Is this board still happening?
There is a glitch in the production that I've been waiting for DrHubble to address which is why I've said nothing. The bottom line is the shop has increased the number of boards to make is an unreasonable number of custom keyboards to purchase. Hate to put out a number but they wanted us to commit to 200 cases.
I'm not sure about the rest of you but I've always wondered why no one in CONUS has made a custom keyboard.
I can tell you why because I've spent endless hours calling, talking, taking keyboards to shops, and spent money on having things done to my own keyboards to find out the quality of work that shops do.
Prototypes - shops charge up to $2000 + for a prototype here.
Several seemed interested but were concerned with quality control and interesting enough payment.
Case - I'm surprised at the cost to make a case. I won't go into actual cost but the number cases the shop requires puts the cost near the 6 figure amount- i.e. Less than $100,000 but more than $50,000. The more complicated the case, the more the machine time, the higher cost. Interesting enough you would think all the curves make the Mira expensive. Those are not the main thing that increase cost-bevels, the hole for the USB cable, the PCB mounting - those are the issues. DrHubble made a few design changes that I haven't seen yet
Coating - you would think large shops would just mp on a simple job like this but the profit is not there.I've found two shops that anodize that would do the job - one has a good reputation, the other bad. When I think of anodizing I think prep the surface, anodize it by dipping it, allow it o dry. That is not even close. Apparently it is a 25 step process for this shop.
Cerakote was a interesting option but interestingly enough the color chips are far from the actual color and the board of mine scared him off and costed him to much. It was more than 3 times the cost of anodizing.
Powder coating - one shop I was sent to as horrible. It is a process done usually on larger items and is done by people who aren't particularly careful with the item. The exception is the ones that do car or motorcycle parts but they have all the work they can handle. I've had a board at a shop for over a month with no word back.
I'm posting to save this and I will then edit it to finish.
