geekhack
geekhack Marketplace => Group Buys and Preorders => Topic started by: ReDsNoTDeAd on Mon, 19 October 2020, 11:36:05
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Hi all, I am finally ready to begin the group buy for the second revision of the PLA75.
(https://i.imgur.com/S6uH5Pa.jpg)
All the technical info can be found in the IC https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=105722.0 (https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=105722.0). The TL;DR is that I made some changes to the back of the case to make it look cooler, and did lots of internal tweaking to make assembly a breeze. A lot of people (rightfully) complained about it after the first round, but now that I'm doing the manufacturing, I can make sure stuff is up to my standards.
Timeline and Spots:
I will be doing 15 spots at a time, and aiming to have those 15 shipped within a 4-5 week window. I will repeat this for the foreseeable future, and I don't believe in artificially limiting the supply - if you want a PLA75, you will eventually get one :)
Pricing and Invoicing:
Price for a kit is $185 USD. Prices on my site are in CAD rounded to the nearest $5. Raffle winners will be invoiced based on their selections from a Google form. https://rndkbd.com (http://rndkbd.com) is live! I will also be doing custom/one off colors for a little bit extra.
Time:
The next draw is TBD Early February 2021, so please enter the form if you'd like a chance to buy!
Link for the raffle https://docs.google.com/forms/d/18Yf-tF7xdMXtl4SyrgAuTUo1nCPQm9AVbvy10gjjYUQ/
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approved
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We had a really good first day for entries. As it stands, everyone in the pool has a 8.5% chance to get one in the first round. I've got the bottom pieces pre-printed, so the first round will ship out in less than 2 weeks from Friday! (barring disasters, of course)
I'm also looking into getting a second large printer so I can do 20 units per 3 weeks as well.
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We have some winners!
For the first round, the winners are (names are from whatever you put in the form so it may be reddit/discord, I blanked out discord numbers for your privacy):
Kick /geekhack
Demon4932
Jasano94
yihanzz
jpai07#XXXX
reddit/ethansev
punchline#XXXX
vinehistorian
Wasabi #XXXX
u/pepethegrapr
And the winner of the 11th spot for getting the correct trivia answer (Name of the wrestling move Will uses to attempt to save Dr. Rick Marshall), which is the Nicaraguan Ball Breaker:
Nakatomi#XXXX
Congrats to those who won, everyone else is still in the pool for the subsequent rounds! Winners will be emailed selection forms tonight, and will be invoiced as they get them back to me.
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Congrats to the winners! Will there be a skill testing question for the 2nd mini-round?
Also, is there a way to make sure I'm in the pool? Want to make sure it's only bad luck keeping me from winning
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Congrats to those who won, everyone else is still in the pool for the subsequent rounds! Winners will be emailed selection forms tonight, and will be invoiced as they get them back to me.
I assume that this means as long as we have participated raffle in the very beginning we don't need to participate again in each round until we eventually get lucky?
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Congrats to the winners! Will there be a skill testing question for the 2nd mini-round?
Also, is there a way to make sure I'm in the pool? Want to make sure it's only bad luck keeping me from winning
The form has been updated with a new question since mini-round is over. People who answered correctly in mini-round are still in the pool for the +1 spot.
Just drop me an email to rndkbd@gmail.com with your email and I don't mind checking the form for you :) I've updated it so future people will notified if they've entered.
Congrats to those who won, everyone else is still in the pool for the subsequent rounds! Winners will be emailed selection forms tonight, and will be invoiced as they get them back to me.
I assume that this means as long as we have participated raffle in the very beginning we don't need to participate again in each round until we eventually get lucky?
You got it. Once you're in, you're in.
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(https://i.imgur.com/lucnQrI.jpg)
10 case bottoms are printed! I'll be working on tops this weekend and should have everything to do with mini-round 1 ready to go for Nov 2-3.
The second round draw will be on Monday, November 2 in the morning, so check your emails and whitelist rndkbd@gmail.com to make sure you get notified if you are selected. This round will have 15 spots, as I have increased my printing capacity as promised :)
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(https://i.imgur.com/OQDrvmz.jpg)
Tops are coming along swimmingly and the custom colors people wanted are looking great. I expect to be finished everything for mini-round 1 on Wednesday, and if I push a little I can get everything in the mail before Friday!
The mini-round 2 draw is tomorrow, so check your email after work/school. I hope to do the draw in the morning, but it may be pushed to after 4 PM PST because of life.
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Mini-round 2 has been drawn. 15 participants + the only person with the correct answer to the skill testing question (there was a pool of 46 right answers in mini-round 1) have been emailed the order form! Please have invoices paid by Friday, and I will get to work on printing.
The correct answer to the question "Do you like Huey Lewis and the News?" required you to paste Patrick Bateman's monolouge from the film American Psycho:
Their early work was a little too new wave for my tastes, but when Sports came out in '83, I think they really came into their own, commercially and artistically. The whole album has a clear, crisp sound, and a new sheen of consummate professionalism that really gives the songs a big boost. He's been compared to Elvis Costello, but I think Huey has a far more bitter, cynical sense of humor. In '87, Huey released this☝, Fore, their most accomplished album. I think their undisputed masterpiece is "Hip to be Square", a song so catchy, most people probably don't listen to the lyrics. But they should, because it's not just about the pleasures of conformity, and the importance of trends, it's also a personal statement about the band itself.
