[IC] Zambumon Verne: Custom TKL

[Zambumon]

READ THE OP.

Interest Check Form

Verne is a custom mechanical keyboard with an elegant and uncluttered design, from the internal
components to the case itself.

Powered by a custom WT80-A PCB designed by Wilba, with a beautiful dark blue solder mask
and artwork from the GMK Nautilus keycap set, Verne is fully programmable via QMK and VIA
Configurator. In addition to the WT80-A, Verne has an USB-C extension PCB that allow better
placement of the USB-C connector by mounting it low, in parallel with your desk surface.



The keyboard has a top-mounted brass plate with a fixed TKL layout, where 0.25U gaps separate
the function row and navigation cluster from the 60% area. Having a fixed plate grants a tight fit on
all switches and a clean look when the switches are in place, as all of the exposed plate holes are used.

Once assembled, Verne weighs around 2.5 kg (5.3 lbs), a perfect spot where it is hefty
enough that moving it by accident is hard, but you can still pick it up and adjust its position easily.









Supported Layouts

Two layout configurations will be available:

Verne Modern: the standard American layout, with a 6.25U spacebar and seven 1.25U modifier
keys on its bottom row.




Verne Classic: a symmetric bottom row, with a 7.00U spacebar and two 1.50U modifiers and
a 1.00U modifier on each side; as well as a stepped Caps Lock key.





Color Options





Oblivion Grey

An elegant all purpose dark grey case, perfect for keycap sets such as Carbon, Chocolatier, Oblivion,
OG Cherry Sets, or Serika.





Nautilus Blue

Designed for blue sets such as Calm Depths, Laser, Nautilus, Penumbra, Samurai Blue, Space Cadet,
Solarized Dark, or Yuri.





Jamón Red

A vibrant, striking red that will bring sets like Jamón, Led Zep, Burgundy, or Metaverse to the next level.





Technical Specs

• 6 degree slope.
• Top mounted sand-blasted brass plate. Fixed layout.
• WT80-A Verne and WT-USB-C extension PCBs designed by Wilba. Programmable via QMK and

VIA Configurator.

• Weight: 2.5 kg (5.3 lbs).

Included With Verne:

• Top Piece.
• Bottom Piece.
• Sandblasted brass plate.
• WT80-A Verne PCB.
• WT-USB-C Verne PCB.
• WT80-A to WT-USB-C cable.
• Screws and bumpons.

Note: this is a DIY kit. Assembly, keycaps, switches, stabilizers and USB-C cable are not included.



Pricing, Available Units, and Shipping

• Pricing: to be announced. Between $380 and $420. EU members VAT DISCLAIMER: Spain has a 21% VAT, $380 are around 330€, with 21% is around 400€.
• Available Units: between 30 and 35. Raffle sale.
• Shipping: keyboards will be shipped from Spain. Tracked and insured.
• Estimate shipping time: none, or maybe  a week, whenever I can ship them.

Links of Interest

LEARN MORE ABOUT WILBA: wilba.tech
WEB: zambumon.com
INSTAGRAM: @Zambumon
REDDIT: /u/zambumon
CHOCOLATIER: GH Thread

[Rubbermilitia]

Good name. That is a heavy damn board right there

[cijanzen]

Sign me up!

[SolidCactus]

Yes please! I hope I get lucky on this one.

[itskuroi]

exciteddddd

[Zambumon]

Prototypes Gallery

[Koojahyung]

wah....

[tomu]

nice blue Jambumón

Sent from my LG-H871 using Tapatalk

[Etherealsound]

Absolutely gorgeous board. Unfortunately, lack of WKL means I'll be watching this one from the sidelines. Best of luck (though I doubt you'll need it XD)

[Techno Trousers]

Absolutely gorgeous. This is the nicest custom I've seen in a long time.

[nasp]

What material? Aluminum?

[Puddsy]

What material? Aluminum?

Metal

[Techno Trousers]

What material? Aluminum?

