Author Topic: [IC] - Matias 60% ALPS keyboard with Cherry-compatible PCB  (Read 204441 times)

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Offline senter

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Re: [IC] - Matias 60% ALPS keyboard with Cherry-compatible PCB
« Reply #500 on: Mon, 21 January 2019, 09:14:11 »

I'm in China now (got here today) and hope to finalize the PBT production during this trip.  We developed a new process for lasering black PBT that produces very good results, with no noticeable wear over long time periods.  Whenever you have a new process, there area always lots of little details to work out, and production schedules can (do) easily slip, but it's very close to being finished.


Any updates on this?

Offline stbtrax

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Re: [IC] - Matias 60% ALPS keyboard with Cherry-compatible PCB
« Reply #501 on: Tue, 22 January 2019, 11:56:32 »
Could you talk about what is taking the project so long out of curiosity? (I work in manf/eng) Are you having funding issues or was something not working properly? 5 years seems like a bit of a stretch for this scope of project

Offline Matias

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Re: [IC] - Matias 60% ALPS keyboard with Cherry-compatible PCB
« Reply #502 on: Wed, 23 January 2019, 00:54:25 »
Could you talk about what is taking the project so long out of curiosity? (I work in manf/eng) Are you having funding issues or was something not working properly? 5 years seems like a bit of a stretch for this scope of project


I mentioned earlier that we developed a new material process for PBT that took a long time to iron out.

I go to China approx. every 3 months, so progress happens when I'm there, and slows when I return.  This approach works well for developing hardware, but not so well for developing new materials (hence the long delay).

We also have some new tech that is being integrated into this project, but has not been announced yet, so I can't elaborate further.  That new tech has been in development for almost 2 years, and is nearly done.

Finally, we've designed some new metal components that make it easier to build custom layouts.  This 60% keyboard will be the first one to use those metal parts, and will be a reference design for other projects that wish to use them.

I know all of the above sounds vague, but I think you'll find the wait was worth it, once you see what we've made.

Internally, we've been saying that it's like you bought a Volkswagen but then find that we shipped you a Tesla.

I hope that helps.


Offline DasGnome

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Re: [IC] - Matias 60% ALPS keyboard with Cherry-compatible PCB
« Reply #503 on: Wed, 23 January 2019, 05:05:15 »
I haven't been following this, so I have no idea what's going out.

But shoutout to Matias for at least checking the sane Geekhack thread for 5 years. This particular keyboard isn't for me, but I can't wait to see other product advancements from this.

Offline mwahlig

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Re: [IC] - Matias 60% ALPS keyboard with Cherry-compatible PCB
« Reply #504 on: Fri, 25 January 2019, 01:40:28 »
Will the planck/preonic compatible keycap sets you have available on your store currently get updated to be PBT keycaps? I would love some blank PBT alps keycaps for my planck :)

Offline Matias

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Re: [IC] - Matias 60% ALPS keyboard with Cherry-compatible PCB
« Reply #505 on: Mon, 28 January 2019, 03:02:51 »
But shoutout to Matias for at least checking the sane Geekhack thread for 5 years. This particular keyboard isn't for me, but I can't wait to see other product advancements from this.

Thanks!  :-)


Will the planck/preonic compatible keycap sets you have available on your store currently get updated to be PBT keycaps? I would love some blank PBT alps keycaps for my planck :)

PBT will be available too.




Offline Luminair

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Re: [IC] - Matias 60% ALPS keyboard with Cherry-compatible PCB
« Reply #506 on: Thu, 21 February 2019, 05:06:25 »
Could you talk about what is taking the project so long out of curiosity? (I work in manf/eng) Are you having funding issues or was something not working properly? 5 years seems like a bit of a stretch for this scope of project


I mentioned earlier that we developed a new material process for PBT that took a long time to iron out.

I go to China approx. every 3 months, so progress happens when I'm there, and slows when I return.  This approach works well for developing hardware, but not so well for developing new materials (hence the long delay).

We also have some new tech that is being integrated into this project, but has not been announced yet, so I can't elaborate further.  That new tech has been in development for almost 2 years, and is nearly done.

Finally, we've designed some new metal components that make it easier to build custom layouts.  This 60% keyboard will be the first one to use those metal parts, and will be a reference design for other projects that wish to use them.

I know all of the above sounds vague, but I think you'll find the wait was worth it, once you see what we've made.

Internally, we've been saying that it's like you bought a Volkswagen but then find that we shipped you a Tesla.

I hope that helps.

I would love the 60% with standard-spaced mini f-keys on top! Keep up the good work!

