[GB] Southpaw Extended 65% - 100% Shipped - Cleaning up

[reconsiderit]

So I mailed CandyKeys, because I didn't know the shipping status of the raw bent plate kits.

David answered : "SO we have another small tiny issue. Are you aware of the acryl plate going under the case? We have not gotten that yet and we sent 75% of the orders for the bent case and now people are asking where that is so that is a mistake."

So, two steps forward, one step backward.

That should have been shipped with the steel bent plates. The acrylic diffusers and laser cut and bent steel plates were fabricated at the same factory. Something isn't quite right. Give me some time to follow up on this.

[reconsiderit]

Big Update - Aluminum Case Manufacturing Qualms

As many of you read in the last update, some of the cases that came out have aluminum grain on them. The only way to fix this is to remake cases from scratch, and unless the supplier is willing to test the aluminum (which the current one is not at the current quantity), there's no guarantee that they will be completely free of grain.

They're going to reblast and reanodize some of the cases that have issues that can be lessened or removed by refinishing. I've gotten some better pictures from my rep and some of the cases have extremely minimal grain that appears at certain angles and will not be reworked as reanodizing aluminum multiple times deteriorates the surface (as seen from my lunar GB) and leads to more defects from handling.

As the situation stands, the factory is unwilling to remake the cases as this is the "second run" from them as many from the first had major CNC inconsistencies around the chamfers and standoffs and were tossed. Remaking again would run another few months (given this past experience with them) and is just not feasible at this point. For units that I receive and QC that do not meet my quality expectations, I will issue out partial refunds and organize cerakoating if desired.

I'm truly sorry if I've disappointed some of you as everyone in the GB has certainly waited long enough for their boards. My vision from the beginning has always been to deliver boards that do not disappoint and it is something I've tried my best to do with this GB. As it stands today though, I simply do not have the money left after the fiasco with KP and the round 1 Lunar manufacturing situation to remake a third run of cases at the factory that manufactured the second run of Lunar. I would much rather get these delivered to everyone as soon as possible without any further delays.



TL;DR


Some cases at the moment still show some grain. Manufacturer of the remade aluminum cases has stopped cooperating as remaking aluminum cases is costing them more than what I've paid them due to remanufacturing and remaking cases that had issues. They are not willing to remake/fix any more cases. I will be shipping what I receive and issuing partial refunds for cases that have grain (which, I understand from my rep, not many). If you happen to be allocated a case with serious grain, I will help with certificating if desired.

[tentboy]

Big Update - Aluminum Case Manufacturing Qualms

As many of you read in the last update, some of the cases that came out have aluminum grain on them. The only way to fix this is to remake cases from scratch, and unless the supplier is willing to test the aluminum (which the current one is not at the current quantity), there's no guarantee that they will be completely free of grain.

They're going to reblast and reanodize some of the cases that have issues that can be lessened or removed by refinishing. I've gotten some better pictures from my rep and some of the cases have extremely minimal grain that appears at certain angles and will not be reworked as reanodizing aluminum multiple times deteriorates the surface (as seen from my lunar GB) and leads to more defects from handling.

As the situation stands, the factory is unwilling to remake the cases as this is the "second run" from them as many from the first had major CNC inconsistencies around the chamfers and standoffs and were tossed. Remaking again would run another few months (given this past experience with them) and is just not feasible at this point. For units that I receive and QC that do not meet my quality expectations, I will issue out partial refunds and organize cerakoating if desired.

I'm truly sorry if I've disappointed some of you as everyone in the GB has certainly waited long enough for their boards. My vision from the beginning has always been to deliver boards that do not disappoint and it is something I've tried my best to do with this GB. As it stands today though, I simply do not have the money left after the fiasco with KP and the round 1 Lunar manufacturing situation to remake a third run of cases at the factory that manufactured the second run of Lunar. I would much rather get these delivered to everyone as soon as possible without any further delays.



TL;DR


Some cases at the moment still show some grain. Manufacturer of the remade aluminum cases has stopped cooperating as remaking aluminum cases is costing them more than what I've paid them due to remanufacturing and remaking cases that had issues. They are not willing to remake/fix any more cases. I will be shipping what I receive and issuing partial refunds for cases that have grain (which, I understand from my rep, not many). If you happen to be allocated a case with serious grain, I will help with certificating if desired.

Thank you for the update!

I can understand your frustration with the situation, but hopefully those with affected cases can seek alternative means of coating, either powder or cerakoting.  I know I will be and don't mind too much if I receive one. 

Any ETA on when you will be getting them back?

