Thank you all again for your feedback, please keep it coming as I start putting together an IC form. You've raised some great points and I'll do my best to address them below. Let me know if I missed anything.
Re: exposed PCBYou've expressed a lot of concerns about about the exposed PCB so I'll tackle these first.
1. Short circuiting. I don't see this as a big issue for a few reasons:
a. I can't think of anything under your keyboard conductive enough to cause a short circuit including any deskmat material. Even if you spilled water and shorted the switch contacts it wouldn't harm you keyboard - that's how they work any way
b. I'll address it in detail below but the pcb should not flex enough to cause an issue.
c. There are no supply or ground contacts on the exposed portion of the PCB so even if there was an accidental short, it wouldn't do any damage. Worst case, you get a phantom key press.
2. Damage to the PCB. In my experience circuit boards are pretty robust, so the only real danger might be knocking SMT components loose. I can look into moving the switch diodes for the 1st row of switches into the covered part of the case to prevent this so if the final design moves to soldered switches, there will be nothing to knock loose.
I think these are still valid concerns so I will certainly do some testing with one of the extra prototype PCBs to validate my claims. That said, I consider the opening to be a core part of the design and I'm okay with trading some durability for it.
As to adding a covering, I think it defeats the purpose of the keyboard. The PCB/plate gets pushed back up and at that point there are any number of amazing TKLs out there that fit the bill.
Re: hotswap socketsI've never had any issues with hotswap sockets and I do have a few loose hotswap pcb's knocking around in my bin-o'-parts so I don't anticipate this being an huge issue. Soldered PCB's are much easier to produce so if there is a desire to do so, fine by me! This will for sure make it onto the interest check form.
Re: typing angleI hear the criticism and concede that having a low front height and relatively steep typing angle flies against conventional ergonomics. However I personally find the combination to be the most comfortable without a wrist rest (just a matter of preference, but I don't like using them). Despite owning a few high-end keyboards, my daily driver remains a now 7-year-old Topre realforce. It's ugly as sin, poorly constructed, and (at the risk of making enemies) feels as though someone poured molasses all over some perfectly good zealios. But with the feet down I think the gemotery is bang-on. Mesa is a bit milder than the realforce at 8.5deg to the Topre's >10deg angle, mostly because I think 8deg is just about perfect for GMK keycaps (the extra 0.5deg give me a bit more clearance for the USB port). Like the opening in the case, I see this as a feature that you're either into or not. Without it though, I think this is just another TKL that doesn't really differentiate itself from big field of amazing keyboards produced by this community.
Re: flexFor obvious reasons this board is not designed to allow any flex. The the gasket mount is strictly for acuostic purposes. The gaskets will be under high compression (hence 12 case screws) and based on my testing should not give more .2mm total. The silicone layer between the PCB and Plate should add a bit rigidity as well. If you really lean on the plate and use a thick deskmat some of the PCB components might make contact but as I mention above, I don't think there are any deskmats conductive enough to cause an issue. Again though, I will absolutely do some stress testing with the prototype.
Re: ISO and Alps PCBsI don't anticipate enough interest to make these options possible but I'm happy to open source the PCB which you can then modify to your liking.
Re: winkeyWKL is not hugely important to me so it just depends on how much interest there is. I will be certain to put this in the IC form.
Re: case thicknessThe bottom of the case is 3mm thick and tapers down to just under 1.5mm thick behind the lip around the opening.