the Norbaforce: after-market housing for RealForce TKL keyboards — SHIPPED

[norbauer]

Long shot but are there any extras available?

There will be a tiny few available after all the group buy units ship (only powder coat finishes remain to ship), likely around the end of this month. You can sign up on my email list, linked in my signature, to be among the first to be notified when they go up.

Any chance those remains could be enigma black or royal wrinkle black?

Yes, at least a couple of both.

[phinix]

Long shot but are there any extras available?

There will be a tiny few available after all the group buy units ship (only powder coat finishes remain to ship), likely around the end of this month. You can sign up on my email list, linked in my signature, to be among the first to be notified when they go up.

Any chance those remains could be enigma black or royal wrinkle black?

Yes, at least a couple of both.

Awesome! I have subscribed, hopefully will catch one.

I love the vintage look of those two.

[norbauer]

Long shot but are there any extras available?

There will be a tiny few available after all the group buy units ship (only powder coat finishes remain to ship), likely around the end of this month. You can sign up on my email list, linked in my signature, to be among the first to be notified when they go up.

Any chance those remains could be enigma black or royal wrinkle black?

Yes, at least a couple of both.

Awesome! I have subscribed, hopefully will catch one.

I love the vintage look of those two.

Me too! I'm particularly fond of the Royal Wrinkle. I used to have a vintage Royal typewriter when I was a kid that had that exact same finish.

[regionfree]

@norbauer would the remaining powder coated cases be shipped out before christmas? trying to figure out how to receive the shipment.

[norbauer]

@norbauer would the remaining powder coated cases be shipped out before christmas? trying to figure out how to receive the shipment.

I'm supposed to get them back around the end of this month, so I would certainly hope so.

[regionfree]

@norbauer would the remaining powder coated cases be shipped out before christmas? trying to figure out how to receive the shipment.

I'm supposed to get them back around the end of this month, so I would certainly hope so.

great, thanks! christmas wouldn't be complete otherwise

[Butter]

@norbauer would the remaining powder coated cases be shipped out before christmas? trying to figure out how to receive the shipment.

I'm supposed to get them back around the end of this month, so I would certainly hope so.

Hi, is the powder coating case still on schedule to be back by the end of this month? Thanks.

[norbauer]

@norbauer would the remaining powder coated cases be shipped out before christmas? trying to figure out how to receive the shipment.

I'm supposed to get them back around the end of this month, so I would certainly hope so.

Hi, is the powder coating case still on schedule to be back by the end of this month? Thanks.

According to the factory, yes. It'll probably take me a week or so sort, inspect, pack, and ship, however, so I'd say early November is the safer bet, even assuming the factory delivers exactly when it said it would (and factories so rarely do).

[Ye11ow]

So excited! Please let us know when you get them from the factory!

[trikoi00]

I have Enigma Grey case to let go. Please pm me for detail and I hope Ryan would approve it.

Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

[norbauer]

Quick update: I just spoke to the powder coating workshop and they said that the cases are ready! I'll be arranging a rendezvous with their truck somewhere over in Palo Alto next week to pick them up. Then give me maybe a week or two to get everything inspected and packed up and sent out after that. Nearing the finish line though! 

[Will_26]

Quick update: I just spoke to the powder coating workshop and they said that the cases are ready! I'll be arranging a rendezvous with their truck somewhere over in Palo Alto next week to pick them up. Then give me maybe a week or two to get everything inspected and packed up and sent out after that. Nearing the finish line though! 

Amazing news! Thanks for the update Ryan. Been very hard not to pick up an aftermarket Ano one in the meantime just to have my hands on one. Can't wait! 

[shadow]

Hi Ryan,

I received the case a little while ago, and I just wanted to let you know how awesome it is! The finish is exceptional, it just oozes high quality both inside and outside (and it certainly cant be mistaken for plastic as I asked about way back in this thread LOL )). Also the packaging was very impressive. It really makes my keyboard so much more solid, and it feels really nice and sturdy to type on - especially with the sound dampening foam inside.

