Spherical Buckling Spring Caps

[rsbseb]

I've been gone awhile but am back involved with keyboards again and have decided to pick up the SBS project with my son and move it forward. As we finish up our prototyping and look forward towards production tooling  I could really use some input on the finished product. Most of the Feedback on color I have received over at DT so far centers around classic beam spring colorways and will probably go that direction unless I see a need for other color options.

I really need some input on potential legends for the spherical buckling spring caps as well as any other input the community might have to offer.

Thanks

[rsbseb]

I just realized this didn't land in the Key cap section, if it could or should be moved I would appreciate it. 

[dantan]

Here's a suggestion. You could get all blanks. These caps are high enough to put side legends on labels if you really need them.

[rsbseb]

Here's a few pictures of the currently proposed legends / colors for some of the caps.

[romevi]

Ooh, black on white would be rad.

[OldIsNew]

Yes - black on white is very nice, but any/all would be great!

[dantan]

Here's a few pictures of the currently proposed legends / colors for some of the caps.

They look nice, but bump into the great obstacle: actually making these available at a reasonable (not $000s) of prices and within a reasonable (not 2 year) production timeline.

[Niomosy]

Honestly, I think a classic beamspring colorway would do really well for something like this.  Gray alphas with white legends, black mods with white legends.

[xtrafrood]

Wow, extra deep dish. Another vote for black on white.

[madhias]

I'd prefer white on black or (dark) grey, or at least white on black modifiers.

[rsbseb]

Here's a few pictures of the currently proposed legends / colors for some of the caps.

They look nice, but bump into the great obstacle: actually making these available at a reasonable (not $000s) of prices and within a reasonable (not 2 year) production timeline.

Yes, those are obstacles to overcome. As of now we plan on producing them in house and possibly even handling fulfillment as well to better manage those issues. Maintaining a high level of quality and keeping the price down without massive lead times is probably going to require cutting out some middlemen if the demand allows for it when the time comes.

[rsbseb]

SBS is moving forward. Two potential production venues have been identified and options for tooling are being researched.
Work on prototype evaluation sets will resume next week. Hopefully a new font scheme will be ready soon.
An informational website has also been set up.

http://sbskeycaps.com/


Here's a short video of SBS on a model F switch

http://vid183.photobucket.com/albums/x260/rsbseb/SBs%20F.mp4

[str8away]

Any progress on this project over the last month?

[rsbseb]

Yes there has been some progress but it is a little slow. My son is in the process of relocating and working two jobs. We have located some production space and we are currently gathering together the equipment to produce the production tooling. Once the dust settles from his move we will have more to update on. I am putting together my own buckling spring keyboard in anticipation for SBS right now. 

https://deskthority.net/workshop-f7/another-wheelwriter-project-t16145.html

[f32h80fsd08h34r5]

Maybe something like round 5?

[KACHAKEYS]

These look great! If I ever get my hands on an IBM board Ill have to get a set. I feel that something like SA profile would work really well on teh high profile boards like model m

[InvidiousIgnoramus]

Definitely keeping an eye on this one.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

[rsbseb]

I should have some progress updates soon. Work on the tooling has been begun.

[Kavik]

Commenting for thread notifications.

[InvidiousIgnoramus]

I should have some progress updates soon. Work on the tooling has been begun.

Is it planned to make two piece keycaps, or one piece?

Endgame is a myth

[Kavik]

Any update on this project? I just remembered it and wondered what ever came of this.

[ShivaYash]

I'd be keen.

[gbchk]

Any update on this project? I just remembered it and wondered what ever came of this.

This is the latest from DA -

UPDATE: I promised to keep everyone informed on the status of SBS and I know it's been a bit of a moving target. I am out of physical therapy and going back to work full time next week. This milestone should soon provide me with the cash flow to move forward with SBS once again.

My son and I are currently reviewing our capacity to make a short production run on the 1u caps for testing and have negotiated a suitable space to do so. This will not happen overnight and will take 2-3 months to get set up at earliest as this is still a hobby venture. If everything goes smoothly we could possibly see a full production run later this summer.

If along the way it looks like the project is going to be unfeasible to pursue in the short term we will consider releasing all our digital work as open source so anyone wanting to print one-off sets or do short runs of their own can do so. I'll keep in touch with any updates. For the next several weeks I will be focused on settling in with my new employer so I will probably be MIA.

[ionnicus]

Any Update on this project?

Would love to put these on a new Model F-77,
The black and dark grey Beamspring color schematic would be killer.