[GB] The Galaxy Class set (Ordering CLOSED)

[taylordcraig]

In for a full set. Hoping sliders come down in price for my Topre, otherwise looks like this will go to a new build, assuming it tips.

Sorry to derail.
I haven't been paying attention and missed when sliders became available.
Could you please point me in the right direction? Fun caps was the main thing stopping me from using Topre.

[norbauer]

In for a full set. Hoping sliders come down in price for my Topre, otherwise looks like this will go to a new build, assuming it tips.

Sorry to derail.
I haven't been paying attention and missed when sliders became available.
Could you please point me in the right direction? Fun caps was the main thing stopping me from using Topre.

I'll second this! I had no idea I could use the Galaxy Class set on a Topre! (I use a heavily-modded Realforce as my daily driver.) More details please.

[CPTBadAss]

Matt30 has created sliders that allow you to use MX caps on Topre boards. And the new CM Novatouch will have similar sliders. Also there's that....Plum board? Or another Chinese board that has the sliders as well.

[taylordcraig]

Matt30 has created sliders that allow you to use MX caps on Topre boards. And the new CM Novatouch will have similar sliders. Also there's that....Plum board? Or another Chinese board that has the sliders as well.

ah, so they aren't available just yet.

edit for clarity: im talking the sliders. idgaf about those boards [not to be rude, I just don't care for them ^.^]

[Matt3o]

they are 3d-printable but they are expensive

[norbauer]

Matt30 has created sliders that allow you to use MX caps on Topre boards. And the new CM Novatouch will have similar sliders. Also there's that....Plum board? Or another Chinese board that has the sliders as well.

ah, so they aren't available just yet.

edit for clarity: im talking the sliders. idgaf about those boards [not to be rude, I just don't care for them ^.^]

Well, one could theoretically buy a CM Novatouch and take the sliders out and fit them into an existing Topre board. Depending on how expensive the 3D printed ones are, it could end up costing less. (The Novatouch boards are rumored to be ~$150.) The advantage of the Novatouch boards would seem to be that they should theoretically be able accommodate even the stabilized keys like spacebar, but I'm not sure. The Galaxy Class set would look kind of lame fitted onto a board without the stabilized keys.

[Matt3o]

you need the whole switch housing for the stabilizers (not just the sliders), but technically speaking yeah, it's feasible.

[norbauer]

you need the whole switch housing for the stabilizers (not just the sliders), but technically speaking yeah, it's feasible.

Hehe. Well, I'm using a total frankenboard (Korean aluminum housing, swapped-out 30g domes mixed with some 45g on bigger keys). Hopefully the plates and PCB on the Novatouch are similar enough to the 87U that I could just take the board and PCB out of the Novatouch housing, fit it into my aluminum housing, swap out the domes to my liking, and then fit a Galaxy Class set on top. A long-shot maybe, but I'm very excited by even the prospect. Just when I thought my keyboard hobby had stopped giving me new things to obsess over (and spend money on)... :S

[AKmalamute]

So, pardon me if I'm asking a question answered elsewhere, but ... I want the ergodox set, m'kay? Right now it's hovering at 3 ordered, 75 to hit MOQ, if I 'm reading it right.

But the main set, which I'm less enthused about based on actual keyboards in my house, is about halfway to MOQ. So, my question is:

If the main set hits MOQ, will the child deals still be produced? Or do I basically no chance to get this ergodox kit.

[Grendel]

Interested in the ED set as well (planning to order in a few days.) My hope is that the set will be made anyway since the printed caps overlap w/ the regular set.

[norbauer]

So, pardon me if I'm asking a question answered elsewhere, but ... I want the ergodox set, m'kay? Right now it's hovering at 3 ordered, 75 to hit MOQ, if I 'm reading it right.

But the main set, which I'm less enthused about based on actual keyboards in my house, is about halfway to MOQ. So, my question is:

If the main set hits MOQ, will the child deals still be produced? Or do I basically no chance to get this ergodox kit.