[reconsiderit]

Big Update - Aluminum Case Manufacturing Qualms

As many of you read in the last update, some of the cases that came out have aluminum grain on them. The only way to fix this is to remake cases from scratch, and unless the supplier is willing to test the aluminum (which the current one is not at the current quantity), there's no guarantee that they will be completely free of grain.

They're going to reblast and reanodize some of the cases that have issues that can be lessened or removed by refinishing. I've gotten some better pictures from my rep and some of the cases have extremely minimal grain that appears at certain angles and will not be reworked as reanodizing aluminum multiple times deteriorates the surface (as seen from my lunar GB) and leads to more defects from handling.

As the situation stands, the factory is unwilling to remake the cases as this is the "second run" from them as many from the first had major CNC inconsistencies around the chamfers and standoffs and were tossed. Remaking again would run another few months (given this past experience with them) and is just not feasible at this point. For units that I receive and QC that do not meet my quality expectations, I will issue out partial refunds and organize cerakoating if desired.

I'm truly sorry if I've disappointed some of you as everyone in the GB has certainly waited long enough for their boards. My vision from the beginning has always been to deliver boards that do not disappoint and it is something I've tried my best to do with this GB. As it stands today though, I simply do not have the money left after the fiasco with KP and the round 1 Lunar manufacturing situation to remake a third run of cases at the factory that manufactured the second run of Lunar. I would much rather get these delivered to everyone as soon as possible without any further delays.



TL;DR


Some cases at the moment still show some grain. Manufacturer of the remade aluminum cases has stopped cooperating as remaking aluminum cases is costing them more than what I've paid them due to remanufacturing and remaking cases that had issues. They are not willing to remake/fix any more cases. I will be shipping what I receive and issuing partial refunds for cases that have grain (which, I understand from my rep, not many). If you happen to be allocated a case with serious grain, I will help with certificating if desired.

Thank you for the update!

I can understand your frustration with the situation, but hopefully those with affected cases can seek alternative means of coating, either powder or cerakoting.  I know I will be and don't mind too much if I receive one. 

Any ETA on when you will be getting them back?

Talking with my rep, they should be one in around two weeks time as they are still working on the last batch of cases that they have been willing to do.

Not a concrete estimate, but I'd say a month or so from today.

[speaktobrett]

Talking with my rep, they should be one in around two weeks time as they are still working on the last batch of cases that they have been willing to do.

Not a concrete estimate, but I'd say a month or so from today.

Thank you for the update. I imagine this is a tough situation for you.

In regards to the orders through Candykeys, when do you think they will arrive?
Do they go to you first, or shipped directly to Candkeys?

[reconsiderit]

Talking with my rep, they should be one in around two weeks time as they are still working on the last batch of cases that they have been willing to do.

Not a concrete estimate, but I'd say a month or so from today.

Thank you for the update. I imagine this is a tough situation for you.

In regards to the orders through Candykeys, when do you think they will arrive?
Do they go to you first, or shipped directly to Candkeys?

Alu cases will go directly to candykeys.

[HowObvious]

Any news on the Acrylic plates for Candykeys orders.

I emailed them and they said they were still waiting on receiving them.

[tigerali]

Is there any news for the rest of us too?

[reconsiderit]

Any news on the Acrylic plates for Candykeys orders.

I emailed them and they said they were still waiting on receiving them.

The acrylic sheets that go under the board should've been shipped with the bent plates. They were laser cut at the same factory. Not sure what happened here but I'll check in with CK.

[reconsiderit]

Is there any news for the rest of us too?

Everything is complete and waiting for shipping supplies from the factory's end. Using wooden crates to ship so it should be less than a week's time before they're dispatched.

[Vadurr]

crossing fingers

[green_mmq]

Any news?

[tigerali]

Also came to the thread to ask the same thing.

[Nigolski]

two year gb hype??

[Bubblegum]

Have the parts been shipped from the factory yet?

[reconsiderit]

The factory is looking to ship all the stuff they owe me at once. They are waiting on the cardboard boxes from the factory and have told me they would be for sure ready to ship next week.

[HowObvious]

How about the acrylic diffuser for candykeys bent plates, any news?

[weetjewel]

I'd like to know about the Candykeys bent plates orders too, it's been way too long to not have an update. It doesn't take half a year to have some acrylic diffusers made, this is getting absolutely ridiculous.

[ktrezzi]

Yeah, me too. I don't want to blame on reconsiderit but the comunication could be better imho. At least give any kind of update.

What is wrong with those CandyKey orders? What is exactly missing? How long should we expect? And why isn't there some sort of alternative to the missing parts?

[euphxenos]

The factory is looking to ship all the stuff they owe me at once. They are waiting on the cardboard boxes from the factory and have told me they would be for sure ready to ship next week.

