[IC] Fraktal Chest - A 6x8 Semi-Modular Acrylic Artisan Storage Box!

[HOBI3CAT]

The Fraktal Chest



Click here to submit feedback for the IC!

Click here to join the Fraktal Kaps Discord for updates!


Hi everyone!

My name's HOBI3CAT, and you may know me as the one-man-show behind Fraktal Kaps (fraktalkaps.com).
However, after seeing some other acrylic artisan cases out there, and thinking "I can do it better",
I've decided to put my Mechanical Engineering degree towards something other than artisan keycaps.

Without further ado, I present The Fraktal Chest!


First prototype in clear


SPECS

• Semi-modular 6x8 grid, holds 48 1u caps
• 0.80" x 0.80" x 0.24" boxes will fit any standard-sized keycaps
• Can fit caps up to ~0.85" tall (may change slightly with new acrylic supplier)
• Constructed of stacked and interlocking acrylic layers
• Magnetic clear lid
• Thumb cutouts for easy lid removal
• Competitive price point (more info below)
• Optional 30° stand
• Will include foam to keep artisans in place during travel

The Fraktal Chest is a 6x8 artisan storage box with semi-modular dividers that can be removed to suit your artisan sizing needs.
The case itself is an acrylic sandwich design, but each layer is split into two "L" shapes, allowing MUCH less material to be wasted in the
cutting process, and significantly decreasing overall material cost (a savings which we pass on to you!). Like most sandwich-style case
designs, it uses button head bolts and threaded standoffs to hold it together, but this case also uses press-fit magnets used to hold the lid
on. After some initial feedback and testing, I deemed that magnets were a much cleaner and user-friendly option over thumb screws.
The lid is secure, but with some thumb cutouts and the magnets, it is very easy to remove and replace (for the overly-active trader ).
The standout feature of this case, however, is that the dividers that make up the "grid" are removable, which will let you take some out
to fit artisans that are sized larger than 1u!


COLORS

Will for sure be doing clear, black and white but other colors are TBD. Please fill out the survey form above to cast your vote for other colors!

Finalized colors are as follows: Opaque White/Black/Blue/Purple, Transparent Clear/Frosted/Blue/Purple

Specific color variants of white, opaque blue, and transparent blue are still to be finalized- please fill out the IC form above to cast your vote!

If GB is run through SMKeyboards as planned, will be able to offer a large majority of his amazing colors! You can see those here.


PRICING

Prices are not completely finalized, but we are looking at around $75 per case, and around $10 to add the optional stand*.

*These prices are NOT FINAL! We will decide on final pricing once we finalize a few more things.


VENDOR

I have a soft agreement to run this GB with SMKeyboards! If you haven't heard of SMKeyboards, he is a very prolific vendor in the community for premium stacked acrylic cases, and has some insanely gorgeous acrylic colors!


GB Info

Units Available: TBD
Pricing: $75 per case, $10 to add on the optional stand (NOT finalized)
GB Dates: TBD
GB Format: TBD qtys, limited entry window



PICS

More

To Do

• Finalize new acrylic supplier with better thickness tolerances (waiting on shipment now)
• Fine-tune the divider slip-fit tightness (will need to wait on new acrylic to arrive)
• Finalize acrylic colors
• Find foam supplier
• Finalize pricing
• Finalize GB dates/timing


Updates

10.14.2020 - IC started!
10.15.2020 - Updated OP with more info/pics.
10.28.2020 - Got new acrylic in- thickness is much more consistent!
01.08.2021 - Finalized colors (mostly), fixed divider fitment, changed stand to be 30° instead of 20°.
11.11.2021 - After multiple prototypes I have found a fundamental flaw with my design that requires a completely revised design to make in lasercut acrylic. This will probably take a while, as life is very busy right now, but I'm committed to making it happen! Also, have a soft agreement from SMKeyboards to run the GB through him, which means LOTS of colors can be offered.

[ygor]

Wow! This looks awesome, man! This is the best case design I’ve seen come out of the community. I can tell there’s some serious know-how behind this thing. Definitely interested! Keep up the great work! 

Love, love, love the magnets, dude.