The only minor thing I noticed is that it tilts/wobbles ever so slightly (with the feet installed at least).. like its not entirely planar when placed on a flat table. If I take a thin piece of paper, fold it once, and put it under one of the feet it goes away. Do you have a better idea to fix this? (it really isn't much of a problem though!)

But a very happy customer here! Thank you a lot for making this case

[brizzzle]

Quick update: I just spoke to the powder coating workshop and they said that the cases are ready! I'll be arranging a rendezvous with their truck somewhere over in Palo Alto next week to pick them up. Then give me maybe a week or two to get everything inspected and packed up and sent out after that. Nearing the finish line though! 

Great news! Can't wait to get my case.

[PurpleURP]

Quick update: I just spoke to the powder coating workshop and they said that the cases are ready! I'll be arranging a rendezvous with their truck somewhere over in Palo Alto next week to pick them up. Then give me maybe a week or two to get everything inspected and packed up and sent out after that. Nearing the finish line though! 

Hey norbauer, sent you a DM

[phinix]

Quick update: I just spoke to the powder coating workshop and they said that the cases are ready! I'll be arranging a rendezvous with their truck somewhere over in Palo Alto next week to pick them up. Then give me maybe a week or two to get everything inspected and packed up and sent out after that. Nearing the finish line though! 

Cool. When would be the extra ones ready? around same time or like next week?

Also, those extra ones - are they going to be available from your site or Europe proxy as well?

[strigif0rm3s]

Quick update: I just spoke to the powder coating workshop and they said that the cases are ready! I'll be arranging a rendezvous with their truck somewhere over in Palo Alto next week to pick them up. Then give me maybe a week or two to get everything inspected and packed up and sent out after that. Nearing the finish line though! 

They about ready to ship? Thanks so much!!!!

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[Choobies]

Check it!  https://www.instagram.com/p/Bp2doypH7vU/

[norbauer]

Check it!  https://www.instagram.com/p/Bp2doypH7vU/

You beat me to it posting here. I've been busy inspecting, sorting, kitting, and packing the powder coated cases, which arrived early this week. My goal is to have everything shipped out by Wednesday of next week at the latest, when I have to head out of town to LA for DesignerCon. Any remaining extras should be posted when I return from my trip the following week, which I'll announce on my email list.

[norbauer]

But a very happy customer here! Thank you a lot for making this case

Thanks for the great feedback. Regarding the phenomenon you mentioned, shoot me an email by replying to your order confirmation and I'll be happy to help you troubleshoot.

[phinix]

Check it!  https://www.instagram.com/p/Bp2doypH7vU/

You beat me to it posting here. I've been busy inspecting, sorting, kitting, and packing the powder coated cases, which arrived early this week. My goal is to have everything shipped out by Wednesday of next week at the latest, when I have to head out of town to LA for DesignerCon. Any remaining extras should be posted when I return from my trip the following week, which I'll announce on my email list.

Does it mean that those extra cases will be available  to buy in few weeks?

[norbauer]

Check it!  https://www.instagram.com/p/Bp2doypH7vU/

You beat me to it posting here. I've been busy inspecting, sorting, kitting, and packing the powder coated cases, which arrived early this week. My goal is to have everything shipped out by Wednesday of next week at the latest, when I have to head out of town to LA for DesignerCon. Any remaining extras should be posted when I return from my trip the following week, which I'll announce on my email list.

Does it mean that those extra cases will be available  to buy in few weeks?

Yes, my plan is to have them up when I get back from LA, sometime week after next, but we'll see how it goes.

[norbauer]

Hey all. I've now completed unpacking and inspection of all the cases, which took a bit longer than I expected, but I believe I'm still on track to get all of the cases shipped before I head out to LA for DesignerCon on Wednesday. These colors came out looking beautiful, and I'm particularly impressed by the look of Monte Carlo Red, Royal Wrinkle, and Galaxy Console on this case design. I have already kitted and boxed three of the colors and hope to finish the rest today after I get back from the NorCal keyboard meetup in San Jose. If I don't manage to get to everything on Tuesday night, I'll update here, but I remain optimistic/determined.