Interested in the ED set as well (planning to order in a few days.) My hope is that the set will be made anyway since the printed caps overlap w/ the regular set.

Best I can tell you is to order early and order often.

If Ergodox doesn't hit the MOQ, we'll see what we can do to get it made. Worst case scenario, we just do a second round with a lower MOQ, which I think SP would be fine with, especially since (as mentioned above) the set as currently designed doesn't require printing much in the way of new legends beyond what is in the base set.

[taylordcraig]

So, pardon me if I'm asking a question answered elsewhere, but ... I want the ergodox set, m'kay? Right now it's hovering at 3 ordered, 75 to hit MOQ, if I 'm reading it right.

But the main set, which I'm less enthused about based on actual keyboards in my house, is about halfway to MOQ. So, my question is:

If the main set hits MOQ, will the child deals still be produced? Or do I basically no chance to get this ergodox kit.

Interested in the ED set as well (planning to order in a few days.) My hope is that the set will be made anyway since the printed caps overlap w/ the regular set.

Best I can tell you is to order early and order often.

If Ergodox doesn't hit the MOQ, we'll see what we can do to get it made. Worst case scenario, we just do a second round with a lower MOQ, which I think SP would be fine with, especially since (as mentioned above) the set as currently designed doesn't require printing much in the way of new legends beyond what is in the base set.

I know for granite because a lot of the keys WERE similar [mostly 1u un-subbed] they ended up producing even the low count blanks.
I feel like it's at their discretion but depending on demand for the set as a whole and for just the kits they're probably inclined to fill everyone's orders.

[norbauer]

We're on the PMK front page today.



http://www.pimpmykeyboard.com/

[katushkin]

Did the shipping details get sorted?

[stoic-lemon]

Finally put my order in.

[Matt3o]

I had a quick look at the template norbauer sent me.

it's a great set but with the experience I've gathered from the Granite set (I encourage to have a look at the first dyesub legends SP sent me) I dare to give some pieces of advice, take whatever you like, disregard the rest.

- legend thickness
thickness is not constant. The base alpha font is pretty bold, symbols are on the thin side and inconsistent.

It's clear from this picture



_ is too thick compared to + (and - is too small)

- legend size
there's too much variation in size between some legends

It's pretty clear from this pic


Also very similar legends such as \ and / can be found in very different size and thickness



- baseline
the baseline should be preserved as much as possible. there's too much variation in some legends



- number row
honestly I would reduce the size of the numbers and enlarge the symbols (as per any keyboard). The symbols are too small as they are now.

- mods
from what I've seen sublimation tends to make legends slightly bolder than they are on screen. Those mods are pretty bold and letters very close to each other. They maybe need some review

These are the fist notes that come to my mind, hope this helps.

[stoic-lemon]

This is great advice. The reason I didn't order earlier is because a few eagle-eyed folks had mentioned such things. I thought it better to order and trust that any issues will be worked out.

[norbauer]

I had a quick look at the template norbauer sent me.

it's a great set but with the experience I've gathered from the Granite set (I encourage to have a look at the first dyesub legends SP sent me) I dare to give some pieces of advice, take whatever you like, disregard the rest.

- legend thickness
thickness is not constant. The base alpha font is pretty bold, symbols are on the thin side and inconsistent.

It's clear from this picture

Show Image

_ is too thick compared to + (and - is too small)

- legend size
there's too much variation in size between some legends

It's pretty clear from this pic

Show Image

Also very similar legends such as \ and / can be found in very different size and thickness

Show Image

- baseline
the baseline should be preserved as much as possible. there's too much variation in some legends

Show Image

- number row
honestly I would reduce the size of the numbers and enlarge the symbols (as per any keyboard). The symbols are too small as they are now.

- mods
from what I've seen sublimation tends to make legends slightly bolder than they are on screen. Those mods are pretty bold and letters very close to each other. They maybe need some review

These are the fist notes that come to my mind, hope this helps.

