
Proprietary PCB
~7 pounds/~3175g fully built
I am running this board through the US vendor 3DKeebs and there will be 40 boards available for purchase in either E-White or Black. The Group Buy will run September 17th at 12:00pm CT and will be open for 1 week or until the 40 Units have sold. At this time I have no plans on any overseas vendors. This is the first run of this board and I plan on running future group buys for this board and I may consider more vendors for those boards but not this run.
Here are pictures of the Prototype Board
FILL OUT THE FORM HERE!
https://forms.gle/svrhkDrk2GHYjvad9Special thanks to BlindAssassin, Dededecline, Keebnewb, 3DKeebs, 0sirisTV, JnlyBean, StaticAge and many others for all of the help and support!
