[IC] CNC Aluminum Case for Topre RealForce TKL keyboards

[codywanks]

I vote "Forbauer"

[romevi]

Noforce.

[Techno Trousers]

Realuminum

[clasicks]

Realforce with Aluminum case by Ryan Norbauer

[pixelpusher]

Realforce X

What?  It’s made in California, right?

[K.Mak]

Is the ETA on delivery going to be a bit sooner due to the US manufacturing?

[norbauer]

Is the ETA on delivery going to be a bit sooner due to the US manufacturing?

I doubt that would have much effect. The shipping time from China to me here is usually only about a week.

[Burt Macklin]

Those EU proxy talks from a few pages back - anything happened?

[norbauer]

Those EU proxy talks from a few pages back - anything happened?

We discussed it a bit, but I'm not entirely convinced that it really saves anybody a significant amount of money or trouble. I'm still open to it, however. The plan is to revisit once I have an actual price.

[Burt Macklin]

Fair enough, thanks.


I'm not exactly sure how complicated it is to set up a proxy in the first place, so I understand if that's too much trouble on your side -
but if it's at all possible, it would be appreciated   

[norbauer]

Fair enough, thanks.


I'm not exactly sure how complicated it is to set up a proxy in the first place, so I understand if that's too much trouble on your side -
but if it's at all possible, it would be appreciated   

I think it would certainly save me some trouble in terms of shipping effort but it would also create some communication and coordination work with the proxy, probably basically a wash. But I'm not really concerned about that. I'm not just sure it would save you guys any meaningful money. Somebody would have to pay the import duties either way. (If the proxy pays them, they would just pass them along to you, even if effectively hidden in the price.) Batching the US-to-EU shipment would save a little bit of money, but in a way that would a) introduce additional delay, 2) probably be largely nullified by the cut the proxy would need to take plus the additional shipping cost of having to pack and ship the product twice.

As far as I can see, it just introduces a middle man, doesn't cut any significant costs, and introduces some slight delay. The only plausible case I've heard so far is that maybe it makes importation easier by outsourcing the task of dealing with customs to the proxy company. It is on this last question of convenience that I think the case to be made for it, if any, rests.

As I say, I'm not averse to it; I just haven't yet been made a strong case as so why it's obviously to anyone's advantage. Am I missing something about the advantage of having a proxy? Please enlighten me.

[avid]

I would much prefer a eu proxy even if price would be the same or even more. I'd happily pay a higher price for the certainty.
If it take longer, that's irrelevant.
Some important factors
1. In some countries, customs are a nightmare and it can be delayed for a long time.
2. Random element of customs. Customs usually has extra fees. So they basically charge you a fee for writing you a ticket   
3. I know the price 100% advance.
4. Shipping is much cheaper inside europe
5. I also think you will get more orders. Many people will feel more comfortable ordering from a european store.

The same debate has been iterated with GMK drops. EU people will always prefer the stability of a eu proxy running stuff. I would probably not bought solarized dark if mykeyboard didnt proxied it. I skipped oblivion for the same reason.

[Burt Macklin]

Yep, avid summed it up nicely, and I agree on all points 

I absolutely hate dealing with my customs because it's incredibly annoying process,
and on top of everything else, you never know how much you'll have to pay until the very moment you receive the customs' invoice.

[redbanshee]

Hyped for this! would be the first american made custom ill have ever owned!

[norbauer]

Yep, avid summed it up nicely, and I agree on all points 

I absolutely hate dealing with my customs because it's incredibly annoying process,
and on top of everything else, you never know how much you'll have to pay until the very moment you receive the customs' invoice.

OK, so I think I must have been understanding the premise of why folks wanted a proxy. This makes total sense to me and I'm on board.

[directheatedtriode]

A few questions

How resilient will the Type II ano finish be with everyday use when it comes to scratches? ie stationary and not transported, but fingernails, etc coming into contact with it.

How easy will it be to do the transplant, is it just desoldering the internal hardwired cable connection (or is this attached with a connector?) and soldering in the USB type C?

What do people think of silver case- go with white or black keycap version of the RF? I am leaning towards white since the prototype pictures look so good with this combination.

[Puddsy]

How resilient will the Type II ano finish be with everyday use when it comes to scratches? ie stationary and not transported, but fingernails, etc coming into contact with it.

it's fairly good, i have other things with type II and it's no worse than any other ano finish

How easy will it be to do the transplant, is it just desoldering the internal hardwired cable connection (or is this attached with a connector?) and soldering in the USB type C?

not too hard, i think it's just a connector

What do people think of silver case- go with white or black keycap version of the RF? I am leaning towards white since the prototype pictures look so good with this combination.

silver looks good with nearly everything

[norbauer]

^ couldn't have said all that better myself.

[clappingcactus]

I really want to get hard anode + hi-pro, but I'm afraid I really really also want the Monte Carlo Red.

Something about a case machined in a Tesla/NASA outsourcing factory, and powder coated like a Ferrari engine sounds the right amount of badass to me.

[plazma9]

This case is absolutely stunning.  I'm just curious though, does it have a significant effect on the sound of the keyboard?