Did the factory send you this shipment, or are we still waiting for the factory to get some cardboard boxes?

[tigerali]

The factory is looking to ship all the stuff they owe me at once. They are waiting on the cardboard boxes from the factory and have told me they would be for sure ready to ship next week.

Did the factory send you this shipment, or are we still waiting for the factory to get some cardboard boxes?

EDIT: Seriously, there needs to be some communication.

[NoncarbonatedClack]

Yes, we need an update. Shouldn't take almost 2 weeks for a factory to get cardboard boxes, of all things.

The website News section also hasn't been updated either.

What's the word?

[edj628]

Torches and pitchforks are being distributed. I'd be careful, reconsiderit.

[weetjewel]

I love that he's doing ICs for PCBs while I'm still waiting for my board that I ordered two years ago, worst GB I've ever joined.

[ktrezzi]

I love that he's doing ICs for PCBs while I'm still waiting for my board that I ordered two years ago, worst GB I've ever joined.

Yeah me too...I don't think that this is a fine way to deal with the participants, it's pretty inadequate imho

[tigerali]

I'm really growing impatient with the lack of communication.

Apologies to everyone who sees this thread and thinks maybe we're getting an update.

[Bubblegum]

Took my GMK Laser set out of its tray around 13 months ago in anticipation for this board that would soon get delivered, lol. Have since moved appartment and my layout's GMK Laser caps are waiting in a plastic bag.

"Soon"  )

[weetjewel]

Took my GMK Laser set out of its tray around 13 months ago in anticipation for this board that would soon get delivered, lol. Have since moved appartment and my layout's GMK Laser caps are waiting in a plastic bag.

"Soon"  )

I ordered 100 MX Silent blacks through a GB for the board and when I ordered them I was worried the board would arrive before the switches, oh how wrong I was.

[tigerali]

Reconsiderit, you ought to reply to the thread, even if there is no news. We are getting restless, and that's because you gave us another timeline, and we're not sure if we are still on it or not.

As respectfully as humanly possible, there needs to be more communication here. You need to tell us what's going on. You've said how hard this is on you, but we've given you our money (and for me, at least, it was an amount that I can't just write off), and we do have some right to be in the know on how things are going.

I know this must be a tough spot, and evidently doing this GB was harder than you anticipated. Not only is the GB remarkably late, you've given us multiple timelines, you've gone silent on us multiple times, and the latest is that some of the cases failed QC.

We would all be much less anxious if you communicated with us, though, and I think we do deserve to know what's going on.

[tigerali]

Is there any news for the rest of us too?

Everything is complete and waiting for shipping supplies from the factory's end. Using wooden crates to ship so it should be less than a week's time before they're dispatched.

This was written August 6, and it's now more than a month later.

[ktrezzi]

Took my GMK Laser set out of its tray around 13 months ago in anticipation for this board that would soon get delivered, lol. Have since moved appartment and my layout's GMK Laser caps are waiting in a plastic bag.

"Soon"  )

I wanted to build that keyboard for work, in the meantime I changed my job twice

[happycamper87]

Pretty nuts to think about how I considered this for my first diy build back when it was first announced at the end of 2017. That would've been a really bad intro to the world of customs. Pretty happy I went with the Melody96 instead.

[Bubblegum]

Reconsiderit, you ought to reply to the thread, even if there is no news. We are getting restless, and that's because you gave us another timeline, and we're not sure if we are still on it or not.

As respectfully as humanly possible, there needs to be more communication here. You need to tell us what's going on. You've said how hard this is on you, but we've given you our money (and for me, at least, it was an amount that I can't just write off), and we do have some right to be in the know on how things are going.

I know this must be a tough spot, and evidently doing this GB was harder than you anticipated. Not only is the GB remarkably late, you've given us multiple timelines, you've gone silent on us multiple times, and the latest is that some of the cases failed QC.

We would all be much less anxious if you communicated with us, though, and I think we do deserve to know what's going on.

Very well written and respectful post echoing what I believe most people are thinking.

[tigerali]

I fully expected a response by now, and I'm disappointed (but not entirely surprised) there hasn't been one yet.

One additional point - the money we gave you represents hard work on our part - it's the tangible representation of us working - and in terms of communicating with us, I don't feel like you've held up your part of the communicative relationship with us. I'm not asking you to be at our beck and call, but as both human beings and people who have given you our hard-earned money, you do owe us communication both when the project initially left your timeline and now when you said things would be ready to ship to you in a week (now, more than a month ago).

This includes both this GH thread and the Switchplate discord, on which I currently see no recent responses from you.

In terms of milestones, I changed jobs twice since joining this GB (once internally and now externally) and have gone from unable to put together a board to soldering things together myself.

