[IC] the Heavy-6: a Norbauer housing for the Leopold FC660C

[norbauer]

Upon testing, I'm happy to report that the case is entirely compatible with the Hasu controller.

[wishful_cynic]

Upon testing, I'm happy to report that the case is entirely compatible with the Hasu controller.

As suspected, but great to know!  I’m really excited for this case. 

[gilmoregrills]

Upon testing, I'm happy to report that the case is entirely compatible with the Hasu controller.

That rules!

Time to factor one of those into this build now >_<

[nurbs]

Hey Ryan. Surveyed filled out. Please make this

[Sharku]

Please talk to @hasu and make posible an aluminium case with hasu controller usb C leopold fc660c (and maybe with bluetooth).
this would be awesome!!

[derzemel]

Please talk to @hasu and make posible an aluminium case with hasu controller usb C leopold fc660c (and maybe with bluetooth).
this would be awesome!!

Bluetooth does not work through aluminium.

Also, Bluetooth needs a battery, which requires a redesign of the case.

When Hasu designed his controller for the FC660C he actually avoided using USB C because it kept cost low. USB mini is a lot cheaper and the connector is strong.

Sent from my LG-H815 using Tapatalk

[Sharku]

Please talk to @hasu and make posible an aluminium case with hasu controller usb C leopold fc660c (and maybe with bluetooth).
this would be awesome!!

Bluetooth does not work through aluminium.

Also, Bluetooth needs a battery, which requires a redesign of the case.

When Hasu designed his controller for the FC660C he actually avoided using USB C because it kept cost low. USB mini is a lot cheaper and the connector is strong.

Sent from my LG-H815 using Tapatalk

Norbauer is making a new housing, that means he can do everything you say (space for the battery, hole for the bluetooth to pass, etc.)
Hasu said that usb C was too big for the hole that comes from factory. not that it was too expensive. (" No plan for USB-C C is a bit too large to plug in USB-mini hole. ")
and the bluetooth would need to invest too much time ("I have no clear plan on Bluetooth controller, I'm not working on it currently at least.
I found some dificulties on Bluetooth controller. One of them is that FC660C controller PCB is much smaller than HHKB and this requires new design and components. It will take longer than what I expected and I'm not sure when I can have enough time to do so").

[JJ]

Hi I have never owned a norbacases before, I just wanted to ask if these cases would come with a different housing plate? (Not weight) and if it does come with a different housing plate, would it be made easier to align the domes?

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[kmba]

Hi I have never owned a norbacases before, I just wanted to ask if these cases would come with a different housing plate? (Not weight) and if it does come with a different housing plate, would it be made easier to align the domes?

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

They use the stock plate. Through guts of the 660c will be drop in, you won't have to touch the domes.

[HOBI3CAT]

Upon testing, I'm happy to report that the case is entirely compatible with the Hasu controller.

Been hoping for this! This is a dream come true for me Love my Norbatouch, but the non-programmability is pretty annoying...

[norbauer]

Upon testing, I'm happy to report that the case is entirely compatible with the Hasu controller.

Been hoping for this! This is a dream come true for me Love my Norbatouch, but the non-programmability is pretty annoying...

Just use a Hasu controller? I have confirmed it fits.

Hi I have never owned a norbacases before, I just wanted to ask if these cases would come with a different housing plate? (Not weight) and if it does come with a different housing plate, would it be made easier to align the domes?

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

They use the stock plate. Through guts of the 660c will be drop in, you won't have to touch the domes.

Affirmative.

[HOBI3CAT]

Upon testing, I'm happy to report that the case is entirely compatible with the Hasu controller.

Been hoping for this! This is a dream come true for me Love my Norbatouch, but the non-programmability is pretty annoying...

Just use a Hasu controller? I have confirmed it fits.

Hi I have never owned a norbacases before, I just wanted to ask if these cases would come with a different housing plate? (Not weight) and if it does come with a different housing plate, would it be made easier to align the domes?

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

They use the stock plate. Through guts of the 660c will be drop in, you won't have to touch the domes.

Affirmative.

Oh, I meant on my norbatouch. I will for sure get a hasu for the 660c!

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

[norbauer]

Upon testing, I'm happy to report that the case is entirely compatible with the Hasu controller.