[DALExSNAIL]

Magnets, wow innovation finally

[afrokobe]

Magnets? Count me in, can't count the number of times I wish my artisan case had magnets.  Also love me some acrylic layer builds.  Simple, cheap, effective. 

[prognostics]

Interested, also excited for magnets (how do they work?)

[Remsky]

Magnetic lid and a nice acrylic case all u need. In

[HipsterPunks]

did someone mention something about magnets?

[ghostjuggernaut]

[Blastoise]

Any chance you will have an option for a larger one?

[HOBI3CAT]

Any chance you will have an option for a larger one?

For right now, no. But depending on how smoothly this GB goes we will look into doing a few other sizes!

[AuthenticDanger]

Are you going to do anything to hide the screws or are you going for the Qlavier look?

[HOBI3CAT]

Wow! This looks awesome, man! This is the best case design I’ve seen come out of the community. I can tell there’s some serious know-how behind this thing. Definitely interested! Keep up the great work! 

Love, love, love the magnets, dude.

Thank you so much! This is the result of about 1.5 years of thinking about how to build a better box, finally put into action.

[HOBI3CAT]

Are you going to do anything to hide the screws or are you going for the Qlavier look?

Screws will be fully visible like in the pics. However in the opaque colors you will only see the heads of the screws

[KanyeMidEast]

Will we get to customize the colors or will we only be able to choose one color for all layers? Also would it be possible to buy extra dividers? Like if we bought a clear layer or something to put over the first layer and then put another set of dividers ontop to make two layers idk if that makes sense lmao

[HOBI3CAT]

Will we get to customize the colors or will we only be able to choose one color for all layers? Also would it be possible to buy extra dividers? Like if we bought a clear layer or something to put over the first layer and then put another set of dividers ontop to make two layers idk if that makes sense lmao

So I think I understand what you are saying... but essentially that is not possible with this design. The dividers fit into slots in the bottom-most two layers, and wouldn't fit into any of the other layers. We are thinking about offering the option of doing two colors though. 

[Cubic // esc lab]

Great to see more interesting designs for artisan boxes. GLWIC. Looking forward to seeing some Series 00 on these bad boys.

[ygor]

I would hayt to see this die in IC.

[1am_Icy]

How firm in place is the lid going to be? Is there going to be anything to hold the lid in place during transportation other than the magnets? My biggest thing is the protection of the caps due to the small fortune these artisans cost.

[HOBI3CAT]

How firm in place is the lid going to be? Is there going to be anything to hold the lid in place during transportation other than the magnets? My biggest thing is the protection of the caps due to the small fortune these artisans cost.

So the lid is held down with the magnets (which have a pretty strong pull force, around ~11lbf total), and the lid also has clearance holes cut out around the screw heads, which keeps it from sliding from side to side. The lid is quite secure, but I am also looking into the option to have a band of some sort to use for transport to really hold the lid on tight. Also there will for sure be a piece of foam included with each case to go between your caps and the underside of the lid to hold them in place for transport. We still have to find a good supplier for a proper density foam though

[HOBI3CAT]

Here is an example of a foam layer (although the actual foam will change... we are trying to find a good supplier and foam with a lower density).

[lungo-nango]

What is the height clearance for caps with the lid on?

Also, to avoid the need for a band I don't know it would be possible to increase the magnets to 4 while still making it reasonable to open by hand. My opinion of bands is low because they are usually made out of a material with a texture that acts like a lint roll. So it is hard to keep clean and any dirt on the band would just end up transferring onto the case. With it being acrylic (especially clear), would just add to the maintenance of keeping it clean.

Maybe countersunk holes with magnetic screws so the magnets attach to those instead of other magnets to allow more room for magnets. Just spit balling, I don't know about the feasibility. The cut outs for the button heads to prevent lid movement is a nice touch regardless.

I'm definitely watching though because of the options for allowing more than 1U caps. So many boxes don't allow for this.

[HOBI3CAT]

What is the height clearance for caps with the lid on?

Also, to avoid the need for a band I don't know it would be possible to increase the magnets to 4 while still making it reasonable to open by hand. My opinion of bands is low because they are usually made out of a material with a texture that acts like a lint roll. So it is hard to keep clean and any dirt on the band would just end up transferring onto the case. With it being acrylic (especially clear), would just add to the maintenance of keeping it clean.