First of all, thank you for taking a look at the legends so closely!

These are all good suggestions, and all these issues have bothered me as well. I'll take a stab at improving the issues you mentioned and post an updated mock-up soon.

Unfortunately, the problem partly arises from the font itself. With a consistent font size set across all legends, the symbol glyphs look totally out of proportion, so I had just to manually tweak the sizes relative to each other on a key-by-key basis until it looked moderately right to me. My subjective judgment calls in this area will necessarily be different than anyone else's, but I'm happy to concede that I made some poor calls (namely, those that you mentioned).

Also, FWIW, remember that we're trying to keep things in the lower-right corner of every key to stick with the LCARS style—you had the enviable advantage with the Granite set in being able to cover the whole key face, both vertically and horizontally centered, which makes a lot of things easier. ;) The is the main problem. In order to make things look like they're in the lower-right hand corner of the key, some glyphs need to be compressed more than others, depending on the symbol in question. And, as you noted, when you do this, things like the line thicknesses look different. It's a bit of a tricky balance between size, thickness, and alignment. And generally tweaking one variable tends to throw the others off. :S

At any rate, I'll revisit the mock-up and see what improvements I can make. :) Thanks again!

[Matt3o]

I had similar issues with the Granite. The solution for me was to:

1) redesign from scratch some of the legends (for example ~, @, ˝, ų and many other Granite legends are custom)
2) reduce the legends that need to be reduced and then add a small outline to give back some thickness

Also, do no go too close to the edge of the cap, my unproved impression is that they tend to slightly distort on the edges.

[norbauer]

I had similar issues with the Granite. The solution for me was to:

1) redesign from scratch some of the legends (for example ~, @, ˝, ų and many other Granite legends are custom)
2) reduce the legends that need to be reduced and then add a small outline to give back some thickness

Also, do no go too close to the edge of the cap, my unproved impression is that they tend to slightly distort on the edges.

#2 is a very good idea. thanks!

Unfortunately, in order to align things properly in illustrator, I had to convert to outlines before doing the alignment. In order to change anything at this point, I have to go back and re-create all the legends from scratch. So it may take me several days before I have a new mock-up.

[Matt3o]

I know the ****, pal.... I know the ****

good luck

[Mercury7]

Any chance of 1u blanks for purple, teal, and/or pink?

[taylordcraig]

Any chance of 1u blanks for purple, teal, and/or pink?

also more space bars

[LechnerDE]

Oh boy, I was abroad a couple of weeks and returned just in time to not miss this awesome GB!

Will place my order in the next couple of days

[Mercury7]

Any chance of 1u blanks for purple, teal, and/or pink?

also more space bars

Yea a 6u spacebar would be superb

[taylordcraig]

Any chance of 1u blanks for purple, teal, and/or pink?

also more space bars

Yea a 6u spacebar would be superb

Space bar pack a la toxic?
a couple sizes and a couple colors?
maybe it could just be a separate buy to run alongside this one.
adding a child this far in seems a little wonky.

[Mercury7]

Any chance of 1u blanks for purple, teal, and/or pink?

also more space bars

Yea a 6u spacebar would be superb

Space bar pack a la toxic?
a couple sizes and a couple colors?
maybe it could just be a separate buy to run alongside this one.
adding a child this far in seems a little wonky.

Not a bad idea

[norbauer]

Any chance of 1u blanks for purple, teal, and/or pink?

also more space bars

Yea a 6u spacebar would be superb

Space bar pack a la toxic?
a couple sizes and a couple colors?
maybe it could just be a separate buy to run alongside this one.
adding a child this far in seems a little wonky.

Yes, we can't add any more child deals for this group buy at this point. However, there may be a supplemental buy at some point in the near future for items like this.

[Willyc277]

Just ordered!  Will be my first gb! Pretty stoked. Only 20 more needed to tip!

[norbauer]

Just ordered!  Will be my first gb! Pretty stoked. Only 20 more needed to tip!