Been hoping for this! This is a dream come true for me Love my Norbatouch, but the non-programmability is pretty annoying...

Just use a Hasu controller? I have confirmed it fits.

Hi I have never owned a norbacases before, I just wanted to ask if these cases would come with a different housing plate? (Not weight) and if it does come with a different housing plate, would it be made easier to align the domes?

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

They use the stock plate. Through guts of the 660c will be drop in, you won't have to touch the domes.

Affirmative.

Oh, I meant on my norbatouch. I will for sure get a hasu for the 660c!

Ah, ok. Sorry. There is also the USB-to-USB converter for the others. Haven't used it myself, but it has been mentioned as a solution.

[HOBI3CAT]

Upon testing, I'm happy to report that the case is entirely compatible with the Hasu controller.

Been hoping for this! This is a dream come true for me Love my Norbatouch, but the non-programmability is pretty annoying...

Just use a Hasu controller? I have confirmed it fits.

Hi I have never owned a norbacases before, I just wanted to ask if these cases would come with a different housing plate? (Not weight) and if it does come with a different housing plate, would it be made easier to align the domes?

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

They use the stock plate. Through guts of the 660c will be drop in, you won't have to touch the domes.

Affirmative.

Oh, I meant on my norbatouch. I will for sure get a hasu for the 660c!

Ah, ok. Sorry. There is also the USB-to-USB converter for the others. Haven't used it myself, but it has been mentioned as a solution.

Huh... that is promising- didn't know about that. Thank you! And still very much looking forward to the Heavy-6!

[MajorKoos]

Upon testing, I'm happy to report that the case is entirely compatible with the Hasu controller.

Been hoping for this! This is a dream come true for me Love my Norbatouch, but the non-programmability is pretty annoying...

Just use a Hasu controller? I have confirmed it fits.

Hi I have never owned a norbacases before, I just wanted to ask if these cases would come with a different housing plate? (Not weight) and if it does come with a different housing plate, would it be made easier to align the domes?

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

They use the stock plate. Through guts of the 660c will be drop in, you won't have to touch the domes.

Affirmative.

Oh, I meant on my norbatouch. I will for sure get a hasu for the 660c!

Ah, ok. Sorry. There is also the USB-to-USB converter for the others. Haven't used it myself, but it has been mentioned as a solution.

The USB-to-USB doesn't let one remap the function key on the Novatouch because it's implemented in the firmware.

[Troif]

wow! I am IN again Norbauer. I would KILL someone for the chance to have it in  STONEWASHED finish... PLEASE!!! (like in EDC components)

[norbauer]

wow! I am IN again Norbauer. I would KILL someone for the chance to have it in  STONEWASHED finish... PLEASE!!! (like in EDC components)

Ooh. Now that is a cool idea. Can you post some of your favorite examples? Were you talking about acid-etched and stonewashed, or just stonewashed?

I've actually been longingly investigating offering an option for having the WHOLE case in stainless steel, which lends itself to stone-washing or PVD, but the price gets up to around $500 and I'm not sure we could find enough people interested to hit an MOQ for steel at that price.

[JJ]

I'll be happy with a great dark grey anode haha the case looks great can't wait to get my hands on it!

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[umeboshi]

wow! I am IN again Norbauer. I would KILL someone for the chance to have it in  STONEWASHED finish... PLEASE!!! (like in EDC components)

Ooh. Now that is a cool idea. Can you post some of your favorite examples? Were you talking about acid-etched and stonewashed, or just stonewashed?

I've actually been longingly investigating offering an option for having the WHOLE case in stainless steel, which lends itself to stone-washing or PVD, but the price gets up to around $500 and I'm not sure we could find enough people interested to hit an MOQ for steel at that price.

Stonewash is a great idea.  This is an example of one that I use everyday (I guess titanium is out of the question )

https://www.handgrey.com/products/handgrey-h3

[norbauer]

wow! I am IN again Norbauer. I would KILL someone for the chance to have it in  STONEWASHED finish... PLEASE!!! (like in EDC components)

Ooh. Now that is a cool idea. Can you post some of your favorite examples? Were you talking about acid-etched and stonewashed, or just stonewashed?

I've actually been longingly investigating offering an option for having the WHOLE case in stainless steel, which lends itself to stone-washing or PVD, but the price gets up to around $500 and I'm not sure we could find enough people interested to hit an MOQ for steel at that price.