Maybe countersunk holes with magnetic screws so the magnets attach to those instead of other magnets to allow more room for magnets. Just spit balling, I don't know about the feasibility. The cut outs for the button heads to prevent lid movement is a nice touch regardless.

I'm definitely watching though because of the options for allowing more than 1U caps. So many boxes don't allow for this.

Right now the prototype has room to fit caps up to 21.6mm tall (or 0.85"). This may change slightly with the new acrylic supplier (should actually be slightly more, but we will wait on new samples to come in to verify).

If we switched to 4 magnetic points, I think the force to take the lid off would be too high for proper usability... it is quite snug as is. And there is always the chance that no matter how high the magnetic "clamp" force, the lid could be pried off in a bag. For a band, I was thinking of doing a velcro/fabric one as opposed to a rubber one (I agree that the rubber ones aren't great for cleanliness). Still looking into options for that though.

[krey]

woot new features!

[HOBI3CAT]

Small update today: got some new thickness measurements on acrylic from the new supplier, and it is much more consistent! Avg thickness of 2.97mm, with a std dev of 0.094mm.

This should make the fitment of the dividers and the stand much better!

[HOBI3CAT]

Just a quick update on what's going on, and what colors are taking the lead in the IC form:

- I'm still waiting to receive the sample chips of all the colors of acrylic from the new supplier. Not sure when they will get here.
- Right now for colors, it is looking like in addition to black/white/clear, we will be offering: "

• Frosted Clear
• Opaque Blue
• Opaque Purple
• Transparent Blue
• Transparent Purple

*these colors are still subject to change, but so far these 5 are leading the rest by quite a bit

[HOBI3CAT]

So I am working on finalizing the fit/finish of the case (especially the dividers), and think I'm pretty close to what I'd consider *perfect*, so I've decided to close the current poll, and finalize colors based on the feedback!

So these are all the colors I'll be doing:

• Opaque White
• Opaque Black
• Opaque Blue
• Opaque Purple
• Clear
• Frosted Clear
• Transparent Blue
• Transparent Purple

Now to just figure out which variant of white/opaque blue/transparent blue to offer... will be putting up another IC form later to decide that!



Also, I am working on changing the stand to be closer to 30 degrees instead of 20, based on feedback from the form, and still trying to find the perfect foam for inside the case.

[HOBI3CAT]

New IC form is up! Please check it out below


Fraktal Chest IC Feedback Form #2

[break]

How are things coming along here?

[Curin Derwin]

I like it. Alum version, too?

[HOBI3CAT]

How are things coming along here?

Project is kind of in limbo right now... trying to prioritize other things and getting ready to have a baby lol. I really have no timeline, but this project WILL be happening.

I like it. Alum version, too?

Of this box, no.
I might do an aluminum version in the future, but the design will be different.

[HOBI3CAT]

11.11.2021 UPDATE:

I know it's been a long while with no updates, but just wanted to let you know I haven't given up on this project!

First the bad news: After multiple prototypes I have found a fundamental flaw with my design that is due to the overly variable thickness tolerances on cast acrylic sheets, so I will have to change the design a bit to overcome that if I want to keep the semi-modular feature (which I do), and keep it cut acrylic (which I do). Unfortunately this means I'll need to finish some other backlogged projects before I can revise the design, and then I'll have to make a few prototypes to test that it works as intended. I also will not be going with the previously decided lasercutting vendor for various reasons, so that may raise the pricing slightly. As far as timeline goes, I have no idea when this can make it to GB, but I'd like to get the revised design finished in Q1 of 2022 (I am moving in early December, so everything will slow down for the next couple of months anyway).

However, some good news: I have gotten a soft agreement to run this case through SMKeyboards! And I need to talk to him more, but if he has the capacity, I'd plan on running a traditional group buy, and then afterwards making it a limited in-stock item on his store as well as mine. This also means that WAYYYY more colors can be offered! IDK if you've seen his work, but he truly has some of the most gorgeous acrylic colors out there.

Thanks for sticking with me- I want to see the Fraktal Chest become a reality just as badly as all of you! ❤️