I am imposing a high cosmetic inspection standard for the powder coat and, even after over-ordering by quite a lot, I have rejected slightly more cases than I have orders. As such, I would like to ask if anyone who ordered the following colors is flexible on his or her order.

• Retro Refrigerator (shortfall of 4)
• Venice Beach (shortfall of 2)
• Space Station White (shortfall of 2)
• Enigma Black (shortfall of 2)

In addition to my enormous gratitude and a full refund, I would give anyone who was willing to let go of their order or to switch to another color a 30% discount on a future order. (And, yes, I will at some point in 2019 probably be doing a new version of this case that is compatible with both the 87U and the new R2 cases, assuming that proves technically feasible.) If interested, please email me directly (shop@norbauer.com) and we can work something out.

Otherwise, I'll just have to go in the order in which the orders were placed and cancel the orders affected by the shortfall, which I'll start doing Sunday evening. The shortfall is very small in all of those colors, so it would only take a few people to volunteer to ensure nobody gets his order involuntarily cancelled, which I will hate to have to do.

FWIW, I will not be running the glossy Retro Refrigerator or Venice Beach powders again in any of my project due to their high reject rates. Instead, I'll be switching to a version with a matte finish, which doesn't seem to suffer from these problems. Rejecting powder cases is stupid expensive, because the powder coating shop almost always blames the powder itself for being "finicky" and doesn't refund me the cost, but I just don't want to ship cases out to people with cosmetic aberrations that I deem unacceptable. (Powder coating with smooth, glossy finishes always has some irregularities inherently that are impossible fully to avoid, but having looked at hundreds and hundreds of powder-coated cases from various applicators, I have a pretty good feel for what is and isn't up to par.)

[Dumblescore]

I’m not in too much of a rush to get mine (White I believe) — if you’re planing to make these ever again, I’ll be happy to get one later. 

[norbauer]

I’m not in too much of a rush to get mine (White I believe) — if you’re planing to make these ever again, I’ll be happy to get one later.

Cool. Could you please send an email to shop@norbauer.com? I don't have a way to link GH usernames to orders.

[dario]

And, yes, I will at some point in 2019 probably be doing a new version of this case that is compatible with both the 87U and the new R2 cases

Woud you please explain (even if it's a very short explanation) how would you be able to do that? I've seen you mentioning this before, but I'm still not sure what do you mean.

R2 is significantly shorter (both the case and PCB), and in fact, this is it's main selling point - not having big ugly forrhead like R1.

[Rumblehotep]

Can't wait to see how Singularity comes out! 
Ryan you said you will not be running glossy Retro Refrigerator/Venice Beach again and will only do the matte finish in future coatings. 
Will this retroactively affect the round pi Norbatouches?

[Will_26]

Hey all. I've now completed unpacking and inspection of all the cases, which took a bit longer than I expected, but I believe I'm still on track to get all of the cases shipped before I head out to LA for DesignerCon on Wednesday. These colors came out looking beautiful, and I'm particularly impressed by the look of Monte Carlo Red, Royal Wrinkle, and Galaxy Console on this case design. I have already kitted and boxed three of the colors and hope to finish the rest today after I get back from the NorCal keyboard meetup in San Jose. If I don't manage to get to everything on Tuesday night, I'll update here, but I remain optimistic/determined.

I am imposing a high cosmetic inspection standard for the powder coat and, even after over-ordering by quite a lot, I have rejected slightly more cases than I have orders. As such, I would like to ask if anyone who ordered the following colors is flexible on his or her order.

• Retro Refrigerator (shortfall of 4)
• Venice Beach (shortfall of 2)
• Space Station White (shortfall of 2)
• Enigma Black (shortfall of 2)

In addition to my enormous gratitude and a full refund, I would give anyone who was willing to let go of their order or to switch to another color a 30% discount on a future order. (And, yes, I will at some point in 2019 probably be doing a new version of this case that is compatible with both the 87U and the new R2 cases, assuming that proves technically feasible.) If interested, please email me directly (shop@norbauer.com) and we can work something out.