Offline Matias

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Re: [IC] - Matias 60% ALPS keyboard with Cherry-compatible PCB
« Reply #507 on: Fri, 22 February 2019, 04:11:26 »
I would love the 60% with standard-spaced mini f-keys on top! Keep up the good work!

Thank you!  Will keep it in mind...


Offline _GMK_

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Re: [IC] - Matias 60% ALPS keyboard with Cherry-compatible PCB
« Reply #508 on: Fri, 22 February 2019, 05:51:41 »
Nice joke.

Offline abrahamstechnology

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Re: [IC] - Matias 60% ALPS keyboard with Cherry-compatible PCB
« Reply #509 on: Fri, 22 February 2019, 09:57:25 »
Can you release some Matias switches with non-polycarbonate housings and the traditional black plastic Alps switches had? The black plastic sounds much better.

Offline macclack

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Re: [IC] - Matias 60% ALPS keyboard with Cherry-compatible PCB
« Reply #510 on: Fri, 22 February 2019, 23:29:06 »
Can you release some Matias switches with non-polycarbonate housings and the traditional black plastic Alps switches had? The black plastic sounds much better.
I would love to see this too. My understanding is that the point of the transparent housing is mainly so light will shine through for backlighting. Other than lock lights, I haven't seen a Matias or KBParadise keyboard that uses backlighting. 

Offline Matias

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Re: [IC] - Matias 60% ALPS keyboard with Cherry-compatible PCB
« Reply #511 on: Mon, 25 February 2019, 04:54:16 »
Can you release some Matias switches with non-polycarbonate housings and the traditional black plastic Alps switches had? The black plastic sounds much better.
I would love to see this too. My understanding is that the point of the transparent housing is mainly so light will shine through for backlighting. Other than lock lights, I haven't seen a Matias or KBParadise keyboard that uses backlighting. 

I always thought the original black ABS ones sounded more hollow (and louder).


Offline macclack

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Re: [IC] - Matias 60% ALPS keyboard with Cherry-compatible PCB
« Reply #512 on: Tue, 26 February 2019, 10:50:16 »
I always thought the original black ABS ones sounded more hollow (and louder).

Alps switches (particularly SKCM variants) are generally lauded for sound. My guess is the housing has something to do with it.

Offline equalunique

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Re: [IC] - Matias 60% ALPS keyboard with Cherry-compatible PCB
« Reply #513 on: Tue, 26 February 2019, 16:51:19 »


My understanding is that the point of the transparent housing is mainly so light will shine through for backlighting. Other than lock lights, I haven't seen a Matias or KBParadise keyboard that uses backlighting.
[/quote]

One of these days, I will complete my HeliDox kits and have a pair of split ergo boards sporting Matias switches & per-key RGB lighting. I feel like it has to be done because those transparent housings are perfect for RGB but no keyboards AFAIK have this combo.


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Offline mwahlig

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Re: [IC] - Matias 60% ALPS keyboard with Cherry-compatible PCB
« Reply #514 on: Fri, 31 May 2019, 01:04:44 »
Will the planck/preonic compatible keycap sets you have available on your store currently get updated to be PBT keycaps? I would love some blank PBT alps keycaps for my planck :)

PBT will be available too.
Any idea when these might be available? I realize this is a very old thread, but I could definitely use some PBT matias/alps blank keycaps.


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Offline Matias

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Re: [IC] - Matias 60% ALPS keyboard with Cherry-compatible PCB
« Reply #515 on: Fri, 31 May 2019, 01:11:23 »
Will the planck/preonic compatible keycap sets you have available on your store currently get updated to be PBT keycaps? I would love some blank PBT alps keycaps for my planck :)

PBT will be available too.
Any idea when these might be available? I realize this is a very old thread, but I could definitely use some PBT matias/alps blank keycaps.



Current best estimate is around September.

We already made one small shipment to an OEM customer, and we expect to continue production by around Sept.

I'm going to China again in June.


Offline mwahlig

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Re: [IC] - Matias 60% ALPS keyboard with Cherry-compatible PCB
« Reply #516 on: Fri, 31 May 2019, 01:16:02 »
Will the planck/preonic compatible keycap sets you have available on your store currently get updated to be PBT keycaps? I would love some blank PBT alps keycaps for my planck :)

PBT will be available too.
Any idea when these might be available? I realize this is a very old thread, but I could definitely use some PBT matias/alps blank keycaps.



Current best estimate is around September.

We already made one small shipment to an OEM customer, and we expect to continue production by around Sept.

I'm going to China again in June.
Awesome, good to hear! Thanks for the super fast reply too!


