We are developing a new(ish) aluminum (more metals later) keycap profile!

[Old_Gold_Hand]

Hi everyone!


I know I haven't posted about this here yet, but this is a project we have been working on now for about 6 months. Today we are supposed to receive delivery of our fiber laser for custom marking. Fixtures are almost completely dialed in. We are almost ready to go live.



The profile is called RBT, and it is based on cherry OEM, but we have developed an optimized geometry for machining to get retail cost as low as possible. You can see a handsome squidward one in the pile here with laser marking from the machine demo way back in January when we were considering laser options.



Here is a comparison info graphic.



I would be interested in some feedback from you guys about some different options.

Right now, we can sell unmarked RBT key caps for $20.

There could be potential price breaks for various quantity sets. There are other unit sizes designed, but the manufacturing is not quite there yet on them. We were sort of thinking alpha sets, or numpad sets, maybe WASD sets, etc.

What do you guys think?
 
*Edit
I forgot to add our website, https://www.american-haptics.com/
Insta https://www.instagram.com/americanhaptics/

[nathanchere]

They look a bit sharp and non-ergonomic but given the goals re: machining costs it makes sense. I'd still be interested to try them out.

Do you have mod/space/enter keys designed or just 1u's?

If the former, any ballpark idea what it would cost to order a 60% layout set?

[Old_Gold_Hand]

They do look that way but in person they are soft and more rounded due to the ceramic tumbling, so none of the edges register to your finger as sharp. Right now, we sell 1u's for 20 dollars, 22 for custom laser marked legends (vector upload). Modifier keys and spacebar are modeled, but the fixtures for manufacturing them are not! We have been proving and developing for about 6 months, and we just received shipment of our fiber laser, so we are also getting that machine dialed in.

A set of alphas, with custom legends on just the finger pad, we would estimate at about $600. You end up getting about 6 key caps for free, or somewhere around a 15% discount. A full 60% set would be upwards from there, but we plan on getting the discount to cut a bit deeper as well.

We are also really open to feedback, and are expecting to have a version two after we get some out in the wild.

It would be wonderful if you hopped over to the website and picked one up so you could tell us what you think 

[nathanchere]

If they were in a standard profile I'd be a lot more inclined to grab one or two to test. With a custom profile I would only be interested in a full set if any. Regarding sharpness it wasn't a concern so much about cutting my fingers as how easy it is to hit the wrong keys on profiles without enough grading between key tops.

[Old_Gold_Hand]

I hear that, thanks for chiming in none the less