May 5th Update - Major
So as some of you guys on discord have heard last night that there are some pretty major issues (in my eyes at least) with the project and I would like everyone to have an idea of what’s going on. I received the items on Friday of last week and immediately realized that there were a few things that were quite off. Because there were a number of people involved, it’s not certain where the files were adjusted but there’s just a lack of accountability in the situation so if anything needs to be redone, I’m willing to dig into my own pockets to make things right since want to make something that you guys can enjoy and be happy with.
There were also features discussed that didn’t get revised onto the final items and that part of things is being negotiated with the vendor that’s working as a middleman for all the production. I’ll keep everyone updated as something is worked out. All of the issues are listed below. Album of issues is here:
https://imgur.com/a/QVQeZGqPCBs
- Magnetic reset switch soldered to the underside of the PCB. It’s advisable for all cases and required for the aluminum case that this be cut off or resoldered on the top side. If you decide to just cut it, you can short the reset from the topside.
- Solder Mask was done in white instead of black. Vendor claimed to not have seen my email about doing a white solder mask and aren’t willing to fix it.
- Missing vertical ISO Enter for alps. This will not affect you if you’re planning on using an adapter or are planning on using DCS or DSA alps caps. If you’re planning to build a board up with alps, I urge you to email me about it.
Aluminum Cases
- Some blem (b-stock cases) in the run that was shipped to me. For the most part though, the anodizing came out amazing.
- Rubber pads were never manufactured. This was discussed but same issue as white solder mask. I will most likely have them done and send them out to everyone at a later date. I’ll be throwing bumpons in with if you choose to have your board shipped asap.
Plates
- Some plates were hastily cut. The cut lines on some of the plates look as if the DXF was drawn in MS Paint.
- About 60-80 percent of plates were mangled in transit. Partially because the vendor wrapped them together with shrink wrap and packed them in a single sheet of bubble wrap.
- DXF cut file was altered somewhere along the line and the edges are insanely thin. This will be fixed when new ones are made.
Bent Plates
- File was changed somewhere along the line and nobody wants to claim responsibility. Completely an aesthetical change, but I personally am pretty pissed about it.
Enclosed Steel case
- Screw holes on plate section weren’t removed
- Holes for cone feet were never cut.
- Some cases have fit issues and do not sit level on the ground.
Alright, so now for the important part. I know everyone has been waiting a damn ridiculous amount of time for these so I’ll have a few options for you guys to choose from.
For bent plates and integrated cases, since the discrepancy in manufacturing is 100% aesthetical and doesn’t at all affect function, (save for the holes for the cone feet and cases that have allignment issues) I will give you the option to either take the one that’s here at the moment or to wait for the new units to be manufactured.The one condition to be met for remanufacturing though is that we need a certain number of units in order to make manufacturing them viable. Probably will be something along the lines of 10-20 units with a one to two month lead time.
For orders with aluminum cases and standalone plates, it’s a slightly different situation. A large majority of the plates came damaged and after QC, most either qualify as b-stock or belong with recyclable aluminum cans. Because most of you guys won’t be building plateless boards and probably don’t want to resolder, I have Three options as far as plates go.
- I can send you a b- stock plate and issue a partial refund. These plates are useable, but they’re not ultra straight. Keep in mind plates will straighten out when you mount and solder switches. As this is tray mount, the plate doesn’t as much contribute to the feel of the board as it does stability of the switches.
- I can refund you for the plate in full and you can build the board up plateless. Keep in mind that you’ll need PCB mount switches to build it up like this and you’ll have marginally more wobble with certain switches.
- You can wait for the plates to be redone. This will be around a month or two. One thing though is that if the factory can’t give me a 100% guarantee that plates will come out perfect, I’ll be going to a different factory that’s been used for some really really high end customs and having them make the plates. With the secondary option, I have doubts of the colors being 100% perfect, but I personally value function over form.
I might or might not have enough A stock cases to cover every single color. (I’m about 75 or 80 percent through QC and I know that there’s one case color where there aren’t enough A stock cases) If there aren’t enough A stock cases for your selected color, I can do one of three things.
- I can send you the blem case with the partial refund. I’ll be sending everyone images of the exact case they’ll be receiving so there aren’t any unwelcome surprises.
- You can opt to wait for the cases to be redone. 1-2 month wait.
Final NotesI am really sorry that this is once again delayed. I will be doing future projects with my own manufacturing and resources (some of them which have manufactured customs and higher end boards before) and local designers to ensure that this doesn’t happen again. This will also help lower prices from here on out since I will no longer be going through a middleman of sorts. As for this situation specifically, send inquiries for order change to contact@switchplate.co and I will take note of what you would like to do with your order and process it accordingly. These decisions will be final as I will be allocating items accordingly to b-stock for those that wanted extras as soon as I process your order. For general questions, please use the comments here or the GH thread so I can get an idea of what everyone wants. I’ll try to answer them promptly here, on GH and discord. Replies might be a little slow, but I’m damn busy this week with APs and Finals at school so if I don’t respond within 12 hours, definitely feel free to resend the message. Keep your eyes out for another update on the website and the GH thread as discussions with the vendor and QC finishes up.
Link to sign up for update emails:
https://switchplate.us17.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=618cf646781228a46f5914218&id=3fc437233fLink to GH Thread:
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=92344.0Link to project page on website:
https://switchplate.co/collections/southpaw-extended-65-group-buyOrder changes only, use threads and discord for general questions: contact@switchplate.co