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Offline Matias

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Re: [IC] - Matias 60% ALPS keyboard with Cherry-compatible PCB
« Reply #517 on: Fri, 31 May 2019, 01:22:45 »
Any idea when these might be available? I realize this is a very old thread, but I could definitely use some PBT matias/alps blank keycaps.

Current best estimate is around September.

We already made one small shipment to an OEM customer, and we expect to continue production by around Sept.

I'm going to China again in June.


Awesome, good to hear! Thanks for the super fast reply too!



No problem... just lucky I happened to be checking email.



Offline macclack

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Re: [IC] - Matias 60% ALPS keyboard with Cherry-compatible PCB
« Reply #518 on: Tue, 08 October 2019, 22:15:58 »
So... here we are in October. Any updates?

Offline Matias

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Re: [IC] - Matias 60% ALPS keyboard with Cherry-compatible PCB
« Reply #519 on: Thu, 10 October 2019, 02:56:06 »
So... here we are in October. Any updates?


I'm leaving for China again on Sunday, and keycaps are high on the agenda for the trip.

We were supposed to ramp up production on the last trip, but ran out of time.  Specifically, the samples we got weren't at the level of quality that I felt comfortable approving, so I nixed the production run.  It's very frustrating, given that the previous samples were perfect.

I'm 80% confident we'll be able to finish them this trip.


Offline euphxenos

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Re: [IC] - Matias 60% ALPS keyboard with Cherry-compatible PCB
« Reply #520 on: Thu, 10 October 2019, 12:32:31 »
So... here we are in October. Any updates?


I'm leaving for China again on Sunday, and keycaps are high on the agenda for the trip.

We were supposed to ramp up production on the last trip, but ran out of time.  Specifically, the samples we got weren't at the level of quality that I felt comfortable approving, so I nixed the production run.  It's very frustrating, given that the previous samples were perfect.

I'm 80% confident we'll be able to finish them this trip.

What about the rest of the keyboard?  Is it just waiting for keycaps, or is the rest of it still years away from being done?

Offline commandlinedesign

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Re: [IC] - Matias 60% ALPS keyboard with Cherry-compatible PCB
« Reply #521 on: Fri, 13 December 2019, 20:43:58 »
So... here we are in October. Any updates?


I'm leaving for China again on Sunday, and keycaps are high on the agenda for the trip.

We were supposed to ramp up production on the last trip, but ran out of time.  Specifically, the samples we got weren't at the level of quality that I felt comfortable approving, so I nixed the production run.  It's very frustrating, given that the previous samples were perfect.

I'm 80% confident we'll be able to finish them this trip.

Any updates from your latest trip? 2019 has come and gone without even a single progress photo. Please take a few moments to update us, given that we have paid in advance and been more than patient for the past 5+ years.

Offline macclack

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Re: [IC] - Matias 60% ALPS keyboard with Cherry-compatible PCB
« Reply #522 on: Fri, 13 December 2019, 22:25:14 »
Longest. Group buy. Ever.

Offline Matias

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Re: [IC] - Matias 60% ALPS keyboard with Cherry-compatible PCB
« Reply #523 on: Sun, 15 December 2019, 11:09:48 »
Any updates from your latest trip? 2019 has come and gone without even a single progress photo. Please take a few moments to update us, given that we have paid in advance and been more than patient for the past 5+ years.

Very true...

BTW, sorry for the delayed reply.  I just got back and am still working off the jet lag.

I think we finally have the keycap situation worked out -- see attached photo.  It's not quite as white in real life, but it's close.  The samples passed the scratch tests and alcohol test.  We're doing a complete set next.

Also, we now have have programmable firmware, so the 60% will be programmable.  I'm still thinking how best to do it, but probably will be via the Fn key.


231952-0

Offline equalunique

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Re: [IC] - Matias 60% ALPS keyboard with Cherry-compatible PCB
« Reply #524 on: Sun, 15 December 2019, 20:59:03 »
Thank you for the update!!

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Offline E3E

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Re: [IC] - Matias 60% ALPS keyboard with Cherry-compatible PCB
« Reply #525 on: Mon, 16 December 2019, 02:05:08 »
the alignment is very good :)

Very true...

BTW, sorry for the delayed reply.  I just got back and am still working off the jet lag.

I think we finally have the keycap situation worked out -- see attached photo.  It's not quite as white in real life, but it's close.  The samples passed the scratch tests and alcohol test.  We're doing a complete set next.

Also, we now have have programmable firmware, so the 60% will be programmable.  I'm still thinking how best to do it, but probably will be via the Fn key.