Metal

Zambonium

[ewwgin]

So many nice TKLs this year. I’m loving it! But I probably won’t own any of the nicer ones since i’m always unlucky / too slow.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Zambumon]

What material? Aluminum?

Metal

Nice.

[Rumblehotep]

My god that red is so pretty I dread getting my hopes up. Classic all day

Also @Puddsy holy ____ that profile pic

[zslane]

I love the design! Unfortunately, I don't use TKL... 

[mimalik]

I love the design! Unfortunately, I don't use TKL... 

Same here, wish there was full size option as well.

[Wetherbee]

I would buy this if the PCB had per-key RGB and Kailh hot swap sockets installed.

It would be nice for the Verne classic to have WKL blockers as an option.

[catamscott]

loving this, bet it's going to be one competitive raffle

[Starston3]

Yep.

[Jkush463]

excited to see this go to IC hope i manage to get a slot.

[Zambumon]

I would buy this if the PCB had per-key RGB and Kailh hot swap sockets installed.

I didn't want any of those features for this board. I couldn't see myself using any of those features with this keyboard and I don't think they fit with my idea for it. And when I asked Wilba if he could design a PCB for this board I mentioned him that I wanted something uncluttered, and simple, no RGBs, no hotswaps.

[ba7777]

I would buy this if the PCB had per-key RGB and Kailh hot swap sockets installed.

I didn't want any of those features for this board. I couldn't see myself using any of those features with this keyboard and I don't think they fit with my idea for it. And when I asked Wilba if he could design a PCB for this board I mentioned him that I wanted something uncluttered, and simple, no RGBs, no hotswaps.

 

[LightningXI]

Interested depending on timing and price.

Sent from my mobile using Tapatalk

[dario]

I didn't want any of those features for this board. I couldn't see myself using any of those features with this keyboard and I don't think they fit with my idea for it. And when I asked Wilba if he could design a PCB for this board I mentioned him that I wanted something uncluttered, and simple, no RGBs, no hotswaps.

This may be a stupid question, but is it possible to permanently solder switches to those hot-swap sockets? Or at least remove them? Not sure how those things work.

In case all of the answers to the above questions are "no", I may actually prefer your solution.

[Wetherbee]

I didn't want any of those features for this board. I couldn't see myself using any of those features with this keyboard and I don't think they fit with my idea for it. And when I asked Wilba if he could design a PCB for this board I mentioned him that I wanted something uncluttered, and simple, no RGBs, no hotswaps.

Cool beans. Much easier on my wallet then. Zero interest.

[otanishock]

I didn't want any of those features for this board. I couldn't see myself using any of those features with this keyboard and I don't think they fit with my idea for it. And when I asked Wilba if he could design a PCB for this board I mentioned him that I wanted something uncluttered, and simple, no RGBs, no hotswaps.

This may be a stupid question, but is it possible to permanently solder switches to those hot-swap sockets? Or at least remove them? Not sure how those things work.

In case all of the answers to the above questions are "no", I may actually prefer your solution.

Uhm... but isn't doing that kinda defeating the purpose of having a hotswap socket in the first place?

[Jkush463]

I would buy this if the PCB had per-key RGB and Kailh hot swap sockets installed.

I didn't want any of those features for this board. I couldn't see myself using any of those features with this keyboard and I don't think they fit with my idea for it. And when I asked Wilba if he could design a PCB for this board I mentioned him that I wanted something uncluttered, and simple, no RGBs, no hotswaps.

couldn't agree more keep it simple all the extra junk just adds cost and is not really that desirable for most, any idea when the raffle will happen?

[Rumblehotep]

I would buy this if the PCB had per-key RGB and Kailh hot swap sockets installed.

I didn't want any of those features for this board. I couldn't see myself using any of those features with this keyboard and I don't think they fit with my idea for it. And when I asked Wilba if he could design a PCB for this board I mentioned him that I wanted something uncluttered, and simple, no RGBs, no hotswaps.