Excellent. Thanks for helping us get that much closer.

[pasph]

The only thing that prevent me to order this is the absurd cost of the Tsangan kit (that i need)

[katushkin]

4srs though, how much is shipping?

[norbauer]

4srs though, how much is shipping?

Did you not get a reply from support?

[danielucf]

The only thing that prevent me to order this is the absurd cost of the Tsangan kit (that i need)

Yea this is making me seriously consider not participating. Even at 75 orders $44 is a ripoff for a tsangan. We are at 8.....

If they want more orders drop the tsangan price somehow or add it into the base set like many of the more modern sales are doing.

[katushkin]

4srs though, how much is shipping?

Did you not get a reply from support?

No, nothing.

[norbauer]

4srs though, how much is shipping?

Did you not get a reply from support?

No, nothing.

Hmm. That's odd. I wish I could help, but unfortunately I have no insight into how that side of things works. I'm going to PM you the email of a person at the company who programs the website that the SP site runs on. He may be able to help.

[taylordcraig]

Strange you didn't hear from them. Have you made an order through your account?
Mine calculates the shipping just before I check out.

[norbauer]

The only thing that prevent me to order this is the absurd cost of the Tsangan kit (that i need)

Yea this is making me seriously consider not participating. Even at 75 orders $44 is a ripoff for a tsangan. We are at 8.....

If they want more orders drop the tsangan price somehow or add it into the base set like many of the more modern sales are doing.

I was a bit puzzled by the cost on that set too, but (as I mentioned at some point earlier in the thread—sorry for repeating myself), I think it might be the difficulty of making 7u spacebars in PBT. I know that Topre won't do spacebars in PBT, purportedly because plastic shrinkage on so wide a key makes the manufacturing tolerances problematic using PBT instead of ABS. I'd venture a guess that there are simply more rejects when they make PBT spacebars, which raises the overall cost.

[jdeblese]

I was a bit puzzled by the cost on that set too, but (as I mentioned at some point earlier in the thread—sorry for repeating myself), I think it might be the difficulty of making 7u spacebars in PBT. I know that Topre won't do spacebars in PBT, purportedly because plastic shrinkage on so wide a key makes the manufacturing tolerances problematic using PBT instead of ABS. I'd venture a guess that there are simply more rejects when they make PBT spacebars, which raises the overall cost.

I dunno, even at the 15-buyer tier spacebars were only $8 a piece in the Granite set... Maybe it's the multiple >1u keys, and multiple nonstandard-color keys?

But is this spacebar in PBT? GD is an ABS color, isn't it?

[Matt3o]

I believe the problems with tsangan are the following:

1) 3 different base colors. Each color is a different setup (=human work). You want to avoid setup costs as much as possible because that is what makes kits expensive at low tier (and by low I mean under 100)
2) the spacebar. I believe spacebar not included in the base kit should be sold separately because it's very likely that each buyer would get more than one making the overall price lower than putting it into a (more expensive) kit

[taylordcraig]

I bought 26 of each of the blank 1u keys so I could populate a keyboard in any color I choose.

[norbauer]

I was a bit puzzled by the cost on that set too, but (as I mentioned at some point earlier in the thread—sorry for repeating myself), I think it might be the difficulty of making 7u spacebars in PBT. I know that Topre won't do spacebars in PBT, purportedly because plastic shrinkage on so wide a key makes the manufacturing tolerances problematic using PBT instead of ABS. I'd venture a guess that there are simply more rejects when they make PBT spacebars, which raises the overall cost.

I dunno, even at the 15-buyer tier spacebars were only $8 a piece in the Granite set... Maybe it's the multiple >1u keys, and multiple nonstandard-color keys?

But is this spacebar in PBT? GD is an ABS color, isn't it?

Spacebar will definitely be PBT. I didn't find out until late in the game that this was possible, so the mock-up may still have an ABS color code. We'll pick a PBT equivalent if so.

