[IC] ePBT 6085 - GB starts April 15th. Pricing added!

[nu_types]

Hello all! I'm very excited to share my first keyset design with you: ePBT 6085.
This set takes inspiration from the Xerox 6085 / DocuTech keyboards:

Renders:

i69 by Illuminati Keyboards / Ion Keyboards

Iron180 by Smith + Rune

More

TMOv2 by Funderburker


Prime_E by PrimeKB


HAUS by Hand Engineering

Kits:

A modern, cherry-style, interpretation of the model 65D (the 6085 keyboard) keycap color scheme. Grays with a hint of beige, and beautiful red-violet alpha legends.

Inspired by a reference I found in a Xerox 6085 product support manual to the 94D, the Japanese language keyboard model.


A collection of 65D inspired keys, many of which performed actions unique to Xerox’s ViewPoint software.

ePBT Template Design:

More

Deskmat:

Sample Photo:

More

Colors:

*A key from my Xerox board has been sent to KBDfans to color match the alpha base color. After rethinking the color choices, I decided to match a physical sample for the mod color, too.

Collaborations:

Rama Works:

The cherry on top to round off the 6085 aesthetic.

ZeusWorks:

These will be limited to 15-20 cables, available from ZeusWorks directly after the GB starts.

General info

UPDATES AVAILABLE IN THE SECOND POST

Vendors:
NA: Keyspresso
UK: Proto[Typist]
EU: MyKeyboard
AU: Daily Clack
Rest of World: KBDfans

Pricing:

	KBDfans	Keyspresso	MyKeyboard	ProtoTypist	Daily Clack
Base	79.00 USD	79.00 USD	79.00 EUR	TBD	TBD
Numpad	18.00 USD	18.00 USD	18.00 EUR	TBD	TBD
NorDeUK	19.00 USD	19.00 USD	19.00 EUR	TBD	TBD
40s	25.00 USD	25.00 USD	25.00 EUR	TBD	TBD
Spacebar	10.00 USD	10.00 USD	10.00 EUR	TBD	TBD
Hiragana	20.00 USD	20.00 USD	20.00 EUR	TBD	TBD
Cyrillic	20.00 USD	20.00 USD	20.00 EUR	TBD	TBD
Novelties	19.00 USD	19.00 USD	19.00 EUR	TBD	TBD

GB Date: April 15 - May 16

I made a discord: https://discord.gg/9Bx8US7TBR

Honorable Mentions / Credits:

• Marco - thank you for the amazing renders and invaluable feedback on the kitting/design of the set. Marco's socials: Instagram | Twitter
• Puddsy - thank you for the words of encouragement: "Isn't this just worse Red Alert?"
• Thank you to everyone on the Keyspresso discord for putting up with my endless droning about the set and for the valuable feedback and support.
• Thank you to everyone on the Carolina Keyboards discord for their feedback.
• Thank you to the Keycap Designers discord for answering my stupid questions, and for the awesome resources available there.

More context for the inspiration and nerdy computer history:

After years of searching, I recently obtained a Xerox DocuTech (JD-2) keyboard. My sole intent was not only to obtain the SKCM Green Alps it has, as is typically the case, but to own a piece of computer history that holds sentimental value for me. My grandfather worked at Xerox during the period that PARC (Palo Alto Research Center) was making important breakthroughs that shaped modern day computing as we know it. Perhaps their most important contribution was the creation of the "desktop metaphor" for the graphical user interface, first used internally at PARC on their Alto workstations. Later, it made its commercial debut with the Xerox Star system, which was eventually succeeded by the Xerox 6085 (or Xerox Daybreak) workstation on which this keyset is based.

The Xerox 6085 Professional Computer System - an old informational / sales video:

Xerox Star/ ViewPoint System overview - context behind the function of the keys featured in the novelty set:

Please consider adding this to your signature to support the set:

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[url=https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=108456.0][img]https://imgur.com/QH4ijIH.png[/img][/url]


[nu_types]

Updates:

• (4/7) - added F13 to base kit.
• (4/3) - added 6.25u and 7u keys to alt alpha kits and added rest of num row keys to Cyrillic kit.
• (3/30) - announced collaborations, added updated renders.
• (12/28) - kitting updated, samples ordered!
• (10/6) - added 1u convex space to spacebars
• (10/6) - added new/corrected legends to the Hiragana and Cyrillic sets
• (10/6) - changed "num lock" to "num" to make it consistent with the other lock keys
• (10/6) - corrected <> keys in the Base and NorDeUK kits
• (10/9) - added updated hiragana board renders
• (9/14) - Added NorDeUK kit
• (9/14) - Added vendors
• (9/14) - Moved second B to base
• (9/14) - updated spacebar kit to include 6u off-center
• (9/14) - Updated the scroll lock, print screen, and pause keys to all be single line, with front printing for the secondary functions
• (9/21) - Updated kits following most suggestions given by Konstantin. Hiragana and Cyrillic kits unchanged, as I plan to use the existing ePBT legends for these.
• (9/5) - Cyrillic alphas set in the works.
• (9/5) - Updated colors to more accurately match the OG Xerox board. These colors should be final.
• (9/6) - Cyrillic alphas added.
• (9/6) - Pipe keys corrected and missing 4$€ key added.

