[IC] Aella - a 75% keyboard from AKB

[Alchemist Keyboards]

GB THREAD LIVE



AKB Website
AKB Discord
AKB Instagram

Contents:

1. SPIEL
2. TECHNICAL SPECS/FEATURES
3. LAYOUT SUPPORT
4. V1 PROTOTYPE PHOTOS
5. ADDITIONAL RENDERS
6. VENDOR/PRICE INFORMATION
7. SPECIAL THANKS
8. IC FORM/UPDATES (1ST COMMENT)


1. SPIEL:

I’m James aka Alchemist Keyboards (AKB), and I have been designing keyboards since the end of 2018. As well as working on my own boards such as the OGR and Petrichor (both also coming soon) I’ve been working as the lead designer for Proto[typist] for which I helped bring boards like the J-02, J-01 Rev.1, Argyle, Allison and many others to reality.

Now I'm back with the Aella, a 75% “seamless/screwless” board that adopts a beautiful and unique side profile with clean, smooth curves and a compact design with a staggered F-row. In my opinion this is the optimal 75% layout aesthetically, while not compromising on function. I decided to go with a ‘screwless’ design to focus all attention on the sweeping curves of the side profile, as that is the real star of the show here.

It also has a pretty name so it has that going for it too.


2. TECHNICAL SPECS/FEATURES:

Typing angle: 7°
Case Material: 6063 Aluminium
Mounting system: Top/burger mount
Front height: 18mm (without feet)
PCB: Designed by Upas, with a centered flex cut. Paired with the ai03 unified daughterboard. QMK & VIA compatible PCB.
Plates: 5052 Aluminium as standard, with FR4, PC and brass as optional extras.
Weight: 1.5kg built (est.)


3. LAYOUT SUPPORT




4. V1 PROTOTYPE PHOTOS

A second round of prototypes are currently on order and I will add pics here when I have them!




This v-shaped tray was initially designed to allow more room for flex, but on the first prototype I wasn't happy with how it altered the sound so this was dropped on the later revision.










Yeah it's a cursed layout, sue me.


5. ADDITIONAL RENDERS:

Following renders by Pikku-Allu

















Following renders by FLX


















6. VENDOR/PRICE INFORMATION:

• US: Cannonkeys (150 units) - $450 USD
• Europe: Proto[Typist] (150 units) - £385 inc VAT
• Asia: iLumkb (100 units) - $620 SGD inc GST

                   


7. SPECIAL THANKS:

• Flexerman (FLX) for the PCB design, for renders and for crucial input throughout the whole design process. He's also an all-round good egg.
• Amber for giving me her blessing to run with the Wraith layout, even though the Wraith hasn't run in GB yet.
• Pikku-allu for his incredible renders, helping make the Aella look as beautiful as it possibly could be.
• Upas, Jae & Louis for their encouragement and for taking a chance on running with this design.
• ThereminGoat for his honest input and unwavering support.

[Alchemist Keyboards]

8. UPDATES (1ST COMMENT)


UPDATES:

• 27/05/21 - Added iLumkb GB units (100)
• 13/06/21 - Added colour options, expected GB time and PCB update. Amended IC form.
• 01/07/21 - GB date, price and plate materials announced. We're going ahead with July 15th! GB thread now posted.

[Rafa_n]

Prototypist is not really and EU proxy anymore

[Nyeezy]

Pls


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Alchemist Keyboards]

Prototypist is not really and EU proxy anymore

I didn't specify EU, just Europe

[damagepoint]

Yes.

[ilikerustoo]

I'll take it

[MIGHTY CHICKEN]

segsy

[Full]

YES.

[Laur]

I hate 75% but this is hot.

[KeebOnMe]

Looks amazing! Can't wait for more information!

[singabore]

[Visionaire]

Looking awesome!

[Bl4ck]

Prototypist is not really and EU proxy anymore

I didn't specify EU, just Europe

I mean... for EU people buying from any of the vendors will get expensive.

In fact for some countries getting it from the US would be cheaper.

[mvkb]

Paella without the P!