[Johnee]

This case looks fantastic! I’m curious if it will fit my ISO Realforce tho. It’s got a fairly new model number, YA7100, and it does not appear to share the same PCB as other Realforces which makes me a bit worried. Please let me know if I can help out by taking more detailed photos.

[Latin00032]

Fc660c? There still isn't an aftermarket case for this board.

[kmba]

Fc660c? There still isn't an aftermarket case for this board.

He said he's making a 660c case next.

[xondat]

This case looks fantastic! I’m curious if it will fit my ISO Realforce tho. It’s got a fairly new model number, YA7100, and it does not appear to share the same PCB as other Realforces which makes me a bit worried. Please let me know if I can help out by taking more detailed photos.

Yes it will.

[norbauer]

This case looks fantastic! I’m curious if it will fit my ISO Realforce tho. It’s got a fairly new model number, YA7100, and it does not appear to share the same PCB as other Realforces which makes me a bit worried. Please let me know if I can help out by taking more detailed photos.

Yes it will.

Yes, it looks to have the same overall plate and PCB profile as the other TKL boards I've seen, so you should be good.

In fact, PerniciousPony just lent me a couple of his Topre boards for testing, a JIS 89u (same as a 91u but without the winkeys because of the blockers) and his 86u, and I can confirm that both fit perfectly inside the case.

My suspicion is that pretty much every Topre TKL board has the same plate and outer PCB profile.

[FSund]

Next after the FC660 you should tackle the coming Realforce RGB TKL. Topre + MX sliders + TKL + RGB is looking close to endgame.

[strigif0rm3s]

Did you say RealForce RGB TKL? Do you have a link to any articles or documentation on that, would love to read up.......

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[Burt Macklin]

It was announced a few days ago (go check on reddit), only JP version at the moment - but ANSI should be out soon as well.

[FSund]

https://np.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/71qutw/news_topre_announced_the_realforce_rgb_tkl_google/
Translated article: https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=no&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fgame.watch.impress.co.jp%2Fdocs%2Fnews%2F1082087.html&edit-text=

[strigif0rm3s]

thanks! awesome. pumped!

[strigif0rm3s]

any updates Mr. Norbauer?

[elcubismo]

Everyone calls the other one for CoolerMaster cases the "Norbatouch" case, could go with "Norbaforce"

I'm not getting one of these as I don't have a realforce and my wife thinks I have too many keyboards already, but I would like to say Norbaforce gets my vote. Not sure what the hell we're going to do when it comes time to name the FC660C case. Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue as it is.

[vinzlr]

Everyone calls the other one for CoolerMaster cases the "Norbatouch" case, could go with "Norbaforce"

I'm not getting one of these as I don't have a realforce and my wife thinks I have too many keyboards already, but I would like to say Norbaforce gets my vote. Not sure what the hell we're going to do when it comes time to name the FC660C case. Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue as it is.

Maybe FC660CN or NFC660C just to add on 1 letter instead of trying to do something like Norba660c which doesn't quite flow

[kmba]

Norbapold.

[clappingcactus]

So I've spent the last few days of my free time getting QMK to work on Hasu's USB-USB Converter. This works perfectly with my Realforce 89u. Since people here are planning Realforce endgames, I thought some may be interested in getting QMK working with them.

[Vigrith]

OK, so I think I must have been understanding the premise of why folks wanted a proxy. This makes total sense to me and I'm on board.

I too think Avid summed it up fairly nicely - it's more of a quality of life thing rather than money related - in Portugal for example, unless I go to the customs office myself and wait 5 hours in line to pick it up, it can literally take between 4 to 6 weeks for the item to be released. Unless DHL/UPS/FedEx premium express service is used that is (then it's like a week instead, since they call you and resolve everything for you), which it usually is not since the costs are ridiculous.

That's usually not a huge deal when you buy a key set or something but if we're talking about a $350 case it becomes a lot more frustrating.

All in all, if you do set up a European proxy that'd be great - I personally do not own a Realforce but if you run Novatouch cases again and/or Leopold ones I'm definitely going to be participating.

[norbauer]

The shop said the new samples should be ready early this week. As soon as I have them, I'll start working on photos.

[Johnee]

This case looks fantastic! I’m curious if it will fit my ISO Realforce tho. It’s got a fairly new model number, YA7100, and it does not appear to share the same PCB as other Realforces which makes me a bit worried. Please let me know if I can help out by taking more detailed photos.

Yes it will.

Yes, it looks to have the same overall plate and PCB profile as the other TKL boards I've seen, so you should be good.

In fact, PerniciousPony just lent me a couple of his Topre boards for testing, a JIS 89u (same as a 91u but without the winkeys because of the blockers) and his 86u, and I can confirm that both fit perfectly inside the case.

My suspicion is that pretty much every Topre TKL board has the same plate and outer PCB profile.

Great!

So I've spent the last few days of my free time getting QMK to work on Hasu's USB-USB Converter. This works perfectly with my Realforce 89u. Since people here are planning Realforce endgames, I thought some may be interested in getting QMK working with them.

This is something I've been wondering about as well, really great to see somebody looking into it. Would the converter be able fit inside the case Norbauer?

