Hey everyone! u/M1keHonch0 here!
Here it is. This is the official IC / Sale announcement of a project I have been working on for over a year. I am pleased to finally be able to bring it to all you fine clackers.
TKC1800
The story
The case:The TKC1800 is a project I dreamt up back in 2016. I bought a vintage G80-1800 on mechmarket. The PCB was great but the case was a bit sloppy. I came to realize that the G81 cases are identical. Then I acquired a few brand new ones on eBay and swapped cases.
It came out magnificent. (I since sold Red Alert to u/kimbless and I regret it every day.) This led me to buy a pallet of used G80-1800s from a nice fella in Europe with the intentions of providing a cheap solution to people for a custom 1800 style keeb. Well, the pallet arrived and the cases were beat to ****. I scuffed a few up in the garage with some scotchbrite and hit them with some Rustoleum. The end result looked pretty cool, although not a viable solution for a product. I contacted a friend who runs a body shop that restores classic cars and asked him to shoot a few and see if its something he could do and would want to do. After alot of going back and forth and testing and trying new things, we finally nailed that process down. I have since also sourced brand new black stock cases from the Cherry factory in near unlimited supply. They come in any color you want as long as its black.
The PCB:I initially was going to use the 1800L3 PCBs from Leeku. Its a great PCB, the issue was getting enough of them and having control over manufacturing. I wanted this to be exactly how I wanted it to be. I decided a custom solution from scratch was the only way to go. I discussed the projects with a few different community members and was unable to find anyone willing to do it for a reasonable amount or in a reasonable time frame. So what did I do? I hired an embedded systems engineer (at great expense). Worth every penny. The new PCB has many upgrades to what is currently available. The PCB runs QMK firmware, it has and SPI interface meaning you can access the remaining pins on the processor to do fun things, like add a blue tooth module, or an
OLED screen. Lets see what else you clever people can dream up with this feature! Its been a long road finding a suitable manufacturer, but we have finally nailed it down and are ready to start manufacturing. Did I mention its MX and Alps compatible? The firmware has been developed and tested by u/terrymathews and he is working on an OLED screen kit that will be available in the near future. A Bluetooth module is in the works, as well.
The Plate: Not much to say about the plate. I originally ordered them in 1mm thickness, Im not super happy with that. The new ones will be 1.5mm thickness. I will sell the 1mm ones off at a later date with the B stock cases. The colors initially chosen are really great in my opinion. Im going to add a few options to the GB and will place the order as soon as the buy is over so everyone gets what they want. There will be 2 variants available. One for Cherry MX switches with switch top opening and will work with PCB mount stabs. The Alps version will have cutouts for Alps switches and will use plate mount stabs. This way you can use any SP Alps keyset, or you can pick up some
Nexus Alps to MX adapters designed by the brilliant u/blindassassin111. We will be stocking these as well once they are ready.
FAQWhat is the case made of?The case is injection molded ABS plastic that has been sanded, primed, adhesion promoter applied, then painted with automotive paint.
How much is it?The pricing is on the
product page on our site Can I buy just a PCB?Yes. And plates are available also.
Will the PCB and Plate fit a Dolch PAC?Yes. The PCB and Plate fit in any G80 /G81 1800 case as well as the Dolch Pac, even the
OG Skidata board. But in order to use a plate you must modify the case with a dremel or some other cutting device. We will offer the option to cut the case for you prior to shipping, u/blindassassin111 came up with a pretty slick jig that were going to use to get nice, clean cuts.
When does the sale start? When will the kits be delivered? The products are available to preview on the site now. The sale goes live
Friday, March 2 at 7PM EST. Theres enough to go around so if there is a particular color that you want you should be able to get it. I wont ever make more than 24 of any single color case (except stock black unpainted). Lead time on the PCBs is 60 days. Based on my experience with GBs and manufacturer lead times, I would say 60 days is a solid bet, but dont panic if it takes 90.