Stonewash is a great idea.  This is an example of one that I use everyday (I guess titanium is out of the question )

https://www.handgrey.com/products/handgrey-h3

Alas. If your keychain there cost $85, you can imagine what a whole keyboard housing would cost. This is especially true since the cost of machined parts tends to scale non-linearly with increases in the work envelope size.

[eksuen]

wow! I am IN again Norbauer. I would KILL someone for the chance to have it in  STONEWASHED finish... PLEASE!!! (like in EDC components)

Ooh. Now that is a cool idea. Can you post some of your favorite examples? Were you talking about acid-etched and stonewashed, or just stonewashed?

I've actually been longingly investigating offering an option for having the WHOLE case in stainless steel, which lends itself to stone-washing or PVD, but the price gets up to around $500 and I'm not sure we could find enough people interested to hit an MOQ for steel at that price.

Stonewash is a great idea.  This is an example of one that I use everyday (I guess titanium is out of the question )

https://www.handgrey.com/products/handgrey-h3

Alas. If your keychain there cost $85, you can imagine what a whole keyboard housing would cost. This is especially true since the cost of machined parts tends to scale non-linearly with increases in the work envelope size.

The keychain is titanium though, so that probably accounts for a lot of the cost.

[norbauer]

wow! I am IN again Norbauer. I would KILL someone for the chance to have it in  STONEWASHED finish... PLEASE!!! (like in EDC components)

Ooh. Now that is a cool idea. Can you post some of your favorite examples? Were you talking about acid-etched and stonewashed, or just stonewashed?

I've actually been longingly investigating offering an option for having the WHOLE case in stainless steel, which lends itself to stone-washing or PVD, but the price gets up to around $500 and I'm not sure we could find enough people interested to hit an MOQ for steel at that price.

Stonewash is a great idea.  This is an example of one that I use everyday (I guess titanium is out of the question )

https://www.handgrey.com/products/handgrey-h3

Alas. If your keychain there cost $85, you can imagine what a whole keyboard housing would cost. This is especially true since the cost of machined parts tends to scale non-linearly with increases in the work envelope size.

The keychain is titanium though, so that probably accounts for a lot of the cost.

Yes, sorry; my reply was in reference to the prospect of titanium.

[eksuen]

Yes, sorry; my reply was in reference to the prospect of titanium.

Ah, right. Visually, I don't think I could tell the difference between stonewashed titanium vs. stonewashed steel, and from what I understand, a lot of products made in titanium do so for weight savings. Given that people like heavy keyboards - and often opt for additional weights - wouldn't steel make more sense anyway (not that having a titanium keyboard case wouldn't be awesome)?

[norbauer]

Yes, sorry; my reply was in reference to the prospect of titanium.

Ah, right. Visually, I don't think I could tell the difference between stonewashed titanium vs. stonewashed steel, and from what I understand, a lot of products made in titanium do so for weight savings. Given that people like heavy keyboards - and often opt for additional weights - wouldn't steel make more sense anyway (not that having a titanium keyboard case wouldn't be awesome)?

Yeah, totally. Steel makes more sense (as long as it’s stainless.) The cost issue with both is mainly the much longer machining times, but titanium is worse by far than steel, I think.

[umeboshi]

Yes, sorry; my reply was in reference to the prospect of titanium.

Ah, right. Visually, I don't think I could tell the difference between stonewashed titanium vs. stonewashed steel, and from what I understand, a lot of products made in titanium do so for weight savings. Given that people like heavy keyboards - and often opt for additional weights - wouldn't steel make more sense anyway (not that having a titanium keyboard case wouldn't be awesome)?

Yeah, totally. Steel makes more sense (as long as it’s stainless.) The cost issue with both is mainly the much longer machining times, but titanium is worse by far than steel, I think.

Yes, it’s nice to dream though .  Mainly just wanted to show the stonewash finish.  Would stonewash SS look similar?

[Kerasan]

Yes, sorry; my reply was in reference to the prospect of titanium.

Ah, right. Visually, I don't think I could tell the difference between stonewashed titanium vs. stonewashed steel, and from what I understand, a lot of products made in titanium do so for weight savings. Given that people like heavy keyboards - and often opt for additional weights - wouldn't steel make more sense anyway (not that having a titanium keyboard case wouldn't be awesome)?