[norbauer]

So I've spent the last few days of my free time getting QMK to work on Hasu's USB-USB Converter. This works perfectly with my Realforce 89u. Since people here are planning Realforce endgames, I thought some may be interested in getting QMK working with them.

This is something I've been wondering about as well, really great to see somebody looking into it. Would the converter be able fit inside the case Norbauer?
[/quote]

Can you tell me more about what would be required for it to be compatible? What is its size, where does it go, and with what does it interface?

[clappingcactus]

So I've spent the last few days of my free time getting QMK to work on Hasu's USB-USB Converter. This works perfectly with my Realforce 89u. Since people here are planning Realforce endgames, I thought some may be interested in getting QMK working with them.

This is something I've been wondering about as well, really great to see somebody looking into it. Would the converter be able fit inside the case Norbauer?

Can you tell me more about what would be required for it to be compatible? What is its size, where does it go, and with what does it interface?

Here is a picture of the converter relative to some part of my Realforce.

On the left hand side is a USB A male header. On the right hand side is a USB A female header. Usually a usb from the realforce goes into the right side, and the left side goes out towards the computer with another USB cable.

When I got my case I was planning on trying to jig it all together so that I have a magnetic cable coming out of my computer and my realforce just has a bolted down magnetically detachable insert from Volta or something. From my experience with the Novatouch case, there should be enough space to include the converter inside the case.

[norbauer]

So I've spent the last few days of my free time getting QMK to work on Hasu's USB-USB Converter. This works perfectly with my Realforce 89u. Since people here are planning Realforce endgames, I thought some may be interested in getting QMK working with them.

This is something I've been wondering about as well, really great to see somebody looking into it. Would the converter be able fit inside the case Norbauer?

Can you tell me more about what would be required for it to be compatible? What is its size, where does it go, and with what does it interface?

Here is a picture of the converter relative to some part of my Realforce.

On the left hand side is a USB A male header. On the right hand side is a USB A female header. Usually a usb from the realforce goes into the right side, and the left side goes out towards the computer with another USB cable.

When I got my case I was planning on trying to jig it all together so that I have a magnetic cable coming out of my computer and my realforce just has a bolted down magnetically detachable insert from Volta or something. From my experience with the Novatouch case, there should be enough space to include the converter inside the case.

Unfortunately, there wouldn't be room for something like this because of the PCB breakout I have to add, which occupies the space to which I think you are referring. The breakout is there to make a detachable (USB C) cable possible. However, maybe this device can be added downstream of the cable and still add the same functionality?

[clappingcactus]

So I've spent the last few days of my free time getting QMK to work on Hasu's USB-USB Converter. This works perfectly with my Realforce 89u. Since people here are planning Realforce endgames, I thought some may be interested in getting QMK working with them.

This is something I've been wondering about as well, really great to see somebody looking into it. Would the converter be able fit inside the case Norbauer?

Can you tell me more about what would be required for it to be compatible? What is its size, where does it go, and with what does it interface?

Here is a picture of the converter relative to some part of my Realforce.

On the left hand side is a USB A male header. On the right hand side is a USB A female header. Usually a usb from the realforce goes into the right side, and the left side goes out towards the computer with another USB cable.

When I got my case I was planning on trying to jig it all together so that I have a magnetic cable coming out of my computer and my realforce just has a bolted down magnetically detachable insert from Volta or something. From my experience with the Novatouch case, there should be enough space to include the converter inside the case.

Unfortunately, there wouldn't be room for something like this because of the PCB breakout I have to add, which occupies the space to which I think you are referring. The breakout is there to make a detachable (USB C) cable possible. However, maybe this device can be added downstream of the cable and still add the same functionality?

*nods*

I'm not too fussy about that ideal, ideal scenario of how it all gets put together because part of the great typing experience on the Norbatouch is how tight all the clearances are. Usually USB-USB converters are actually external to the case and having them internally both adds and removes convenience (launching into bootloader mode becomes impossible without opening up the case).

Now that I know this, though, your carrying case better have a pocket for a cable haha.

[norbauer]

Now that I know this, though, your carrying case better have a pocket for a cable haha.

It does, it does!

[regionfree]

Now that I know this, though, your carrying case better have a pocket for a cable haha.

It does, it does!

big enough for coiled cables, please!

[avid]

Now that I know this, though, your carrying case better have a pocket for a cable haha.

It does, it does!

big enough for coiled cables, please!

And GMK tray in case you need to carry an extra keyset! 

[hayt]

So excited to see these new prototype photos!!!

[clasicks]

So excited to see these new prototype photos!!!

me2 guy

[DillonHightower]

Im in, hopefully it will drop just in time for Christmas. I already picked up a novatouch to harvest from specifically when this drop happens.. Lets GO!!!! **Excited**

[kmba]

Assuming the new prototype(s) is good, are we looking as the gb starting very soon?

[child]

Im in, hopefully it will drop just in time for Christmas. I already picked up a novatouch to harvest from specifically when this drop happens.. Lets GO!!!! **Excited**

You must be joking. It's 6 months since Norbatouch r2 started and still some cases did not arrive (like mine, although this one is admittedly very close).