Otherwise, I'll just have to go in the order in which the orders were placed and cancel the orders affected by the shortfall, which I'll start doing Sunday evening. The shortfall is very small in all of those colors, so it would only take a few people to volunteer to ensure nobody gets his order involuntarily cancelled, which I will hate to have to do.

FWIW, I will not be running the glossy Retro Refrigerator or Venice Beach powders again in any of my project due to their high reject rates. Instead, I'll be switching to a version with a matte finish, which doesn't seem to suffer from these problems. Rejecting powder cases is stupid expensive, because the powder coating shop almost always blames the powder itself for being "finicky" and doesn't refund me the cost, but I just don't want to ship cases out to people with cosmetic aberrations that I deem unacceptable. (Powder coating with smooth, glossy finishes always has some irregularities inherently that are impossible fully to avoid, but having looked at hundreds and hundreds of powder-coated cases from various applicators, I have a pretty good feel for what is and isn't up to par.)

Thanks for the update. Damn, cancelling orders for people that have waited 11 months for this case isn't ideal. Could you not offer the rejected cases at a fair reduced price to the people who would lose their orders? I waited till right till the end of the group buy to choose my colour and see it is one of the colours listed with a shortfall, so am expecting to be affected. I also expect even with the 30% discount for the next round I would not be interested in joining again due to the potential of waiting another 18-24 months for a case. I would probably be interested in still keeping my spot for a rejected case if the imperfections and discount were reasonable.

[norbauer]

Will this retroactively affect the round pi Norbatouches?

Yes, I'll send out an email and let people know that changing to matte is probably the best strategy. Folks could either switch to another color, cancel, or just opt for the matte version.

I would probably be interested in still keeping my spot for a rejected case if the imperfections and discount were reasonable.

Send me an email letting me know you'd be interested in one of the rejects and I can send you some photos. I do plan to get them refinished and don't generally like sending cases out in the wild that aren't up to my standards, regardless of how long production takes, so I tend to be hesitant to do this. But the rejects in this case are still pretty good, so I'd be willing to make an exception.

Regarding the latency, for whatever it's worth, I'm not likely to be doing large group buys like this again in future. I'm hoping to move to having smaller quantities of in-stock items that I simply produce in advance. They'll be more expensive, but it avoids these types of headaches.

[Will_26]

Will this retroactively affect the round pi Norbatouches?

Yes, I'll send out an email and let people know that changing to matte is probably the best strategy. Folks could either switch to another color, cancel, or just opt for the matte version.

I would probably be interested in still keeping my spot for a rejected case if the imperfections and discount were reasonable.

Send me an email letting me know you'd be interested in one of the rejects and I can send you some photos. I do plan to get them refinished and don't generally like sending cases out in the wild that aren't up to my standards, regardless of how long production takes, so I tend to be hesitant to do this. But the rejects in this case are still pretty good, so I'd be willing to make an exception.

Regarding the latency, for whatever it's worth, I'm not likely to be doing large group buys like this again in future. I'm hoping to move to having smaller quantities of in-stock items that I simply produce in advance. They'll be more expensive, but it avoids these types of headaches.

Thanks Ryan. I will send you an email I would potentially be willing to give up my spot for a reject depending on condition or a colour change.

[Allo]

Send me an email letting me know you'd be interested in one of the rejects and I can send you some photos. I do plan to get them refinished and don't generally like sending cases out in the wild that aren't up to my standards, regardless of how long production takes, so I tend to be hesitant to do this. But the rejects in this case are still pretty good, so I'd be willing to make an exception.

Will you be selling B-stock cases? I'd love to get a retro refrigerator, even if it is not perfect.

[Ye11ow]

Hey all. I've now completed unpacking and inspection of all the cases, which took a bit longer than I expected, but I believe I'm still on track to get all of the cases shipped before I head out to LA for DesignerCon on Wednesday. These colors came out looking beautiful, and I'm particularly impressed by the look of Monte Carlo Red, Royal Wrinkle, and Galaxy Console on this case design. I have already kitted and boxed three of the colors and hope to finish the rest today after I get back from the NorCal keyboard meetup in San Jose. If I don't manage to get to everything on Tuesday night, I'll update here, but I remain optimistic/determined.