[snurrebassen]

Intrigued!


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[ilikerustoo]

Sweet docutech!

[Hugs94]

great inspiration. love the look of the mods.

[ibabo]

This looks dope, I appreciate the large 40s kit

[OtherAndrew]

very cool

[mcmaxmcmc]

Very cool! The 6085 is definitely a looker in person and I hope this set'll turn out to be a looker too.

[gnhuy91]

awesome, but why Hiragana sublegend tho imo Cyrillic sublegends make more sense for this theme

[GaNeBaL]

Nice Set, GLWIC

[marcofriedrichs]

Nice, I'm in. GLWIC

[ButDutWut]

I'm very down.

[zoo]

My interest is super checked! Hard to go wrong when basing off a classic~

[nu_types]

awesome, but why Hiragana sublegend tho imo Cyrillic sublegends make more sense for this theme

I chose Hiragana because there's a reference to the Japanese keyboard model, the 94D, in an old product support manual. I didn't see a Russian one listed, but I did see a generic "European" model listed, the 93D. So, I'm not sure if Cyrillic sublegends really make more sense for this one. However, I'm not completely opposed to the idea if people are in support of it.

[nu_types]

Nice Set, GLWIC

Thanks man 

[CustomerSupport]

Really dig this! Unique novelties and loving the colorway.

Any chance to have 1.5u Super keys in a kit?

[jAngeles]

yesyesyes 

[gnhuy91]

awesome, but why Hiragana sublegend tho imo Cyrillic sublegends make more sense for this theme

I chose Hiragana because there's a reference to the Japanese keyboard model, the 94D, in an old product support manual. I didn't see a Russian one listed, but I did see a generic "European" model listed, the 93D. So, I'm not sure if Cyrillic sublegends really make more sense for this one. However, I'm not completely opposed to the idea if people are in support of it.

thanks for the detail! I'd love a cyrillic alphas if its avail, but will also get a Latin alphas regardless

[Jampot_298]

I wish this wasn't using epbt otherwise I'd be in. GLWIC

[Rayndalf]

Oh yes. Between novelties and 40's this will make anything weird even weirder (and make left side F keys on boards like the Zenith looks great too)

Any chance for an ergodox kit (I know there isn't, but I guess I could ask, right?)

Edit: What will the homing keys be like? Just bars would be great, but if ePBT does scoops now those would be great too... really I prefer either to scooped + barred

[zekth]

awesome, but why Hiragana sublegend tho imo Cyrillic sublegends make more sense for this theme

I chose Hiragana because there's a reference to the Japanese keyboard model, the 94D, in an old product support manual. I didn't see a Russian one listed, but I did see a generic "European" model listed, the 93D. So, I'm not sure if Cyrillic sublegends really make more sense for this one. However, I'm not completely opposed to the idea if people are in support of it.

thanks for the detail! I'd love a cyrillic alphas if its avail, but will also get a Latin alphas regardless

In for cyrillic!

[kiandelmundo]

cyrillic would be dope

[bansheetango]

Too bad no EU vendor, will skip this.

[konstantin]

This set is giving me GMK DMG vibes.

The kitting split between 40s and Spacebars isn't exactly great. Consider doing it like EPBT Be The One. In fact, consider copying that set's kitting altogether where applicable.

[100 percent horse]

Totally in for one of the grayscale deskpads.

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[VXQN]

In the picture of the inspiration, the alphas are grey, but in the kit mock-ups they're beige-y. Any particular reason for this? Set looks great as it is (I want it), but I think the alphas would look better as light grey as it would really make the legends pop.

[of_sam]

+1 for Cyrillic

[vi0till]

+1 for Cyrillic

[KneeDeep]

Really digging this, GLWIC!

[marcofriedrichs]

In the picture of the inspiration, the alphas are grey, but in the kit mock-ups they're beige-y. Any particular reason for this? Set looks great as it is (I want it), but I think the alphas would look better as light grey as it would really make the legends pop.

