[IC] Hubble Mira Custom TKL (GB is 3... 2... 1... launched!)

[hoggy]

Its a shame, but thanks for trying.  On the plus side, you've saved us from a bad finish. :-) 

[Evo_Spec]

That is a shame. Sort of odd how cerakote can be done on something so large and intricate as many guns are but cerakote didn't quite work out on a keyboard.

I wonder why? steel vs aluminum? type or steel/aluminum?

[ninjadoc]

Cerakote is OUT! Guy tried on my board five times and was unable to get a finish he was happy with. I had another board I brought in and he doesn't want to try another one. He spent to much time and money and was unable to get a finish that any of us would want on our desk. Sorry guys, he tried and I was really excited about the possibility but it was unsuccessful.

I'm convinced it was the board. The shop didn't want to try after 5 tries. He was upset and hated to turn the money down. I offered to pay for the supplies but he wouldn't accept it. I understood why he wouldn't because he is a small shop but I really liked him and his product. The thing I wasn't sure about was that he sandblasts everything to clean him and prepare it for coating. With the aluminum it gives a very rough, textured feel. On my keyboard the surface felt like sand which was obviously a product of the sandblasting. It only felt like that on a few of the gun stocks that are obviously plastic and would deform more due to sand blasting. The aluminum of my keyboard was obviously more impacted by the sandblasting. Water and acetone beaded up and ran off everything else he cerakoted that he showed me. On the keyboard it seemed to soak in but the bad part it rubbed off which should not happen. I first noted it when I set it on the counter and it scratched. We tried rubbing the scratch, you could feel it, and the cerakote seemed to rub off with his finger. I suggested acetone and it rubbed off in places. He's been through the training course at the company that produces cerakote and certifies applicators, and has done this for a living for 5 years and has never had that happen. He was very frustrate and felt it as a challenge and spent a lot of time and money on the board and really was afraid to try it on any other product like it. The board is made of 6061 T6 aluminum which is a standard aluminum so I have no explanation of the difficulties. I'm trying powder coating now so I can at least use the board.

[Data]

That is a shame. Sort of odd how cerakote can be done on something so large and intricate as many guns are but cerakote didn't quite work out on a keyboard.

I wonder why? steel vs aluminum? type or steel/aluminum?

AR15 receivers are typically 7000-series forged or milled aluminum.  They take cerakote without any problems.  The coating doesn't really care as much about surface material.  Many guys cerakote their polymer stocks and grips.

[asgeirtj]

Won't this board have some kind of rubber stands at the bottom?  To keep it in place?

[ninjadoc]

That is a shame. Sort of odd how cerakote can be done on something so large and intricate as many guns are but cerakote didn't quite work out on a keyboard.

I wonder why? steel vs aluminum? type or steel/aluminum?

AR15 receivers are typically 7000-series forged or milled aluminum.  They take cerakote without any problems.  The coating doesn't really care as much about surface material.  Many guys cerakote their polymer stocks and grips.

I can safely say the cerakote did care about the material in this instance. I would have wondered if it was defective cerakote but ---he tried 5 different times with diffrerent colors to see if he could figure out the issue. If he had called me after the first or second time I would have asked him to stop which would have diminished his frustration and expense. I think it was the board and what had been done to it in the past but we don't need to get this thread derailed discussing that because it doesn't change the fact that cerakote is off the table. If you want to discuss it with me via PM's that's fine, but lets leave the thread for the Mira and what we are doing to get a good product out for all of us.

[ninjadoc]

Won't this board have some kind of rubber stands at the bottom?  To keep it in place?

I think something like these ( https://www.thehardwarehut.com/catalog-product.php?p_ref=259853 )will be included but I can't say that with 100% certainty.

[Data]

I think it was the board and what had been done to it in the past but we don't need to get this thread derailed discussing that because it doesn't change the fact that cerakote is off the table.

I didn't mean to imply otherwise. More than happy to continue with anodizing.

[myotherteeshirt]

Hi there!

Can i still get in on this?

[diqkiq]

Hi there!

Can i still get in on this?

You can. Under the the OP, you will see a link for late comers.

[justnits]

Okay sorry for disapearing for a bit. I have been busy with a lot of stuff lately.