I am imposing a high cosmetic inspection standard for the powder coat and, even after over-ordering by quite a lot, I have rejected slightly more cases than I have orders. As such, I would like to ask if anyone who ordered the following colors is flexible on his or her order.

• Retro Refrigerator (shortfall of 4)
• Venice Beach (shortfall of 2)
• Space Station White (shortfall of 2)
• Enigma Black (shortfall of 2)

In addition to my enormous gratitude and a full refund, I would give anyone who was willing to let go of their order or to switch to another color a 30% discount on a future order. (And, yes, I will at some point in 2019 probably be doing a new version of this case that is compatible with both the 87U and the new R2 cases, assuming that proves technically feasible.) If interested, please email me directly (shop@norbauer.com) and we can work something out.

Otherwise, I'll just have to go in the order in which the orders were placed and cancel the orders affected by the shortfall, which I'll start doing Sunday evening. The shortfall is very small in all of those colors, so it would only take a few people to volunteer to ensure nobody gets his order involuntarily cancelled, which I will hate to have to do.

FWIW, I will not be running the glossy Retro Refrigerator or Venice Beach powders again in any of my project due to their high reject rates. Instead, I'll be switching to a version with a matte finish, which doesn't seem to suffer from these problems. Rejecting powder cases is stupid expensive, because the powder coating shop almost always blames the powder itself for being "finicky" and doesn't refund me the cost, but I just don't want to ship cases out to people with cosmetic aberrations that I deem unacceptable. (Powder coating with smooth, glossy finishes always has some irregularities inherently that are impossible fully to avoid, but having looked at hundreds and hundreds of powder-coated cases from various applicators, I have a pretty good feel for what is and isn't up to par.)

I didn't get an email - does this mean that my retro refrigerator order is safe?

edit: dang

[norbauer]

Hey all. I just wanted to provide an update. Firstly, if you haven't gotten an email from me concerning a cancellation, you should be all set; your order isn't affected by the shortfall and you have a Norbaforce with your name on it.

Also, I hate to continue in my apparent pattern of being a sort of anti-Father Christmas these past couple of days, but I'm sorry to say that it looks like I won't be able to ship out the remaining Norbaforces until I get back from LA early next week. I've spent the past several days kitting up and packing the housings and trying to work around the QC shortfall on those few colors (accepting voluntary cancellations and sending notifications for others), which has all taken way more time than I could ever have guessed. I have now completed that work and everything is stacked up and ready to go, but I have only gotten to actually printing shipping labels for a few of the boards so far (you've already gotten a shipping notification if you were among those). I promise, I've been at this pretty much non-stop since the powder cases arrived (with a brief pause for NorCal keyboard meetup activities); the work has just taken way longer than I anticipated.

The housings will be safe and well-guarded while I'm away, but I just ran out of time to print the remaining before I have to leave for DesignerCon tomorrow (message me if you're going to be there, btw, and maybe we can meet up!) I know you guys who are left have been waiting a long time and I hate to make you wait a bit longer, but my trip was planned a long time ago (before I knew exactly when the powder units would be done) and is tied to an event on a particular date.

I'll write a long post mortem on the many things I learned from this group buy after all is said and done. I'm generally really happy with how things came out and how well the design has been received by the community, but suffice it to say I'm really looking forward to being finally done with this marathon project next week. :)

[nuclear_wizard]

Hey all. I just wanted to provide an update. Firstly, if you haven't gotten an email from me concerning a cancellation, you should be all set; your order isn't affected by the shortfall and you have a Norbaforce with your name on it.

