Post by: DevilZmods on Tue, 30 November 2021, 12:15:47
[attachimg=2]
Hi, I'm DevilZmods, an Industrial Design student from Germany and I've been part of the community for almost two years now. Today I want to present my design for an affordable keycap storage tray.
Imgur Album: https://imgur.com/a/hrZ4DIS (https://imgur.com/a/hrZ4DIS)
Interest Check Form: https://forms.gle/6PmPo5EtTwiJm9cP7 (https://forms.gle/6PmPo5EtTwiJm9cP7)
Discuss on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/mechmarket/comments/r5stqr/ic_dvzs_dirt_cheap_storage_trays/ (https://www.reddit.com/r/mechmarket/comments/r5stqr/ic_dvzs_dirt_cheap_storage_trays/)
Estimated Price: 15$
With JTK keycap tray availability dwindling and basically no alternative around I've been looking into getting a custom sorting box made. These sorting boxes can be molded in a single operation, thanks to their living hinge design. If you can offset the mold cost, they get very cheap to manufacture.
The Tray will be transparent and stackable with an interior grid to fit an entire basekit plus spacebars, novelties etc.. It will not be as rigid as a Polycarbonate Tray, but very durable nonetheless.
Characteristics:
- Material: Polypropylene Plastic
- Color: Transparent
- Size: 44cm x 26cm x 2.2cm
- Capacity: 22u x 12u, space for ISO Enter keys and one BAE
- Supports all keycap profiles up to SA R1/ MT3 R0
Internal Layout:
[attach=5]
State of the Product:
Please Fill out the Interest Check Form.
My design is basically ready to manufacture, only waiting on your feedback.
I already have quotes from a few manufacturers confirming that my price target is reasonable and will land even cheaper if we hit significantly more than 1000 units.
Feedback and To Do:
- Concerns about the wall height making it difficult to pick up caps have been raised with reference to JTK's trays and I will make sure these will do better.
- With the height of the tray, lower profiles like Cherry, DSA or DSS are bound to shuffle around loosely. A Foam insert could be a very economic solution and I'm looking into it.
- Multiple people have mentioned a spot to attach a label which is a fantastic idea and will get stolen by me immediately.
Vendors:
Once I have Interest numbers I will contact the usual suspects, but if you'd like your store to be part of the Groupbuy, reach out to me and we can talk numbers.
I am also looking for Vendors who are willing to stock these. I believe these could be an absolute no-brainer to any enthusiast's keycap order.
Timeframe:
Since the design is already fairly polished, I'd like to move into Group Buy as soon as I have numbers from the Interest Check and was able to secure vendors and agree on a timeline with them.
My quotes claim lead times of 4 weeks, though it's probably safer to assume those could double. I'd estimate another 2 months for sea freight from the factory to individual vendors, so 4 months + national shipping from the end of the Group Buy.
More Renders:
[attachimg=1]
[attachimg=6]
[attachimg=3]
[attachimg=4]
Post by: dededecline on Tue, 30 November 2021, 12:43:00
Post by: DevilZmods on Tue, 30 November 2021, 13:33:45
Are these meant to be 1:1 design-wise to JTK Max trays? It'd be great to have a similar design, but one that doesn't squeeze some profiles and also isn't at a height that allows most profiles to fly around easily.
I suppose it has to be either or, but i'd rather allow all profiles to fit. The ribs will be made tall enough so different rows don't mix, even when shuffled around, but i'm affraid i can't do much more than that. I could see foam inserts being a viable solution, though it will impede visibility of your caps.
Post by: MIGHTY CHICKEN on Tue, 30 November 2021, 13:51:46
Post by: WHAT!? on Tue, 30 November 2021, 16:35:24
Post by: growler on Tue, 30 November 2021, 17:07:38
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Post by: AshF on Tue, 30 November 2021, 17:25:28
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Post by: HappyB0T on Tue, 30 November 2021, 18:11:24
Post by: ItIsWritten on Tue, 30 November 2021, 18:27:17
https://a.aliexpress.com/_v6cwfS
Verstuurd vanaf mijn SM-G986B met Tapatalk
Post by: DevilZmods on Tue, 30 November 2021, 18:39:23
I guess they're like these, but cheaper?
In the way that those are exactly like JTK trays but from aliexpress (tbh, migth as well be genuine trays, some of the pics are stolen from drop).
Post by: piit79 on Tue, 30 November 2021, 19:15:29
Post by: Rob27shred on Tue, 30 November 2021, 20:00:26
Post by: ItIsWritten on Wed, 01 December 2021, 02:22:46
Yes, but your design is the same. Only the closing mechanism seems different. There's nothing wrong with that, but probably if you make a large enough order, you can get these at the same price or lower already as you are offering them.I guess they're like these, but cheaper?