Yeah, totally. Steel makes more sense (as long as it’s stainless.) The cost issue with both is mainly the much longer machining times, but titanium is worse by far than steel, I think.

for titanium it also depends on the processing (for example grade 1 or 2, grade 4 or 5).

being a chemical element and not an alloy (for example steel) its atomic composition is univocal.

Titanium has the same grades as steel Vickers (between 350 and 500, depending on the processing, but you need hundreds or thousands of degrees Vickers of difference to have a greater appreciated hardness)

KMK Labs.

[tusing]

Would love a PVD brass instead of a brushed brass plate. Will we have the option to choose between them?

[p_blaze]

dunno if it would be too costly, but having the brass finished with nickel-plated black pvd always looks sublime

regular pvd looks kind of shiny and gaudy IMO, maybe if it is possible to beadblast it first or something it might improve the look

[BobCarltheThird]

If finances weren't so tight I'd jump on a stonewashed stainless steel case in a heart beat. Doubly so if it still came with the brass weight.

[norbauer]

Would love a PVD brass instead of a brushed brass plate. Will we have the option to choose between them?

dunno if it would be too costly, but having the brass finished with nickel-plated black pvd always looks sublime

regular pvd looks kind of shiny and gaudy IMO, maybe if it is possible to beadblast it first or something it might improve the look

I've spoken to several PVD vendors in the past few weeks, and they all recommend against brass. It requires much more prep work to get a good finish and very little in the way of a superior outcome compared to steel. Indeed, to p_blaze's comment, you have to plate brass before you PVD coat it, which (in addition to throwing off tolerances more) leads to a more smooth and shiny finish, but steel can be PVD-coated directly, so you can give it a nice matte finish that still has the durability of PVD.

[p_blaze]

Would love a PVD brass instead of a brushed brass plate. Will we have the option to choose between them?

dunno if it would be too costly, but having the brass finished with nickel-plated black pvd always looks sublime

regular pvd looks kind of shiny and gaudy IMO, maybe if it is possible to beadblast it first or something it might improve the look

I've spoken to several PVD vendors in the past few weeks, and they all recommend against brass. It requires much more prep work to get a good finish and very little in the way of a superior outcome compared to steel. Indeed, to p_blaze's comment, you have to plate brass before you PVD coat it, which (in addition to throwing off tolerances more) leads to a more smooth and shiny finish, but steel can be PVD-coated directly, so you can give it a nice matte finish that still has the durability of PVD.

yeah, if you can get steel that would be really cool, especially with an actual finish

[sozo]

ooooo I can't wait for this to drop! Hopefully you can find a way to pay homage to the original by having the capacitance formula

[tusing]

For custom coats - will you be offering that beautiful baby-blue color that's in some of your Norbaforce pictures?

[Rodde]

wow! I am IN again Norbauer. I would KILL someone for the chance to have it in  STONEWASHED finish... PLEASE!!! (like in EDC components)

Ooh. Now that is a cool idea. Can you post some of your favorite examples? Were you talking about acid-etched and stonewashed, or just stonewashed?

I've actually been longingly investigating offering an option for having the WHOLE case in stainless steel, which lends itself to stone-washing or PVD, but the price gets up to around $500 and I'm not sure we could find enough people interested to hit an MOQ for steel at that price.

Just wanted to chime in here - I would definitely be interested in a steel case option, especially if it means interesting finishes/textures. The price might be a bit high, but I'd say the clientele your work attracts would be a near-ideal audience for such things (premium price for premium products). There aren't really any other good premium case options for the FC660C, so I'm more than happy putting the money down to see it done right.

[Troif]

wow! I am IN again Norbauer. I would KILL someone for the chance to have it in  STONEWASHED finish... PLEASE!!! (like in EDC components)

Ooh. Now that is a cool idea. Can you post some of your favorite examples? Were you talking about acid-etched and stonewashed, or just stonewashed?

I've actually been longingly investigating offering an option for having the WHOLE case in stainless steel, which lends itself to stone-washing or PVD, but the price gets up to around $500 and I'm not sure we could find enough people interested to hit an MOQ for steel at that price.