PLEASE COMMUNICATE WITH US.

To my fellow thread-members, has there been any new responses from CandyKeys? Maybe they have more information than we do.

[green_mmq]

Edit: thought this thread needed some humor. But yeah, exactly what tiger said.

Also if we're mentioning milestones, I moved three times and got married.

[weetjewel]

Milestones:

-Graduated college
-Got my first job
-Moved out to live on my own
-Got promoted at work

When I ordered this board I was using a CM Masterkeys Pro L that I switch swapped for Tealios. I was super excited to get a really unique custom board. I'm currently typing this message on a TX108se with Tealios, ePBT BoW and some TinyMakesThings Yeti artisan keycaps. I als have a TX-CP, a TX1800V2, an HB85 and an INETT CROSS now so It's safe to say I'm way past whatever the Southpaw has to offer but I still want what I payed for.

[tigerali]

Yeah, I got this to be my primary driver on my home Hackintosh, but in the interim got a Model M and an ALT both of which I'm using as my primaries - disappointed, but still definitely want the item I paid for.

[Laughmaster]

Just FYI, reconsiderit said this in his discord last night when pinged for an update:

I've paid the shipping invoice for the factory so it should be sent to me soon

the guy who pinged him asked what soon means but that was all he said about the 65.

[tigerali]

To be fair, he said essentially said soon several times in August. I think we need more detail.

Also I am the guy in the discord who asked.

[ktrezzi]

I've paid the shipping invoice for the factory so it should be sent to me soon

"Soon" the offical GB trademark.

So he didn't say anything new or anything what we didn't already know? Only on Discord...I'm not on Discord, how should I notice that? How can it be that YOU have to post here on Geekhack to inform us? And not he?

How the **** can you not have one minute in your life to turn on your PC, go to this site and just write a couple of words after you haven't said anything about this GroupBuy for weeks except "soon"?

EDIT: Thank you @tigerali for doing @reconsiderit his work

[tigerali]

I agree he should be updating this thread. I don't think folks should be using Geekhack to increase the legitimacy of their GBs on the front end and then abandon the thread they made before the GB is done.

[CandyKeys]

Just a update from us, a kind buyer notified us about this thread again. It is a shame honestly, I mean we might also not be experts on the quality of manufacturing and delaying things but the last thing we expect is that one keeps opening more products and gbs. We sadly have no new news from the original host, the last news was there was some packages ready but we are unsure what is happening since that was 3 weeks ago or more.

The good thing is for the CK customers - we have you covered and will refund you if it all turns to shambles, but i feel sorry for the others who have been effected not under our umbrella. No we do not have some insurance but it is only the right thing to do. :/

[weetjewel]

Just a update from us, a kind buyer notified us about this thread again. It is a shame honestly, I mean we might also not be experts on the quality of manufacturing and delaying things but the last thing we expect is that one keeps opening more products and gbs. We sadly have no new news from the original host, the last news was there was some packages ready but we are unsure what is happening since that was 3 weeks ago or more.

The good thing is for the CK customers - we have you covered and will refund you if it all turns to shambles, but i feel sorry for the others who have been effected not under our umbrella. No we do not have some insurance but it is only the right thing to do. :/

Thank you very much for the update. It's a shame that everything turned out this way.

[tigerali]

Really impressed with Candykeys, for coming on to this thread and giving us the information they have (and for the offer to cover their buyers). A real stand up move, and in stark contrast to the lack of communication from reconsiderit.

My question of what "soon" means on discord has not received a reply.

[speaktobrett]

I am very much relieved that CandyKeys will offer refunds to their customers if it does get to that point!

[tigerali]

[NoncarbonatedClack]

So in other words... Still waiting on those boxes, eh?

[tigerali]

Yeah, that's my impression. No direct answer + why is he starting even more group buys when the first several are still struggling?

EDIT:
I don't know why it's my job to copy information from the discord to this GH thread but (rather than reconsiderit's) but more from discord today:



EDIT 2:

[speaktobrett]

I appreciate the updates, although this is all very vague.

To summarise, all CandyKeys needs now is the screws for the cases?

[Bubblegum]

I appreciate the updates, although this is all very vague.

To summarise, all CandyKeys needs now is the screws for the cases?

I read the reply as the cases are still at the factory, but I'm not sure if it's only the shipment to reconsiderit that is struggling or the one to CK also. It is kind of vague if it's CandyKeys or the factory waiting for screws.
First they (not sure if CK or factory) need to source hardware for the cases in the first reply, then it's stated that hardware has already been supplied by KP (supposedly).
I may be misunderstanding this completely. Going to try to forget about this GB for now and be happily surprised whenever it gets finalized.