In the way that those are exactly like JTK trays but from aliexpress (tbh, migth as well be genuine trays, some of the pics are stolen from drop).
Post by: Stilou Studio on Wed, 01 December 2021, 04:14:13
GLWIC
Post by: carlouws on Wed, 01 December 2021, 08:33:27
I think I’m in the majority of the hobby that pretty much only buys GMK/Cherry profile caps and those tend to fly around inside the JTK Max trays. I currently use JTK standard trays and even with their quirks of sometimes caps being too tight and stuff, I prefer those over the max. I think the standard trays offer more flexibility for people with only base kits and the option to expand to house more child kits with additional single trays.
Post by: Wonderfool on Wed, 01 December 2021, 15:58:57
Love it, will definitely get 8-10!
GLWIC
Same here! This is great - I'm tired of trying to Tetris unequally-sized original boxes and grab-bag sacks.
Post by: hottrout on Thu, 02 December 2021, 03:00:03
Post by: hussar_name on Thu, 02 December 2021, 03:20:35
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/333540156696
(https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/k0gAAOSw07JeZgxe/s-l1600.jpg)
Post by: hussar_name on Thu, 02 December 2021, 03:34:25
(https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0174/6786/products/westonboxes-plastic-A4-slim-presentation-box_695x695.jpg?v=1610369147)
Post by: Dyto69 on Thu, 02 December 2021, 04:22:18
Post by: Dyto69 on Thu, 02 December 2021, 04:25:25
Post by: hussar_name on Thu, 02 December 2021, 06:27:20
Oh i have a question: Do these trays protect my Keycaps from UV Rays?
no
https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/6pc6a9/does_uv_lightradiation_pass_through_clear_plastic/
same with glass, it needs some coating to block a complete spectrum of UV
https://www.thoughtco.com/does-glass-block-uv-light-608316
Post by: DevilZmods on Thu, 02 December 2021, 06:54:16
Post by: Mad_Rhetoric on Thu, 02 December 2021, 10:44:06
Post by: Koniotaur on Sun, 05 December 2021, 11:35:57
Post by: DevilZmods on Sun, 05 December 2021, 14:42:00
Will these be less translucent than what jtk is offering?
At worst just slightly. Polycarb ist definitely the clearer material but I believe these will still be more than suitable to display your keycaps.
Post by: hussar_name on Sat, 11 December 2021, 14:59:32
It has been baffling to me, with the culture's love for any and all things accessories, including storage/display options (IKEA), that these have not been mass-produced by every major vendor. There are options on Aliexpress but they are all ~$30. I love this idea, I have needed storage solutions for this evergrowing collection of half-empty cardboard boxes of keycaps I can't see. I want organization and a way to view my collection %100 in on this. Thank you.
there are options at tai-hao (in stock)
Post by: Neely_12 on Thu, 23 December 2021, 16:38:19
Post by: ManiacMarc on Thu, 20 January 2022, 16:21:31
Post by: genevatypes on Thu, 20 January 2022, 17:54:37
Post by: growler on Fri, 21 January 2022, 09:35:25
Sent from my SM-G980F using Tapatalk
Post by: hussar_name on Sat, 22 January 2022, 03:06:10
Post by: growler on Sat, 22 January 2022, 04:55:51
Meanwhile, me too, I've bought Weston boxes in a4 slim format from AmazonYou rate them highly?
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Post by: Anthixious on Sat, 22 January 2022, 15:10:07
Post by: hussar_name on Sun, 23 January 2022, 08:33:29
Meanwhile, me too, I've bought Weston boxes in a4 slim format from AmazonYou rate them highly?
Sent from my SM-G980F using Tapatalk
I really like them. Solid, thick, stackable. Nice.
There are different sizes, I like A4 thin because caps don't overlap, you get only one layer.
Post by: eddieboyemo on Thu, 10 March 2022, 17:17:49
Post by: spamblock on Mon, 16 May 2022, 16:18:48
Post by: growler on Sat, 21 May 2022, 04:34:22
Tappity tap tap tap
Post by: Harke on Fri, 15 July 2022, 13:02:51
Post by: Cafeine on Mon, 03 October 2022, 09:02:42
Post by: PinkCynicism on Mon, 31 October 2022, 19:02:01
Post by: aicyborg on Tue, 01 November 2022, 22:00:45
Is this project dead? I need this in my life :P
Hopefully this project is still going, I would love to talk with vendors to see if I could use these for my sets.
It's dead. OP doesn't check this thread but they're active on Reddit. I messaged there to encourage them to continue this but they weren't interested in speaking to me after I explained I'm not a vendor, just an interested customer. At that point they ghosted me.
If all you need is to store Cherry or similar profiles, PBTfans trays are available on their own.