But without further ado, I present to you the Hubble Mira!

sorry i lost my card reader, so potatoes only for now

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okay so here is my unbiased review of the Mira prototype:

things that are great:

• Its undeniably beautiful, i had friends stop by and without knowing what it was thought it was awesome
• The weight is perfect. Not too heavy, not too light.
• The pcb and plate fit great and mount securly to the case
• There is no rattle or shaking in the plate when installed

things that will be fixed:

• The blockers are too tall, so i had to mutilate a couple shift keycaps. Easy fix.
• Minor spacing issues with the escape and left control keys
• USB hole is not large enough and is slightly too far right (about a mm)
• the screw threads are not deep enough on the weight, another easy fix
• The anodizing on the board was done poorly, we have already chosen a different shop, so no worries here

I hope you are excited as I am! Once we confirm the fixes with the shop and nail down our coating options I will announce a start date for the GB!

As far as anodizing we have located a company that has given us very fair prices with the ability to create custom options. Essentialy how it will probably work is that there will be no charge for base colors (Gold, black, blue, green, red, violet, bronze, blue pewter, and titanium), and if there are 10 or more people who want a custom color, they can pay a small amount and we will get it made. Ninjadoc has samples from this shop, so you can see when he posts them what it should look like.

I'm not too sure if you have tested out the prototype with other keycaps such as DSA, SA and Cherry profile keycaps as these keycaps have sharp edge at the bottom.
I noticed the top case curves especially on the insert pgdown clusters, arrow clusters, and the right control, where the corner of the keycaps are very close to the case.
granted that the DCS profile keycaps works without much issue since it has a curve edge at it's bottom.

But my concern goes towards sharp edges keycaps such as the ones mentioned above. I can only estimate as much as what I can see from the picture here. On a separate case, one of CMStorm's latest keyboard has issue with DSA keycaps hitting the corner of the inner case, but Cherry profile keycap has no issue because when compared, the DSA keycaps has a slightly larger bottom edge.

[KaminKevCrew]

Is the Pre-order form still valid? I'm very, very interested in getting a limited production run keyboard, but I'd like to be sure that there's still a spot available.

Anyway, thanks!

[asgeirtj]

I hope this board will have flush bezels with they keycaps.  I've seen some boards which the keycaps get buried and I've seen some boards where the keycaps are too exposed, hope there will be perfect middle ground with this board.

[ninjadoc]

DrHubble is dealing with the sudden death of two friends at school so updates are delayed until he is back to working on the Mira. Sorry. If I find out anything about the current status I will let everyone know.

[romevi]

DrHubble is dealing with the sudden death of two friends at school so updates are delayed until he is back to working on the Mira. Sorry. If I find out anything about the current status I will let everyone know.

As someone who's had a college friend pass away suddenly, I can imagine the pain he's going through, except double.

My condolences.

[swimmingbird]

DrHubble is dealing with the sudden death of two friends at school so updates are delayed until he is back to working on the Mira. Sorry. If I find out anything about the current status I will let everyone know.

Damn sorry to hear that - my condolences go out to you hubble

[tribade]

DrHubble is dealing with the sudden death of two friends at school so updates are delayed until he is back to working on the Mira. Sorry. If I find out anything about the current status I will let everyone know.

That's truly horrible. I remember dealing with the sudden death of a friend in college and obviously it was an incredibly difficult time. All our thoughts are going out to him.

[FranksNewLiver]

DrHubble is dealing with the sudden death of two friends at school so updates are delayed until he is back to working on the Mira. Sorry. If I find out anything about the current status I will let everyone know.

That is awful. My condolences.

[fi0x]

My condolences. The heart and prayers of everyone here go out to you DrHubble.
My grandmother passed away 2 years ago... I still can't believe she is gone. It can feel unreal sometimes.

More

[asdfjkl36]

Sorry to hear about DrHubble.

Best wishes go out to him and those affected by this tragic event.

[Jokrik]

Just found out about this
My deepest condolences to Dr, the family and friends
RIP

[Evo_Spec]

I haven't been keeping on with this thread because i didn't buy one but that really sucks to hear about your friends man.

Hope you're doing okay.

[hoggy]

Sorry for your loss. My condolences.

[livingspeedbump]

.

[livingspeedbump]

Also, very sorry to hear about the loss DrHubble 

[DrHubblePhD]

Update to come... please stand by, we are close to launch

[Steezus]

Update to come... please stand by, we are close to launch

Good news! Glad to see you back Doctor. 

[diqkiq]

Update to come... please stand by, we are close to launch

Cool

[Bucky]

Sweet, excited to get this baby rolling

[swimmingbird]

Update to come... please stand by, we are close to launch

Glad to see you back Dr 

[filphil]

Update to come... please stand by, we are close to launch

HE SAID LAUNCH GUYS.  )

I'll see myself out now.  Sorry.

[livingspeedbump]

Gave spot #13 to Binge.

