[IC] Blank PBT DSA Alps?

[jacobolus]

Hey folks. For my own keyboard projects, I want to get a pile of 1x1 PBT DSA (or ideally SA row 3 but it might not be possible) Alps keycaps. After a few sets, these actually aren’t impossibly expensive from Signature Plastics. But I wonder if there's more general interest in also getting various other widths of keys, for people with typical layout keyboards to swap caps on. At the point there were more than just 1x1 keys, then the price goes up quite a bit, until the volume hits a pretty high number. But it seems like there are enough Alps aficionados around here that it might be possible to get enough of these to be worthwhile anyway.

Anyway, first, I wonder if anyone else would be interested in going in on a bunch of blank 1x1s [color TBD; I don't have super strong preferences, though white or light gray could be nice]. If there's enough interest could potentially be multiple colors. Beyond that, I figured it'd be nice to have a thread for discussion of blank alps sets. There seems to be almost no discussion of alps keycaps compared to cherry caps, around here.

Does anyone know of other good sources for new alps-mount keycaps, other than Signature Plastics?

Cheers!

[yasuo]

why not SP?

[jacobolus]

Oh, I was talking about SP. I’m just wondering if there are alternatives I should take a look at.

[SpAmRaY]

I didn't think DSA and SA were made in ALPS variants.....

[jacobolus]

They definitely have DSA w/ alps mounts. I think they might not have SA, but I read somewhere on here/on the web that they had SA row 3. That might be false though.

[CPTBadAss]

They definitely have DSA w/ alps mounts.

Can you link us to some information? This is the first I've heard of this.

[jacobolus]

From Melissa at SP:

[...] so a set of 60 single space DSA keys [...] We have a minimum order value of $100 for any order that needs to go into production. Pricing is below and does not include shipping costs:
MOQ: 140 pcs - $0.75 each
180 pcs - $0.59 each
300 pcs - $0.55 each
600 pcs - $0.47 each
1500 pcs - $0.42 each

I was asking about sets of 60 1x1 PBT DSA alps-mount keys, so those are in multiples of 60. The price might break down at slightly different points if ordering arbitrary numbers.

[CPTBadAss]

I still don't see where it says DSA Alps mount caps. I was unaware that they have it so seeing your question would help me. There has been an interest check for a long time looking for Alps caps in general from SP. I find it hard to believe a simple change in the profile family means that all the alphas/mods/spacebar issues are fixed.

Edit: Wait...I think I misread. You're just looking for 1x1 caps? Hm, I'm still surprised they have them in DSA profile but ok.

[jacobolus]

I added a follow-up question for her about what other sizes of DSA caps w/ Alps mounts they have tooling for, and what kind of stabilizers those would allow.

[jacobolus]

They have all the usual sizes in DSA profile Alps mount, but they can only use MX mounts on the sides for stabilizer inserts, apparently. Sounds like they can do a normal DSA spacebar as well.

For a full blank set:

Pricing for a standard 104 layout is below (86-1x, 7-1.25x, 2-1.5x, 1-1.75x, 4-2x, 2-2.25x, 1-1.75x, spacebar)
25 sets         $86.12 per set
50 sets         $68.69 per set
75 sets         $62.88 per set
100 sets                $59.97 per set
150 sets                $57.07 per set
200 sets                $55.62 per set
250 sets                $54.75 per set

[Hak Foo]

The Alps/MX combination would work well on a Ducky 1008/1087; these boards already use a Costar-like stabilizer.

The Solidtek ASK-6600 too, but it has a big-ass enter that wouldn't work well.