Just wanted to chime in here - I would definitely be interested in a steel case option, especially if it means interesting finishes/textures. The price might be a bit high, but I'd say the clientele your work attracts would be a near-ideal audience for such things (premium price for premium products). There aren't really any other good premium case options for the FC660C, so I'm more than happy putting the money down to see it done right.

Please! Imagine a FC660C Norbauer case in this finish:


Go go go!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[norbauer]

wow! I am IN again Norbauer. I would KILL someone for the chance to have it in  STONEWASHED finish... PLEASE!!! (like in EDC components)

Ooh. Now that is a cool idea. Can you post some of your favorite examples? Were you talking about acid-etched and stonewashed, or just stonewashed?

I've actually been longingly investigating offering an option for having the WHOLE case in stainless steel, which lends itself to stone-washing or PVD, but the price gets up to around $500 and I'm not sure we could find enough people interested to hit an MOQ for steel at that price.

Just wanted to chime in here - I would definitely be interested in a steel case option, especially if it means interesting finishes/textures. The price might be a bit high, but I'd say the clientele your work attracts would be a near-ideal audience for such things (premium price for premium products). There aren't really any other good premium case options for the FC660C, so I'm more than happy putting the money down to see it done right.

Please! Imagine a FC660C Norbauer case in this finish:

Show Image

Go go go!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

oh man. that's so hot.

is that just stonewashed raw stainless?

[regionfree]

@norb/ryan would you be able to post a sample typing sound test of the prototype you have?

also wondering if it would be possible to have a custom plate for the fc660c/realforce with 3d printed slider housings. so we get the option of having a brass plate.

i tried removing one housing from my realforce and fc and i think the risk of damaging them during the process is high.

[FSund]

I was so inspired by your graphics for this project that I just had to make a banner. Hope you don't mind! Just tell me, and I'll remove it.

I don't even have a FC660C, nor the funds to get in on this GB!

[Troif]

@norb/ryan would you be able to post a sample typing sound test of the prototype you have?

also wondering if it would be possible to have a custom plate for the fc660c/realforce with 3d printed slider housings. so we get the option of having a brass plate.

i tried removing one housing from my realforce and fc and i think the risk of damaging them during the process is high.

I think adding a brass plate and so would complicate Norbauer's life and ours also... considering that the FC660C is already a nice product itself...

[Troif]

wow! I am IN again Norbauer. I would KILL someone for the chance to have it in  STONEWASHED finish... PLEASE!!! (like in EDC components)

Ooh. Now that is a cool idea. Can you post some of your favorite examples? Were you talking about acid-etched and stonewashed, or just stonewashed?

I've actually been longingly investigating offering an option for having the WHOLE case in stainless steel, which lends itself to stone-washing or PVD, but the price gets up to around $500 and I'm not sure we could find enough people interested to hit an MOQ for steel at that price.

Just wanted to chime in here - I would definitely be interested in a steel case option, especially if it means interesting finishes/textures. The price might be a bit high, but I'd say the clientele your work attracts would be a near-ideal audience for such things (premium price for premium products). There aren't really any other good premium case options for the FC660C, so I'm more than happy putting the money down to see it done right.

Please! Imagine a FC660C Norbauer case in this finish:

Show Image

Go go go!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

oh man. that's so hot.

is that just stonewashed raw stainless?

Norbauer, the good thing here is that this finish I showed you is ALUMINUM STONEWASHED AND TUMBLED (not StainlessSteel which has more cost), so cost won't be so heavy... what do you think? can we make it real!??? :D  count on me for this finish.

[Kerasan]

@norb/ryan would you be able to post a sample typing sound test of the prototype you have?

also wondering if it would be possible to have a custom plate for the fc660c/realforce with 3d printed slider housings. so we get the option of having a brass plate.

i tried removing one housing from my realforce and fc and i think the risk of damaging them during the process is high.

I think adding a brass plate and so would complicate Norbauer's life and ours also... considering that the FC660C is already a nice product itself...

You're right, good point.

KMK Labs.

[Comment]

This project looks awesome. I hope it goes well so I can see something similar come out for the FC980C! AFAIK there are no aftermarket cases for it

[norbauer]

Norbauer, the good thing here is that this finish I showed you is ALUMINUM STONEWASHED AND TUMBLED (not StainlessSteel which has more cost), so cost won't be so heavy... what do you think? can we make it real!???   count on me for this finish.

