Hi guys!
It is quite possible that some of you know my
Keymacs project. It started as my attempt to recreate Symbolics PN/365407 (Rev. A)—a keyboard that I personally used as my daily driver. In the past couple of years, I produced nearly 50 keyboards, including the keycap sets. I have been repeatedly asked by keyboard enthusiasts if I plan to sell just the keycaps in some standard ANSI/ISO (and maybe HHKB) layouts.
After testing a new manufacturing process that is a more versatile than the initial one, I have decided to start selling universal configurable multiple-shot keycap sets.
For those who do not know my work, let me note that this is not a mass production. The keycaps are not injection-moulded but manufactured using a technique that combines several stages of resin casting and CNC milling, see the manufacturing demo:
As a result, I have avoided massive investments into tooling that are required for the classic injection moulding but the production is very slow since each keyset is in fact individually machined. A blank HHKB keycap set may be produced in a week but a TKL double shot keycap set takes me about 2–3 weeks, something as crazy as a Cadet-style full ANSI with triple-shot top and front legends will probably take a month of work. From this point of view, it should not be surprising that the price is higher by an order or magnitude compared to the usual mass-produced keycap sets like GMK. Still, I hope there will be enough folks who appreciate my unique manufacturing technique and the amount of work I put into making the keycaps.
The advantages of using this manufacturing technique are also worth mentioning: It allows us to make super-thick multiple-shot keycaps with arbitrary legends (top and front) and color schemes, all according to your specs. Since the legends are individually milled, there is no problem in supporting DVORAK, COLEMAK, and other layouts in addition to the traditional QWERTY. The same applies to the mounts—each mount is individually milled, so I can support any mount you desire (as long as there is a model for it). Right now, I offer MX, Topre, and Alps but I have also successfully tested Selectric/Beamspring and MicroSwitch SW series mounts. All keycap sizes that appear on ANSI, ISO, HHKB, and Symbolics PN/365407 keyboards are supported. If there is a demand, I can support other keys as well.
The keycap configurator can be found
here.