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All mini-round 1 Tops & bottoms are printed. Will be doing final QC and packing tonight, and am hoping to have a big stack of boxes to get in the mail for Friday morning!
Mini-round 2 production begins this weekend, almost all spots and orders are paid for. I've had a few people drop spots there, so if you're reading this I'll reward those who decided to check the thread today. You can email me (rndkbd@gmail.com) that you saw there was a spot open in the GH thread and I will get you an order form ASAP before I pick a few more people randomly from the sheet ;D. If this is crossed out you're too late.
Other than that, not too much to report - things are going well.
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(https://i.imgur.com/9oirwrE.jpg)
Mini-round 1 is shipped!
Mini-round 2 is in production!
Mini-round 3 draw is here: https://forms.gle/Wy7ZCPaGu1PZRdUP8 (https://forms.gle/Wy7ZCPaGu1PZRdUP8)
I decided to make everyone's lives easier and pre-insert the nuts into the top case. Everything is screwed together before I ship as a QC method + it protects the PCB and plate inside. I will be posting an assembly video this week as this begins to hit people's mailboxes.
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8/15 bases and 2/19 tops are printed for R2, so I'm chugging along nicely to meet the Nov 27th in-the-mail date for mini-round 2.
Assembly Video is live on rndkbd.com (http://rndkbd.com)
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Small update, all the sources of filament are out of the glass-like clear PLA that I use for the bases and translucent tops. I've switched printing to the colored tops in the meantime, and managed to secure 10 kg of this filament from a friend across the country that had some extra - this should last me into the new year, and hopefully the vendors can restock again.
This should not impact the production of the cases/timelines at all. I have ordered some clear filament from a local shop that has a lot in stock as a plan-B if the glass-like stuff fails to be restocked for some 1/1000000 reason.
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It would be dramatic to say: I'm dying of anticipation waiting for this ship.
But I am. ;D
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It would be dramatic to say: I'm dying of anticipation waiting for this ship.
But I am. ;D
Me too. I've got about half of batch 2 ready to go, and will probably do a post office run before the weekend. The friend still hasn't shipped the clear filament, so now it will impact the delivery of the rest of batch 2 by about a week. I am still going ahead with the raffle this Friday (Perhaps even Thursday just to get things moving), and will be including some kind of black Friday deal for those that don't dilly dally on invoices :D
Everything else is still going well, I've been proactive and ordered a whole bunch of plates/pcbs/stock of all components to last me well into the new year, so expect future rounds to be nice and quick as we have been doing - who in their right mind wants to wait more than a few weeks for something amirite?
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The 3rd mini round has been drawn. 15 people + the challenge question winner have been emailed. This round get some nice Black Friday deals (Extra tops are 20-30% off!) Get those invoices in.
A little housekeeping item, I have found a supplier for the glass-like clear filament, so I've got more on the way 100%. Happy thanksgiving!
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uwu wuts dis
(https://i.imgur.com/YAB0Jpd.jpg)
Clear filament is in my hands. I'm going to push to get R2 out of the door for Friday. R3 tops are halfway done printing, as I used the downtime from the lack of clear filament to print those.
Anyone watching the thread that wants a spot can DM me as I have an extra spot in R3 for someone :) skip the raffle/line.
I'm almost through the GB backlog (will probably finish with with R4 and maaaaybe a small R5), and will transition to offering the PLA75 as an in stock item in the new year. I'm working on some new designs to run in early 2021, so stay tuned.
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Round 2 is fully shipped. R3 is still on track, I have about half of it done. Should be able to get it out before the new year.
Going to push the draw for the 4th round into January, and that will probably be the last one before it goes to in-stock.
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Hi all, update time. R3 is pushed back a week due to backlogs in the mail for supplies + having too much (safe and distant) Christmas fun. I'll be shipping R3 on or before Jan 8th, and doing a draw for the 4th round on Jan 8.
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Round 3 is all shipped! Round 4 is drawn and being invoiced.
For future rounds, would you guys prefer a plate with cutouts for easy stab removal? I for one hate having to desolder a whole board to tune some stabs that aren't perfect, so I have been employing these cuts on all my personal boards as of late. I'd like to hear some feedback before I order another set of plates early next week.
(https://i.imgur.com/IuLvCbY.png)
Here is how it looks on a different plate of mine:
(https://i.imgur.com/5HipRB3.jpg)
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+1 for the stab cutouts from me
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I have heard in some cases the stab cutouts can effect sound negatively, although I have had boards with them that still sound nice. I think this is a good idea assuming there is not a serious negative effect on the sound of the mods/spacebar.
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I have heard in some cases the stab cutouts can effect sound negatively, although I have had boards with them that still sound nice. I think this is a good idea assuming there is not a serious negative effect on the sound of the mods/spacebar.
I've decided to test it personally with a small order before I roll it out for the in-stock units. If it is nice, you'll see it on my store in the coming weeks.
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Also, I'm happy to announce that I have gotten through the group buy backlog and am now making in stock PLA75s. You can order now, and they will be shipping in about a week when the plates show up. DHL on all those parts so I think I can hit that timeline.
Thanks for all the support and a successful GB, it was a big step to handle everything from the design to printing to packaging :). I've got some stuff in the works for the site (perhaps some rarer switches + stabs, switch openers and lube stations), and once I get the 4th round and in-stock orders out the door, I will start working on a new board design. Watch the IC board for that thread.