[theanyday]

Gave spot #13 to Binge.

 

[Jokrik]

Gave spot #13 to Binge.

 

There will be more on the actual gb if I'm not wrong, unless you want that no 13

[Steezus]

Gave spot #13 to Binge.

 

There will be more on the actual gb if I'm not wrong, unless you want that no 13

I think it was more that the first 57 people got free gold stabs, custom numbering on the case weight, and you get your board before anybody else.

[KaminKevCrew]

Do we know when this is happening? I'd prefer to avoid being late... I really want this board and I missed the original 57...

[slushi]

Wooooohoooo! I signed up 

[asdfjkl36]

I keep forgetting but

I'll be giving away a Mira shirt (Medium) and a Mira Hoodie (also Medium) sometime soon.

So for those of you interested (and have placed a pre-order) just reply here and I'll select someone.

Not sure if I should do a giveaway for each or do a giveaway for both. Let me know what you guys think.

[swimmingbird]

I keep forgetting but

I'll be giving away a Mira shirt (Medium) and a Mira Hoodie (also Medium) sometime soon.

So for those of you interested (and have placed a pre-order) just reply here and I'll select someone.

Not sure if I should do a giveaway for each or do a giveaway for both. Let me know what you guys think.

Do it separate to share the MIRA love around - I'd be happy to chip into the extra shipping cost for whoever wins given your incredible generosity 

[roostrc0gburn]

I keep forgetting but

I'll be giving away a Mira shirt (Medium) and a Mira Hoodie (also Medium) sometime soon.

So for those of you interested (and have placed a pre-order) just reply here and I'll select someone.

Not sure if I should do a giveaway for each or do a giveaway for both. Let me know what you guys think.

nice! i missed out on the swag train first time around

[aznairjordan]

I keep forgetting but

I'll be giving away a Mira shirt (Medium) and a Mira Hoodie (also Medium) sometime soon.

So for those of you interested (and have placed a pre-order) just reply here and I'll select someone.

Not sure if I should do a giveaway for each or do a giveaway for both. Let me know what you guys think.

Oooh I'm interested! Didn't want to drop that much on some clothes at that point. I'm all for a giveaway for both so two people are happy, but its extra work/money for you

[asdfjkl36]

Yea. I dont mind paying the cost of shipping. Not a problem.


So i guess here's the form (Made it quickly since i'm starting a midterm right now)

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1w6JaHyacXH2uRB4gIrzVnjscR3OzUNZ5w7sSBDLfqNA/viewform?usp=send_form

Hopefully everything's okay with the form.

[Cottonsox]

Awesome giveaway!

[DrHubblePhD]

Okay guys update time!

So after talking to the manufacturer, it looks like we are going to need some big numbers to make the Mira happen. It will be a challenge to hit the necessary units, but damn it were going to try 

Im hoping ninjadoc can fill you in on the finalized list of anodizing options. After we get a pricing scheme worked out I will set a day for the launch of the group buy.

More info to come.

-Hubble

[Binge]

I keep forgetting but

I'll be giving away a Mira shirt (Medium) and a Mira Hoodie (also Medium) sometime soon.

So for those of you interested (and have placed a pre-order) just reply here and I'll select someone.

Not sure if I should do a giveaway for each or do a giveaway for both. Let me know what you guys think.

I would be V-interested.  Count me in.

[roostrc0gburn]

this IC is like one, long teaser. Doc, if this project does not meet MOQ, can we please talk about at least having the first 57 made, even if that means a higher price point?

[DrHubblePhD]

this IC is like one, long teaser. Doc, if this project does not meet MOQ, can we please talk about at least having the first 57 made, even if that means a higher price point?

I never said we would just give up if the MOQ wasnt made. We have developed a trust with our current CNC shop, if we can go through them we would like to. If not, we find a different shop and try again. 

We are going to get it made.

[roostrc0gburn]

this IC is like one, long teaser. Doc, if this project does not meet MOQ, can we please talk about at least having the first 57 made, even if that means a higher price point?

I never said we would just give up if the MOQ wasnt made. We have developed a trust with our current CNC shop, if we can go through them we would like to. If not, we find a different shop and try again. 

We are going to get it made.

good to hear. I'm in

[slushi]

Got the invoice and have sent payment! Hope this all pans out   

[ninjadoc]

I haven't forgotten everyone. The bottom line is that the standard colors can be done without an extra fee and custom colors can be done with at least 5 units and 15 would be ideal to keep the added cost of the color in the 20 - 30 range. I will do my best to post pictures in the next 2 - 3 days.