Wow. That's interesting. My concern would be that raw aluminum is a very soft material without anodizing and thus highly susceptible to scratching and abrasion. Maybe with the stonewashed finish it would hide the normal sort of scratches that would accumulate on a non-anodized finish, but I would worry that even the stonewashed finish would rub away over time in spots that get touched. I have learned through these projects that some people have a tendency to rub their keyboard repeatedly in certain spots while typing, so good housings need to be somewhat robust to that kind of use.

[norbauer]

I was so inspired by your graphics for this project that I just had to make a banner. Hope you don't mind! Just tell me, and I'll remove it.

That's awesome. Thanks!

@norb/ryan would you be able to post a sample typing sound test of the prototype you have?

I'm waiting until I get a new sample with the latest design based on revisions from feedback in this thread, but yes I will certainly eventually do that.

[Troif]

Norbauer, the good thing here is that this finish I showed you is ALUMINUM STONEWASHED AND TUMBLED (not StainlessSteel which has more cost), so cost won't be so heavy... what do you think? can we make it real!???   count on me for this finish.

Wow. That's interesting. My concern would be that raw aluminum is a very soft material without anodizing and thus highly susceptible to scratching and abrasion. Maybe with the stonewashed finish it would hide the normal sort of scratches that would accumulate on a non-anodized finish, but I would worry that even the stonewashed finish would rub away over time in spots that get touched. I have learned through these projects that some people have a tendency to rub their keyboard repeatedly in certain spots while typing, so good housings need to be somewhat robust to that kind of use.

I can promise you that this finish is SUPER STRONG. I have many samples with me as I love stonewashed finish, mainly Titanium and SS, but this Aluminum in tumbler is great. I have THREE buckets of those (different styles) and I can say those are sturdy as hell. This finish HAS NEVER BEEN DONE TO MY KNOWLEDGE in a keyboard... so PLEASE!!!

[BobCarltheThird]

Norbauer, the good thing here is that this finish I showed you is ALUMINUM STONEWASHED AND TUMBLED (not StainlessSteel which has more cost), so cost won't be so heavy... what do you think? can we make it real!???   count on me for this finish.

Wow. That's interesting. My concern would be that raw aluminum is a very soft material without anodizing and thus highly susceptible to scratching and abrasion. Maybe with the stonewashed finish it would hide the normal sort of scratches that would accumulate on a non-anodized finish, but I would worry that even the stonewashed finish would rub away over time in spots that get touched. I have learned through these projects that some people have a tendency to rub their keyboard repeatedly in certain spots while typing, so good housings need to be somewhat robust to that kind of use.

I can promise you that this finish is SUPER STRONG. I have many samples with me as I love stonewashed finish, mainly Titanium and SS, but this Aluminum in tumbler is great. I have THREE buckets of those (different styles) and I can say those are sturdy as hell. This finish HAS NEVER BEEN DONE TO MY KNOWLEDGE in a keyboard... so PLEASE!!!

This man loves stonewashed finishes  )

[elcubismo]

Honestly I think the case is fancy enough and going to take a long time to get to me anyway, so I'm cool with Norbauer's original plan and getting at asap lol. Maybe I'll consider a custom powdercoat but even the choices offered seem fine

[norbauer]

Honestly I think the case is fancy enough and going to take a long time to get to me anyway, so I'm cool with Norbauer's original plan and getting at asap lol. Maybe I'll consider a custom powdercoat but even the choices offered seem fine

More fancy, more time to make. For better or worse, that’s my specialty. Maybe embrace it as part of the “Norbauer experience?”

[dc_in_sf]

I'm a Topre n00b, I know there are sliders that let you convert the switches to work with MX keycaps, but my basic research seems to indicate that the space bar on a FC660c is problematic to convert to MX because of the stabilizers.

Is there a solution for this? My interest in this case is dependent on finding a way to be able to put MX keycaps on the FC660C that would go in it.

[Vigrith]

You can also modify the spacebar along with the remainder of the sliders but it is problematic as you said - unlike the regular slider swap you also need to convert the housings one way or another, and it's pretty worky to do. If you have the time and patience I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out, and I know there are people working on simpler solutions (proper housing replacements for some artisans within the community etc) as we speak. I can't attest for when those will be finished of course but as said it is possible and you can most definitely do it at the present time.