Bless, I kind of hate doing sip sockets & leds for boards on top of switch mods but feels like it's wasted potential when a board features it and I don't do it.

[dario]

Uhm... but isn't doing that kinda defeating the purpose of having a hotswap socket in the first place?

Not necessarily. You may have four or five different types of switches you want to try out, and then at the end permanently solder your favourite ones to prevent switch wobble.

[Puddsy]

Uhm... but isn't doing that kinda defeating the purpose of having a hotswap socket in the first place?

Not necessarily. You may have four or five different types of switches you want to try out, and then at the end permanently solder your favourite ones to prevent switch wobble.

im sure you mean well but i have literally never heard of anyone doing that before i saw this post

hotswap sockets tend to be unreliable (in my personal experience) and per key rgb is cool but otherwise not that important

per key rgb is a giant pain in the ass to put on a PCB though, since it requires a lot more design work and costs a lot of money

[Prelim]

comes from Spain and no ISO support?

[Zambumon]

comes from Spain and no ISO support?

Correct. I didn't need ISO, as US International has all the keys I need, and this is a keyboard for myself.

[Wetherbee]

Uhm... but isn't doing that kinda defeating the purpose of having a hotswap socket in the first place?

Not necessarily. You may have four or five different types of switches you want to try out, and then at the end permanently solder your favourite ones to prevent switch wobble.

im sure you mean well but i have literally never heard of anyone doing that before i saw this post

hotswap sockets tend to be unreliable (in my personal experience) and per key rgb is cool but otherwise not that important

per key rgb is a giant pain in the ass to put on a PCB though, since it requires a lot more design work and costs a lot of money

lolwut.

Never had any issue with factory installed Kailh hot swap sockets. It is a total game changer.

I don't really understand why someone wouldn't want them. Takes less than a few minutes to change every switch on my board. No reliability issues, and no wobble for fixed layout platemount boards.

Any skepticism disappears the first time you do a switch swap without pulling out the soldering iron.

Is it more expensive? Yes, it increases the price of the PCB slightly and the platemount solution needs to be just right.

[ihalatch]

Yes, please.

[Zambumon]

I don't really understand why someone wouldn't want them. Takes less than a few minutes to change every switch on my board. No reliability issues, and no wobble for fixed layout platemount boards.
Any skepticism disappears the first time you do a switch swap without pulling out the soldering iron.
Is it more expensive? Yes, it increases the price of the PCB slightly and the platemount solution needs to be just right.

If this keyboard was designed for a general public I'd had considered them, but that wasn't the case.

I designed the board for myself, and that gives me the liberty of doing exactly what I want. Because I wasn't going to use them and I actually enjoy spending a weekend's afternoon building a keyboard, I just didn't want to add them.


I am aware that some of my choices (fixed layout, no blockers, no RBG, no hotswaps...) limit how many people are interested about this board, and I'm OK with that, I want people interested on this board to really like it because of how it is right now.

[Okonomiyaki#2832]

I don't really understand why someone wouldn't want them. Takes less than a few minutes to change every switch on my board. No reliability issues, and no wobble for fixed layout platemount boards.
Any skepticism disappears the first time you do a switch swap without pulling out the soldering iron.
Is it more expensive? Yes, it increases the price of the PCB slightly and the platemount solution needs to be just right.

If this keyboard was designed for a general public I'd had considered them, but that wasn't the case.

I designed the board for myself, and that gives me the liberty of doing exactly what I want. Because I wasn't going to use them and I actually enjoy spending a weekend's afternoon building a keyboard, I just didn't want to add them.


I am aware that some of my choices (fixed layout, no blockers, no RBG, no hotswaps...) limit how many people are interested about this board, and I'm OK with that, I want people interested on this board to really like it because of how it is right now.

Agreed, even if you added all the requested features there is no promise they would buy it lol.

[Windeh]

There are already plenty of built by committee boards on the market, pretty sure the chances of winning the raffle is already slim as it is...   