[DanielT]

13 more to tip :d and 7 days to go. I guess this will be a limited edition set, my Poker X is craving for this set 

[mer]

I'm rather new to all the customizable keyboard stuff so please take it easy on me.

I've decided to get a mechanical keyboard and I've been doing a lot of research on the internet. I think I've decided to give the WASD V2 keyboard a try as I love how you can customize each key cap color as well as provide your own legend layout.

But, now I found this cool ST-TNG keycap set and I'd love to order it but I would like to verify that this keycap set would work with the WASD V2 keyboard.

[Pharo212]

I'm rather new to all the customizable keyboard stuff so please take it easy on me.

I've decided to get a mechanical keyboard and I've been doing a lot of research on the internet. I think I've decided to give the WASD V2 keyboard a try as I love how you can customize each key cap color as well as provide your own legend layout.

But, now I found this cool ST-TNG keycap set and I'd love to order it but I would like to verify that this keycap set would work with the WASD V2 keyboard.

WASD uses a very standard layout, as long as you're getting a ANSI (87 or 104). If you get an ISO layout you'll need to get a child buy.

And you can get WASD keyboards without any caps for a discount.

[mer]

I'm rather new to all the customizable keyboard stuff so please take it easy on me.

I've decided to get a mechanical keyboard and I've been doing a lot of research on the internet. I think I've decided to give the WASD V2 keyboard a try as I love how you can customize each key cap color as well as provide your own legend layout.

But, now I found this cool ST-TNG keycap set and I'd love to order it but I would like to verify that this keycap set would work with the WASD V2 keyboard.

WASD uses a very standard layout, as long as you're getting a ANSI (87 or 104). If you get an ISO layout you'll need to get a child buy.

And you can get WASD keyboards without any caps for a discount.

Thanks! Yes, I'll be getting the ANSI 87 key keyboard.

[taylordcraig]

I'm rather new to all the customizable keyboard stuff so please take it easy on me.

I've decided to get a mechanical keyboard and I've been doing a lot of research on the internet. I think I've decided to give the WASD V2 keyboard a try as I love how you can customize each key cap color as well as provide your own legend layout.

But, now I found this cool ST-TNG keycap set and I'd love to order it but I would like to verify that this keycap set would work with the WASD V2 keyboard.

WASD uses a very standard layout, as long as you're getting a ANSI (87 or 104). If you get an ISO layout you'll need to get a child buy.

And you can get WASD keyboards without any caps for a discount.

I'm rather new to all the customizable keyboard stuff so please take it easy on me.

I've decided to get a mechanical keyboard and I've been doing a lot of research on the internet. I think I've decided to give the WASD V2 keyboard a try as I love how you can customize each key cap color as well as provide your own legend layout.

But, now I found this cool ST-TNG keycap set and I'd love to order it but I would like to verify that this keycap set would work with the WASD V2 keyboard.

WASD uses a very standard layout, as long as you're getting a ANSI (87 or 104). If you get an ISO layout you'll need to get a child buy.

And you can get WASD keyboards without any caps for a discount.

Thanks! Yes, I'll be getting the ANSI 87 key keyboard.

As Pharo mention you can buy your board without the wasd brand caps to save a dime. [about $50]
http://www.wasdkeyboards.com/index.php/products/mechanical-keyboard/wasd-v2-87-key-barebones-mechanical-keyboard.html#ad-image-0

Welcome both of you to geek hack!
In case you hadn't taken note these are DSA profile and will be shorter than your standard caps.
That set is DSA retro to show you how the cap profile looks. http://i.imgur.com/xSUvPCY.jpg

I'm very excited for this set.

[DanielT]

DSA is one of the best profiles, and on a TKL or 60% is just perfect. So go ahead buy the WASD board and match it with the keycaps from this GB 

[taylordcraig]

12 more. 5 and some days.
GOGOGO

[Mercury7]

Have the font issues been resolved or is that something that will happen during production?