Also, I hate to continue in my apparent pattern of being a sort of anti-Father Christmas these past couple of days, but I'm sorry to say that it looks like I won't be able to ship out the remaining Norbaforces until I get back from LA early next week. I've spent the past several days kitting up and packing the housings and trying to work around the QC shortfall on those few colors (accepting voluntary cancellations and sending notifications for others), which has all taken way more time than I could ever have guessed. I have now completed that work and everything is stacked up and ready to go, but I have only gotten to actually printing shipping labels for a few of the boards so far (you've already gotten a shipping notification if you were among those). I promise, I've been at this pretty much non-stop since the powder cases arrived (with a brief pause for NorCal keyboard meetup activities); the work has just taken way longer than I anticipated.

The housings will be safe and well-guarded while I'm away, but I just ran out of time to print the remaining before I have to leave for DesignerCon tomorrow (message me if you're going to be there, btw, and maybe we can meet up!) I know you guys who are left have been waiting a long time and I hate to make you wait a bit longer, but my trip was planned a long time ago (before I knew exactly when the powder units would be done) and is tied to an event on a particular date.

I'll write a long post mortem on the many things I learned from this group buy after all is said and done. I'm generally really happy with how things came out and how well the design has been received by the community, but suffice it to say I'm really looking forward to being finally done with this marathon project next week.

No complaints here. I've waited this long, so what's another week or so. Have fun at the con!

[norbauer]

No complaints here. I've waited this long, so what's another week or so. Have fun at the con!

Hehe. Thanks for your patience and understanding, and I pretty much figured that if folks have stuck with it this far, another few days probably won't be disastrous, but still wish I had been able to get to everything before I left. :)

[Rumblehotep]

Ryan I got my cases in today and they're beyond my expectations.  The packaging, notes, diagrams, everything is a treat to pick apart. 
The taper is a bit of a paradox, from the top down it looks straight but from the front it flares out, neato.

Got my astro purple installed, typing on it right now in fact, and even though I was going to hold off to do a domeswap for the singularity I couldn't wait and wanted to try it stock.
Set everything up in the same manner and ... nothing works?  Checked cables and redid screws, nothing.
If I take the realforce and daughter board out of the case, just connected to each other via the ribbon cable with no ground, THEN it works.
If I hold the daughterboard up against the case and connect the cable through the usb-c hole, also works.
The second I use one of the two screws to secure the daughterboard to the case the keyboard won't register.
I'm not very component savvy but does this mean the case is shorting out the board? The base aluminum is a little exposed around the holes.
Tried some tape over the holes since that helped with shorts on some other cases but no luck.
Has anyone had this sort of problem before?

edit: after many many many unscrewings and dropped screws I've deduced the problem is making sure the daughter board is FLUSH TIGHT with the case, gotta make sure that port is right up in there... phew~!

Also you were right about the gloss black, it seems to summon dust and fingerprints out of thin air but good lord I love it, it's so black
Very, very pleased!  Also all cables work 
Thank you very much for all your work on this project!

[Uleet]

Hey Norbauer! Any chance you have venice boards or purple ones?

[chakku]

May sound a bit farfetched, but if you intend to support the 87U and R2 boards, assuming it is feasible, do you believe it could be possible to make an adapter to fit the R2 boards in the current Norbaforce or are they completely incompatible? I haven't actually seen somebody tear down the R2 boards, though I admit I haven't explored the entirety of the internet to find photos of the PCBs.

[norbauer]

Hi all. I'm back as of this morning from DesignerCon and am about to resume shipping the remaining powder coated housings! (Well, after processing through my email backlog anyway, just in case there are any requested address updates in there.)

May sound a bit farfetched, but if you intend to support the 87U and R2 boards, assuming it is feasible, do you believe it could be possible to make an adapter to fit the R2 boards in the current Norbaforce or are they completely incompatible? I haven't actually seen somebody tear down the R2 boards, though I admit I haven't explored the entirety of the internet to find photos of the PCBs.

Screw placement is off by like 1-2mm, and the connector has a different configuration for the ground wire, so the existing Norbaforce design can't be made cross-compatible with the R2s. However, I may be able to dream something up for a future design that is. I want to get the last of the group buy orders out the door before I start daydreaming too hard about such things, however. :)

Ryan I got my cases in today and they're beyond my expectations.  The packaging, notes, diagrams, everything is a treat to pick apart. 
The taper is a bit of a paradox, from the top down it looks straight but from the front it flares out, neato.