Need my 3 mods bottom left, but this looks sweet. GL!

[Ustinj]

Renders are lovely, GLWIC!

[paperassgasket]

Been following this for a while now. Not my preferred layout but it's a pretty design.
GLWIC

[bthezebra]

Love symmetrical blockers so pleasing to the eye

[NovaRMK]

This is one of the hottest boards I've ever seen

[DERBS]

N E 3-1-3 Bar support avail?

[Alchemist Keyboards]

N E 3-1-3 Bar support avail?

Not currently! Throw your suggestions in the IC and I'll chat to Flex about it 

[azzipa]

that rotating render by flx kinda blows my mind 

[Flexerman]

Hey here it is, finally


Great looking board James, can’t wait to see the new prototypes.

[Convergence]

This is something special.

[koenoe]

OOF

[Flybeck]

Clean, hotswap?

[Alchemist Keyboards]

Clean, hotswap?

I'm only planning on a solderable pcb at the moment

[lewisflude]

Looks beautiful!

[IMZO]

LOoks good!

[justinhigley]

TIL I'm a vampire.

Layout isn't for me but I like the lines.

[brodiegrizz]

Wouldn't the PCB flex cut between R3 and R4 be better placed above and below the alphas?

[Alchemist Keyboards]

Wouldn't the PCB flex cut between R3 and R4 be better placed above and below the alphas?

If I was to aim for a lot of flex that would be ideal but this way I've found provides a subtle flex when using a half plate

[Chippy]

stunning renders by pikku. Looking forward to seeing more from this. great job guys.

[hottrout]

Truly beautiful, simple, clean but classic.  Really love the design but also the quality of the build suggested.  Good luck with this but I imagine it will sell out in minutes.   I will be in line for mine.

[brodiegrizz]

Wouldn't the PCB flex cut between R3 and R4 be better placed above and below the alphas?

If I was to aim for a lot of flex that would be ideal but this way I've found provides a subtle flex when using a half plate

I'm talking more along the lines of sound consistency between the alphas

[Alchemist Keyboards]

Wouldn't the PCB flex cut between R3 and R4 be better placed above and below the alphas?

If I was to aim for a lot of flex that would be ideal but this way I've found provides a subtle flex when using a half plate

I'm talking more along the lines of sound consistency between the alphas

Well a half plate wouldn't provide sound consistency regardless as it's primarily for a softer feel on the alphas, and with a full plate (which has no cut) the difference in sound is minimal.

[FishyKeebs]

I hate 75%s but that side profile is nice

[Kinesiologist]

That rotating render tho. Love the side profile and hope to see more color options

[Voaraq]

I love it.

Can't stand 75% boards with the function row keys lined up exactly above the number row (ala Tofu84/KBD75). That slight offset is all kinds of yes

[yui_]

Really nice design, great work. Glwic!

[treeleaf64]

I n t e r e s t e d

[SDKCAMPING]

I n t e r e s t e d

why i thought u said 75 should not exist since TKL and 65 are better in sound and looks haha

[Alchemist Keyboards]

I n t e r e s t e d

t h a n k   y o u  : )

[El_Jackador]

Extremely INTERESTED

[El_Jackador]

Btw, please do a space grey colour!

[Sainity]

Not having an EU vendor really hurts. Any chance an EU vendor could still happen?

[Alchemist Keyboards]

Not having an EU vendor really hurts. Any chance an EU vendor could still happen?

Not at all likely unfortunately, I had an agreement in place long before Brexit came into effect and I plan on staying with it.

[Alchemist Keyboards]

UPDATE:

• 27/05/21 - Added iLumkb GB units (100)

[treeleaf64]

I n t e r e s t e d

why i thought u said 75 should not exist since TKL and 65 are better in sound and looks haha

Pikku allu render

[Lazesummerstone]

Yeah  really interested to see what the color options are because tbh this is a really beautiful board. I hope you decide to throw in a uncommon color though, I feel like it's always black/white/grey/navy/purple. A green possibly?

