[IC] Ursus - Symmetrical wkl 65%

[Xanira]

URSUS

(УРСУС)

     
Specifications

Typing angle: 8°                Front height: 17.75mm, adjusted 19.2mm                Layout: 65% symmetrical wkl                Mounting style: Sandwich o-ring                Weight: Bead blasted stainless steel                Middle part: Dark anodized aluminium                Top case: Frosted poly carbonate or silver anodized aluminium                Screws: M2x4: 8. M2x7: 8.                Feet: Compatible with Geon 20x7mm feet

Catalogue

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Parts & Assembly

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Information

Units: 25-50 (higher if there is demand)      Price estimate: 500-600usd (lower if more demand)      Sales date: q3 - q4 of 2025 (tbd)      [IMPORTANT] Please fill this form if you are interested

Updates

The new prototype has been ordered in June, Factory is busy, expect 1-2 months                          Cherry + EC PCB's are in development.                          Fiberglass case for travel is in development.                          For details and questions: https://discord.gg/8EXjGRb4E7

Thank you for reading!

renders have been lowered in resolution on Findecanor's recommendation

[Findecanor]

You know, you could have scaled down the images to a smaller size more suitable for publishing on the web before posting.

I'm on fast broadband and it still takes a lot of time to load. Especially considering that they are PNGs and not JPEGs.

[Randomlosername]

DAMN. I love this. So clean and the design has such a stoic presence.

[Xanira]

DAMN. I love this. So clean and the design has such a stoic presence.

I like the big word, thank you

[Rob27shred]

Nice, looks clean OP! About time someone else did a symmetrical WKL 65 too! I thought it would be a dominant form factor after how popular the Bauer was, but for whatever reason it didn't become one. I would love to see a Cherry styled lip on this, I think it would help break up the boxy look a little bit. Also curious to hear the sound test from the proto. The leaf spring design of the plate worries me a bit with the spacebar switch & stab cutouts being much closer to the bottom left side mounting tab than the right side. Which might negatively affect the sound of the spacebar. Hopefully it doesn't, but IME building KBs that type of setup usually makes for a weaker sounding space. Anyways GL with the proto OP, I'll be keeping an eye on this one! Been a hot min since a 65% interested me & this one definitely caught my eye.

[Xanira]

Nice, looks clean OP! About time someone else did a symmetrical WKL 65 too! I thought it would be a dominant form factor after how popular the Bauer was, but for whatever reason it didn't become one. I would love to see a Cherry styled lip on this, I think it would help break up the boxy look a little bit. Also curious to hear the sound test from the proto. The leaf spring design of the plate worries me a bit with the spacebar switch & stab cutouts being much closer to the bottom left side mounting tab than the right side. Which might negatively affect the sound of the spacebar. Hopefully it doesn't, but IME building KBs that type of setup usually makes for a weaker sounding space. Anyways GL with the proto OP, I'll be keeping an eye on this one! Been a hot min since a 65% interested me & this one definitely caught my eye.

Thank you so much for the kind words. The symmetrical WKL 65% is my favorite layout, so maybe I'm a bit ignorant for that reason, but I'm also surprised that its not more popular than it is. I would like to do a model with a cherry lip design to see how it looks. My biggest concern about making the front with a cherry lip, is that the stance of the keyboard, with the straight 90 degree angle from the front against the angled rear, might not be as severe, but that's just me ranting. I would love to try it out, I might just end up being proven wrong. As for the plate design, I have also had some bad experiences with mounting points around the spacebar switch/stabilizer area. My theory (don't take anything i say as the absolute truth lol) is that because this mounting style has less pressure on one point as well as being spaced out a fair bit from the main portion of the plate, compared to something like a traditional top mounted plate, it wont cripple the sound in the same way. Either way, We will find out with the new prototype. I'll probably also find a bunch of other small things to improve as well. I will be posting a sound test of the prototype here if it lives up to my expectations and i get the sound i want out of it. I wont be doing an EC sound test right away, as I'm just going to be using a spare MX PCB I have, that supports the layout.
Once again, thank you so much for both the kind words and the feedback, its super helpful to hear from other people with their own experience

[zegonix]

i don't understand why you call it 'symmetric'. the picture with the plate looks like a regular 65% layout to me. can you elaborate?