Got my astro purple installed, typing on it right now in fact, and even though I was going to hold off to do a domeswap for the singularity I couldn't wait and wanted to try it stock.
Set everything up in the same manner and ... nothing works?  Checked cables and redid screws, nothing.
If I take the realforce and daughter board out of the case, just connected to each other via the ribbon cable with no ground, THEN it works.
If I hold the daughterboard up against the case and connect the cable through the usb-c hole, also works.
The second I use one of the two screws to secure the daughterboard to the case the keyboard won't register.
I'm not very component savvy but does this mean the case is shorting out the board? The base aluminum is a little exposed around the holes.
Tried some tape over the holes since that helped with shorts on some other cases but no luck.
Has anyone had this sort of problem before?

edit: after many many many unscrewings and dropped screws I've deduced the problem is making sure the daughter board is FLUSH TIGHT with the case, gotta make sure that port is right up in there... phew~!

Also you were right about the gloss black, it seems to summon dust and fingerprints out of thin air but good lord I love it, it's so black
Very, very pleased!  Also all cables work  :thumb:
Thank you very much for all your work on this project!

Glad you were able to sort out the issue on your own while I was away! And thanks so much for the kind words. I'm so glad you like both your cases. :D

I've discovered that the cable issue—which I addressed by including a spare alternative cable in every box—mainly seems to affect the high-build powder coats (i.e., those with textures), as it shortens the distance between cable and USB connector by just a minuscule distance but enough to throw off the connection sometimes, especially since the special Norbaforce cables vary a bit more in terms of connector length. The solutions are, as you suggested, to ensure that your breakout PCB is seated as close as possible to the interior wall of the case or to use the provided alternative cable, which conforms more regularly to the spec for connector length. Another good solution for the DIY-minded would be to sand down/away the powder coat layer on the interior of the case around the connector through-hole to allow the breakout PCB to get closer to the interior of the housing.

[Viking_Robot]

Excited for this to ship.  Been a long wait.

[regionfree]

Got the shipping notification for the black powder coated case just the other day. Looking forward to getting this, but I need to get an 87u

[norbauer]

Hi all. Other than a handful of orders with special circumstances that I'm working on now (custom one-off colors, unusual shipping requests, etc.) all the orders have now been either shipped or handed over for fulfillment.

For those who haven't yet gotten tracking numbers, those should arrive in your email either tomorrow or Monday (Thursday-Sunday is a holiday here in the US). This last batch of orders is shipping through my new fulfillment warehouse, which should be better at pretty much everything—especially international shipments and general turnaround time—compared to me shipping stuff out of my living room—which is how I have somehow managed to do all my design production runs up to this point.

[Pluto19]

Wooo! Thanks for all the updates Norbauer. Just wanted to let you know it's much appreciated. Can't wait for my case to arrive

[whalematrontron]

Any chance there'll be a Heavy 9 done some time in the future? :0

[Lansky]

Just wanted to say a big thanks to Ryan for this group buy. I'm still super happy with my tactical black case, been using it as my daily driver ever since I received it. Definitely worth the wait! 

[thelaughingman]

Congrats on a GB almost done! Looking forward to more projects from you (I now have a Norbatouch and a Norbaforce in rotation as daily driver, both are AMAZING!) 

[ihalatch]

... while waiting for the Matt3o MT3 Susuwatari Custom Keycap Set. It's not ideal. I had to cannibalize my Novatouch, dremel the LHS CTRL and remove the led. It's a very invasive procedure. The left CTRL housing and slider has slightly different size compared to the rest of the topre sliders!

[Peddamann]

Hi @norbauer

ORDER #1607 here... didnt get any email up until now, am i one of those happy handful of orders with special circumstances?

thx

[norbauer]

Hi @norbauer

ORDER #1607 here... didnt get any email up until now, am i one of those happy handful of orders with special circumstances?

thx

Your order is in the EU proxy, so you'll get your tracking number from MyKeyboard.eu once they ship them within the EU.

[linxinyuan]

Deleted