[Jkush463]

i dont think people quite understand if you dont like the board as it is you need to find another board because, its perfect how it is lol. just my perspective.

[anon23]

I really like how simple and perfect it looks. Fixed layout is great, no RGB is totally fine, no hotswap is perfect. The only problem (outside of price possibly) is this part:
Available Units: between 30 and 35. Raffle sale.
This makes me sad, but it looks like an awesome keyboard to build. Will most likely try my luck if I can afford it.

[Zambumon]

I really like how simple and perfect it looks. Fixed layout is great, no RGB is totally fine, no hotswap is perfect. The only problem (outside of price possibly) is this part:
Available Units: between 30 and 35. Raffle sale.
This makes me sad, but it looks like an awesome keyboard to build. Will most likely try my luck if I can afford it.

The alternative to a raffle sale is FCFS and the spots would be gone in minutes. FCFS many times only benefits those that are on a convenient timezone. If it was a FCFS some people would miss the buy just because they are sleeping because they have to wake up early, at work, in a meeting, having dinner with their SO... I don't care, they are unable to fill up the form at a extremely specific moment of their day and miss the buy.

[dantambok]

really sad not seeing WKL blockers 

[bthezebra]

really sad not seeing WKL blockers 

He is looking to use them for future iterations.

[anon23]

I really like how simple and perfect it looks. Fixed layout is great, no RGB is totally fine, no hotswap is perfect. The only problem (outside of price possibly) is this part:
Available Units: between 30 and 35. Raffle sale.
This makes me sad, but it looks like an awesome keyboard to build. Will most likely try my luck if I can afford it.

The alternative to a raffle sale is FCFS and the spots would be gone in minutes. FCFS many times only benefits those that are on a convenient timezone. If it was a FCFS some people would miss the buy just because they are sleeping because they have to wake up early, at work, in a meeting, having dinner with their SO... I don't care, they are unable to fill up the form at a extremely specific moment of their day and miss the buy.

Ah that's not exactly what I meant here. Maybe I should have highlighted the whole limited supply then? Because to me, the alternative to raffle is a regular GB where everyone can submit their order, pay and get in.
But I agree, if I had to pick between between the two (raffle and FCFS), raffle is the least worst indeed.

[Zambumon]

I really like how simple and perfect it looks. Fixed layout is great, no RGB is totally fine, no hotswap is perfect. The only problem (outside of price possibly) is this part:
Available Units: between 30 and 35. Raffle sale.
This makes me sad, but it looks like an awesome keyboard to build. Will most likely try my luck if I can afford it.

The alternative to a raffle sale is FCFS and the spots would be gone in minutes. FCFS many times only benefits those that are on a convenient timezone. If it was a FCFS some people would miss the buy just because they are sleeping because they have to wake up early, at work, in a meeting, having dinner with their SO... I don't care, they are unable to fill up the form at a extremely specific moment of their day and miss the buy.

Ah that's not exactly what I meant here. Maybe I should have highlighted the whole limited supply then? Because to me, the alternative to raffle is a regular GB where everyone can submit their order, pay and get in.
But I agree, if I had to pick between between the two (raffle and FCFS), raffle is the least worst indeed.

I've already addressed why the quantities are limited.

[Nzo]

No hot swap sockets on the PCB?

[Puddsy]

No hot swap sockets on the PCB?

scroll up

[Nzo]

No hot swap sockets on the PCB?

scroll up

Thanks. Ctrl+F failed me the first time

That's a pass for me. It's a shame because there isn't very many good looking custom TKLs like this one. I don't need fancy RGBs and other things. But two things I require nowadays on customs is USC-C and hotswaps.

[Puddsy]

No hot swap sockets on the PCB?

scroll up

Thanks. Ctrl+F failed me the first time

That's a pass for me. It's a shame because there isn't very many good looking custom TKLs like this one. I don't need fancy RGBs and other things. But two things I require nowadays on customs is USC-C and hotswaps.

i think the k type is the only one