Offline Matias

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Re: [IC] - Matias 60% ALPS keyboard with Cherry-compatible PCB
« Reply #526 on: Mon, 16 December 2019, 06:43:13 »
the alignment is very good :)

Yeah, sorry about that, they weren't careful to align it straight.  These were just for testing the laser settings.

For production, they'll be done on a jig, so positioning and alignment will be consistent.

I've learned more than I'd planned to, about printing legends on PBT, from this experience.  Again, thanks to everyone for their patience.  I hope you'll all be pleasantly surprised with the final product.

Offline dazhdev

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Re: [IC] - Matias 60% ALPS keyboard with Cherry-compatible PCB
« Reply #527 on: Sun, 05 January 2020, 19:32:19 »
How does one go about ordering in Europe? i see matias.store only ships to US/Canada.
interested in a US version.

Offline commandlinedesign

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Re: [IC] - Matias 60% ALPS keyboard with Cherry-compatible PCB
« Reply #528 on: Wed, 29 January 2020, 13:37:03 »
the alignment is very good :)

Yeah, sorry about that, they weren't careful to align it straight.  These were just for testing the laser settings.

For production, they'll be done on a jig, so positioning and alignment will be consistent.

I've learned more than I'd planned to, about printing legends on PBT, from this experience.  Again, thanks to everyone for their patience.  I hope you'll all be pleasantly surprised with the final product.

That's great, thanks so much for updating us.  I'm glad to hear the project is still coming along!

Offline macclack

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Re: [IC] - Matias 60% ALPS keyboard with Cherry-compatible PCB
« Reply #529 on: Wed, 29 January 2020, 16:24:59 »
Thank you for the update!!

Sent from my Ono-Sendai Cyberspace 7 using Tapatalk


any updates? It's been quite a while without any news.

Offline Applet

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Re: [IC] - Matias 60% ALPS keyboard with Cherry-compatible PCB
« Reply #530 on: Wed, 19 February 2020, 04:48:24 »
Great to hear that the manufacturing of keycaps is still progressing  ;D

Offline macclack

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Re: [IC] - Matias 60% ALPS keyboard with Cherry-compatible PCB
« Reply #531 on: Tue, 28 April 2020, 13:29:18 »
Just checking in. Is this thing ever going to see the light of day?

Offline ChumpyWasTaken

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Re: [IC] - Matias 60% ALPS keyboard with Cherry-compatible PCB
« Reply #532 on: Tue, 26 May 2020, 11:47:47 »
New acc-
does this explain the QC issues in latest Matias kb batches? Knew there were some pretty significant issues with boards produced around mid-late 2018...reading through this replies here seems to indicate a larger manufacturing problem. I work in fab/eng so and some of the stuff here is uh  :eek: worrying.
Can anyone with a newer board sound off?

Offline macclack

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Re: [IC] - Matias 60% ALPS keyboard with Cherry-compatible PCB
« Reply #533 on: Thu, 22 July 2021, 16:01:17 »
Sooo.... Are we ever going to to get anything for our money or???

Offline Matias

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Re: [IC] - Matias 60% ALPS keyboard with Cherry-compatible PCB
« Reply #534 on: Fri, 23 July 2021, 01:12:31 »
Sooo.... Are we ever going to to get anything for our money or???

There was a lot of progress on my last trip, but I've been stranded since the pandemic started. We can get the keyboard hardware done, and we've already started on the firmware, but the keycaps will require travel. It'll probably be a few months before we know the situation.


New acc-
does this explain the QC issues in latest Matias kb batches? Knew there were some pretty significant issues with boards produced around mid-late 2018...reading through this replies here seems to indicate a larger manufacturing problem. I work in fab/eng so and some of the stuff here is uh  :eek: worrying.
Can anyone with a newer board sound off?

We did a tooling refresh before the pandemic, so there shouldn't be any major issues.


Offline Xury46

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Re: [IC] - Matias 60% ALPS keyboard with Cherry-compatible PCB
« Reply #535 on: Sat, 12 August 2023, 18:00:33 »
I just found out about this. Did it ever come to fruition? It looks like an interesting project.

Offline Matias

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Re: [IC] - Matias 60% ALPS keyboard with Cherry-compatible PCB
« Reply #536 on: Sun, 13 August 2023, 07:48:33 »
I just found out about this. Did it ever come to fruition? It looks like an interesting project.


Yes, it's still happening but not ready yet.  We're slower than NASA...

I've been in Taiwan for almost a month and a half, and it's one of the projects we've been working on.

Progress includes a new stabilizer system that supports both ALPS and Cherry (without ripping the guts out when you remove a keycap). We were using Costar stabs originally.

The case design is also essentially done -- still waiting on the near-final mockup sample.

Let me know if you have any other questions.