[Xanira]

i don't understand why you call it 'symmetric'. the picture with the plate looks like a regular 65% layout to me. can you elaborate?

well i guess if you want to look at it from a purely technical point of view, it cant ever be truly 'symmetric' on a 65% keyboard. Traditionally 65% WKL designs had the usual smaller 0.5u blocker on the right, with a regular 1u WKL blocker on the left. Whereas the newer "symmetrical" variant has two 0.75u blockers instead, while utilizing the same bottom row keys as most commonly used in 60% and tkl WKL, with a 7u space and 1.5u alt/ctrl keys. It doesnt really make for more functionality, but it looks better for those of us who prefer WKL in a 65% format.

Linked is the WKL ver. of the e6.5, which has a more traditional 65% WKL layout (coincidentally taken by Rob27shred) https://geekhack.org/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=43865.0;attach=227764;image

[zegonix]

ah i see, thanks for the explanation.
on first reading the term, i expected another row of 1u keys to the left or something

[Rob27shred]

ah i see, thanks for the explanation.
on first reading the term, i expected another row of 1u keys to the left or something

You know what a 65% set up like that with another row to left but not separated like a XT row would be more symmetrical now that you say that. Hmm definitely a good ideal for a future design!

[Xanira]

ah i see, thanks for the explanation.
on first reading the term, i expected another row of 1u keys to the left or something

You know what a 65% set up like that with another row to left but not separated like a XT row would be more symmetrical now that you say that. Hmm definitely a good ideal for a future design!

I wonder how that would be done without messing with the other rows. maybe with a ISO left shift or some other slightly obscure kitting. It could be a really cool idea imo

[Rob27shred]

ah i see, thanks for the explanation.
on first reading the term, i expected another row of 1u keys to the left or something

You know what a 65% set up like that with another row to left but not separated like a XT row would be more symmetrical now that you say that. Hmm definitely a good ideal for a future design!

I wonder how that would be done without messing with the other rows. maybe with a ISO left shift or some other slightly obscure kitting. It could be a really cool idea imo

Oh yeah there would definitely have to be some fudging of the layout for it to not look funky, just though it was a pretty cool ideal too!

[zegonix]

before the terminology gets to weird i would like to correct my statement.
of course i meant ".. another COLUMN to the left .."

[Xanira]

I would love to see a Cherry styled lip on this, I think it would help break up the boxy look a little bit.

I "sent" a dm to you here on geekhack, but when i check "sent messages" it doesnt show up, so im not sure if its sent or not (or if im able to send messages at all) so to sum it up; I did a small remodel of the top case with a cherry lip. I am not personally a fan of how it changes the silhouette of the board, however, if you end up being interested in joining the private group buy (or public if it ends up happening) I would not mind doing a 1 off (+ a couple extra for replacement and to keep) if it can be done within a reasonable price range

Heres what it looks like in comparison:

[tankLancer]

o-ring gasket and this sleek design, the board really hit my spot.

[Xanira]

o-ring gasket and this sleek design, the board really hit my spot.

Tyvm~

(Also update soon™)

Edit: Apologies, the update will happen later than I had expected due to the manufacturer of the new prototype being very busy at the moment.

[Xanira]

Bumping the thread.

Small update:
The manufacturer is currently very busy, and estimated 1-2 months before I'll have the prototype (that being in late June when I ordered it).
To put into context, that is not how long it actually takes to manufacture it, but for a very small unit count, or single unit like in this scenario, it will be put in a queue behind all of the larger quantity orders.

The bottom anodizing color, which should be the trickiest to get right (as opposed to the silver top), has been finalized.
Here's a video of the anodized color:


The MX PCB design is almost done and I will be ordering one very soon, as for the EC PCB it will be a little while longer.

Look forward to a larger update when I Receive the MX PCB and Prototype.

[Rob27shred]

Bumping the thread.

Small update:
The manufacturer is currently very busy, and estimated 1-2 months before I'll have the prototype (that being in late June when I ordered it).
To put into context, that is not how long it actually takes to manufacture it, but for a very small unit count, or single unit like in this scenario, it will be put in a queue behind all of the larger quantity orders.

The bottom anodizing color, which should be the trickiest to get right (as opposed to the silver top), has been finalized.
Here's a video of the anodized color:


The MX PCB design is almost done and I will be ordering one very soon, as for the EC PCB it will be a little while longer.

Look forward to a larger update when I Receive the MX PCB and Prototype.

The anno sample looks awesome! Hopefully they can keep that quality up with the actual bottoms! Yeah I'd imagine it's one of the busier times of the year for the manus, 1- 2 months isn't the worst wait though. Also looking forward to see the PCB designs when you get those together. Anyways still loving this project, I'll definitely be having as many people I can at out next local Pittsburgh meetup take a look at it! Great work on this so far, hope iy keeps going smoothly for you!