[Alchemist Keyboards]

Yeah  really interested to see what the color options are because tbh this is a really beautiful board. I hope you decide to throw in a uncommon color though, I feel like it's always black/white/grey/navy/purple. A green possibly?

I feel the same way. I'm carefully considering colour options at the moment but I definitely want to throw in a curve ball on this one!

[jiyoonjang]

Very interested. I need 3 mods in the bottom left and it will be super comfortable if a chamfering to the bottom of the case like Frog TKL. Any chance to change the angle to 5 or 6 degree?

[clik_clak]

Very interested. I need 3 mods in the bottom left and it will be super comfortable if a chamfering to the bottom of the case like Frog TKL. Any chance to change the angle to 5 or 6 degree?

ROFL...Please completely re-design the case/pcb for me.

[Gavzers]

Very interested. I need 3 mods in the bottom left and it will be super comfortable if a chamfering to the bottom of the case like Frog TKL. Any chance to change the angle to 5 or 6 degree?

ROFL...Please completely re-design the case/pcb for me.

Yeah, I'm super interested. Can it please be 11 degrees though, and I'm not a fan of 75% so maybe we could do a 65% instead. Also, could you chamfer the whole board so it's basically a sphere? And can you add a few function rows or something in there, and maybe a pen rail or some light show or something, you know? Can't wait!

[jiyoonjang]

I didn't mean to be rude. i'm sorry guys.

[Gavzers]

I didn't mean to be rude. i'm sorry guys.

No worries, it's all just in good fun. A lot of designer's usually do go into ic's with most design elements solidified though, so after the ic is posted there usually aren't angle changes, large chamfer/fillet changes, or layout changes (unless applicable). It seems like Aella likely won't have an option in the future for three mod bottom left, but there are plenty of other boards out there that might cater to your interest a bit more.

[Alchemist Keyboards]

I didn't mean to be rude. i'm sorry guys.

No worries, it's all just in good fun. A lot of designer's usually do go into ic's with most design elements solidified though, so after the ic is posted there usually aren't angle changes, large chamfer/fillet changes, or layout changes (unless applicable). It seems like Aella likely won't have an option in the future for three mod bottom left, but there are plenty of other boards out there that might cater to your interest a bit more.

Very interested. I need 3 mods in the bottom left and it will be super comfortable if a chamfering to the bottom of the case like Frog TKL. Any chance to change the angle to 5 or 6 degree?

No harm, no foul!

These changes won't be possible with this particular board I'm afraid. The angle is certainly locked in as per my personal preference, and while I've looked into the possibility of a winkey version due to a handful of requests the screw placement prohibits that from being a possibility.

[Alchemist Keyboards]

Update time!

• Firstly, this GB is expected to run in late July/early August if everything runs as planned. Exact dates to be confirmed soon.
• Secondly, due to the time constraints and other commitments FLX has stepped down from PCB duties on this project so Upas has stepped in to see this through.
• And finally, the colours for the GB have now been confirmed!

These colours were the overwhelming favourites based on the interest check form results and I have to say I agree.


Purple/Lilac


Deep Blue/Silver


Silver/Silver


E-White


E-Black

[hottrout]

Deep Blue or Black for me.

[D3vs]

Same for me...deep blue or black

[IMZO]

that SS butt looks hot !

[Alchemist Keyboards]

that SS butt looks hot !

Thanks! It was meant to be polished aluminium as that was on the cards very early on in the project, but due to the cost/potential QC worries we've since had to drop the idea. The renders still look super cool though!

[Diggidy]

.

[Alchemist Keyboards]

Maybe I missed it, but do you have a price estimate yet? I would assume since you have prototypes as well as vendors you have a rough idea of what your price is going to be?

Coming in the next day or two hopefully! Big update coming.

[bigdonnerz]

Why no EU vendor?

[Alchemist Keyboards]

The Aella GB will be going live on July 15th!


Price will be $450 on CannonKeys, £385 inc VAT with Proto[Typist] and iLumkbs price will be confirmed shortly.


Default plate material with the kit will be 5052 aluminium, with the option to purchase FR4, PC and brass as extras.


GB thread now posted and is pending approval.