I do definitely agree that the alphas in the first photo look really grey/cool. When creating the renders I used different photos of the physical color sample (the one that got sent to KBDFans). This post made me think the color I used for the renders was way off, but I just checked again and I think they look pretty close to the pictures of the color sample (but a bit lighter). The color of the alphas is definitely a beige and not a cool grey, but I will talk to nu_types to make sure the colors in the renders are as close to the final result as possible, and correct inaccuracies in a potential second revision. Keep in mind however, that renders will never be 100% accurate.

[nu_types]

I wish this wasn't using epbt otherwise I'd be in. GLWIC

I'm sorry to hear that. I actually did reach out Hammer to see if there was interest in running the set as CRP but I didn't receive a reply. That said, I'm cautiously optimistic that ePBT will resolve many of their issues with their new molds.

[nu_types]

Oh yes. Between novelties and 40's this will make anything weird even weirder (and make left side F keys on boards like the Zenith looks great too)

Any chance for an ergodox kit (I know there isn't, but I guess I could ask, right?)

Edit: What will the homing keys be like? Just bars would be great, but if ePBT does scoops now those would be great too... really I prefer either to scooped + barred

I'm not sure about adding an ergodox kit, sorry. As for the homing keys, I'm planning on doing  both scooped, and barred. This should be possible now with the new ePBT molds.

[nu_types]

Too bad no EU vendor, will skip this.

I can look into doing local vendors, although typically ePBT is run solely through KBDfans. I know there's been exceptions to this such as Ivory. I can't make any promises.

[nu_types]

In the picture of the inspiration, the alphas are grey, but in the kit mock-ups they're beige-y. Any particular reason for this? Set looks great as it is (I want it), but I think the alphas would look better as light grey as it would really make the legends pop.

Looking at the renders and my board again, I agree that the alphas are slightly off, especially in the kit renders. The color is a bit cooler IRL, still with a touch of beige. The board renders with the hard lighting actually look very close to the real deal. I'll work with Marco to get some updated renders made, I may make further adjustments to the mod color to make it a tad darker as well.

Edit: for clarity, the photo is pretty off as well. The alphas are a little bit cooler IRL, but not as cool as they appear in the photo.

[nu_types]

+1 for Cyrillic

Since there seems to be a lot of interest in Cyrillic, I'll work to get something added.

[Damonskv]

The original legends are actually purple, why do you use dark red/burgundy?

[//gainsborough]

I like this idea!  Mod colors seems a bit lighter than OG inspiration, as well as alpha legends - but I'll probably be in on this!

[nu_types]

The original legends are actually purple, why do you use dark red/burgundy?

I compared the RAL I chose to the actual keyboard I have, and it is a very close match. It's actually a bit more purple in color than the real thing because I wanted to account for fading/aging of the dye.

[nu_types]

I like this idea!  Mod colors seems a bit lighter than OG inspiration, as well as alpha legends - but I'll probably be in on this!

Thanks man! I'm actually working to get the mods darkened a bit. The RAL I chose is very close in hue, but is about 15%-20% lighter than the real thing. I'll probably just end up shipping a mod key to KBDfans for color matching as I did for the alpha keys.

[Vigrith]

This is the first set to catch my attention in months. Extremely well put together, definitely going to buy a couple.

[nu_types]

This is the first set to catch my attention in months. Extremely well put together, definitely going to buy a couple.

Thank you

[Ensaum]

Looks great. I've been thinking about joining the PBT gang since gmk can no longer deliver flat space bars

[equalunique]

PBT 1u convex space keys? Even if this doesn't have a colevrak set, I have to join it now.

[nu_types]

Changes are in the works to:

• Make the alphas slightly cooler to better match the OG alphas
• Make the mods a bit darker to better match the OG mods
• Update the alpha legend color to RAL 4004 to make them a bit darker and more purple

[nu_types]

PBT 1u convex space keys? Even if this doesn't have a colevrak set, I have to join it now.

Actually, this might be a render mistake. I'll need to make sure that ePBT can offer convex 1u.

[Kinesiologist]

wow this already looks great, but will keep an eye on ur updates

[hineybush]

Looks great. I've been thinking about joining the PBT gang since gmk can no longer deliver flat space bars

buddy banana bars originated with PBT

[Ensaum]

Looks great. I've been thinking about joining the PBT gang since gmk can no longer deliver flat space bars

buddy banana bars originated with PBT

I am aware. But at least with pbt I can just heat them up and flatten them.

[Cujo96]

hmm... cyrillic option plus OCE vendor (DailyClack) and I'm in

[emerge]

Cyrillic sublegends and I'm in

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