[IC] POLYGON 65% - Updated 19-10-2020: New layout, updated specs, exploded view

[Rotwitt]

POLYGON 65%

About me and Polygon:

I first joined GH back in 2016, when I started working on my first keyboard-design which unfortunately never became a reality as I lacked both funds, knowledge and experience.
Therefore, I acquired myself a Model M, which has been serving me well until earlier this year, when it died.
As I have design experience from the robotics industry, I decided to design myself a replacement which resulted in Polygon.

My focus was to create a keyboard that was different from the status quo, aesthetically. Whether or not i succeeded is subjective, but I think I managed quite well.Why the name?
Why the name I hear you ask? The many sharp edges of the weight is what gave it its name.
Oh, and also the supersized triangles machined into the bottom of the case.

Shout out to a fellow danish mech-lover Trip-Trap for reaching out to me when I was looking for someone to design the PCB.
We're excited to be showing off the PCB prototype soon.

IC form:

https://forms.gle/KsM1RhdvWyncX1v6A

Discord: https://discord.gg/29wyzeS
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/byrotwitt/

Wall of renders

]               

               

               

               

               

Render album:  https://imgur.com/a/PLpZlMu

Old renders are available here: https://imgur.com/gallery/V72pL5I

Description




1 – Custom knob

A custom knob for the rotary encoder. It has a diameter of 25 mm.
It'll be available in any of the available colors and as a brass version.



2 – The top

The top features a 3mm chamfer alle the way around the upper edge.
It has been given a slight fillet, to increase comfort.


3 – The gaskets

The Polygon uses 12 lasercut gaskets. Not having the gasket surround the entire plate, will allow the plate to resonate slightly, and use the plate to create Polygons sounds signature.
The gaskets will be replaceable and cutting files will be made available if you want to experiment with gaskets.


4 – The mounting system

The mounting system uses four DIN-7 stainless steel dowel pins, and four linear low-friction bearings provide a precise fit of the plate in the case.
It also acts a rail allowing you to tune the typing feel by changing the gaskets for harder or softer ones or use thicker gaskets on one side or the other.


5 – The bottom

The bottom houses the USB-C daughterboard and features a POLYGON engraving and my logo.
During assembly, the top and the bottom comes together to a form a single unit, the top and bottom is then fastened to the slope.
Six DIN 7984 low-profile bolts are used to secure top-bottom unit to the slope.

6 – The weight

The weight is fastened to the slope, through the left and right acoustic chambers.
It weighs in at around 1.3 kg (2.86lbs). The sharp edges of the weight is what gives Polygon its name.


7 – The slope

The slope has 3 rectangular cutouts, used as acoustic chambers and will provide a unique sound signature.
The chambers can be foamed and tuned to your likings, using the provided cuttings-files. You will also have the option to choose my preferred dampening solution.



Specs:


Case and weight:

• Typing angle: 8°
• Case material: Aluminium 6061
• Case finishing: Sandblasted and anodized
• Case colour: Nature, Pantone Black C (Self explanatory), Pantone 357(Dark green), Pantone 534 (Navy), Pantone 7605 c (Rose gold), Pantone 261 (Plum)
• Weight material: Brass
• Weight finishing: Sandblasting
• Approximate weight: 3,8 kg (8.37 lbs)
• Dampening: To be developed (I have some cool experiments to try out!)
• No externally visible screws
• Custom knob

• Case colours: Nature, Pantone Black C (Self explanatory), Pantone 357(Dark green), Pantone 534 (Navy), Pantone 7605 c (Rose gold), Pantone 261 (Plum)

                    

Plate:

• Plate material: Brass
• Plate thickness: 1,5mm
• Plate finish: Sandblasted

PCB:

• Layout support: ISO or ANSI
• Finish: ENIG and Custom PCB art
• Colour: Glossy black or matte black (Prototypes will decide)
• Hotswap
• Rotary encoder
• Per key RGB
• AT Mega 32 MCU
• USB-C daughterboard
• QMK
• VIA

Layouts:

Each layout requires its own separate plate and PCB. The layout has been changed to accommodate wider support for more base kits.
It is important to me to provide you with the best product possible, which is way more feasible when the scale and complexity of the project is smaller.
This means that there are no plans of support for a soldered version of the PCB at the present.

ISO layout:

ANSI layout:

Things to do:

• Finalize PCB-design
•Gather feedback from the community
• Order Prototype and color samples (PCB and case)
• Test out the prototype (mainly mounting system) and order Rev 2 (Excited for this one!)
• Order color samples
• Experiment with gaskets and sound dampening
•Change ANSI-layout to a more conventional one (6.25U spacebar, 1,75U right shift, normal backspace)

Changes made:

• Moved up knob to improve usability and improve already dashing looks
• The layout has been changed for wider keycap support

Additional notes

I will not be doing a polycarbonate version of the case because of quality concerns, when CNC-ing plastic.

I won't speculate on price or timeline yet, as I haven't ordered the first prototype yet. I will start the GB when I feel the like design is sound and solid.
That being said I hope to start the GB some time this year.

The design is subject to change and might be totally different when it reaches the GB stage. Please refer to the newest information.
The IC will be locked when the GB is started and the information there should be considered out of date!

Renders by Lizbiscuits:

Here's show renders showing off Liz' KAT PBJ modular keycap-set! Looking pretty, don't ya think?

Also please not that the case colours shown here are NOT part of the official [IC]. They do look good though.


[ Specified attachment is not available ]

[ Specified attachment is not available ]

[ Specified attachment is not available ]

[Rotwitt]

Reserved

[Kokaloo]

[jontseg]

Fantastic looking board. I love the visibility of the weight, the thick bezels, and clean lines throughout. The base colors are all solid, and I’m excited to see what other ones you come up with. Personally I’d love to see a yellow or beige color make it in . GL!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Lizcuits]

Add a plum/maroon color and I will sell my soul for this

[finalarcadia]

Very unique design, though the bezels are too thick for me. Glwic

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

[a_turd]

Wow, looks gorgeous. I doubt my wallet will allow me to participate, but I'll be watching this one just in case.

[kohalified]

gib now plz

[General_Pretzel]

+1 to someone else's suggestion of Plum as a color option

I feel like the bezels are a bit too thick. I would also suggest moving the rotary encoder / knob up a bit, as it seems a bit too close to the keys below it.

Other than that, I absolutely love this.

[//gainsborough]

Holy bezels.  I like it, but the only thing that bothers me about it is that it's called "polygon" yet has very rounded corners >_<

[Zanhana]

Very promising, but I would only be in if it were possible to swap the function key to the left or right of the split spacebar

[FlitzDeelman]

It looks like indents in the bottom, running at angles to each other. It looks very nice!

But if so, are the rubber feet crossing those indents, and hanging in the air above them?

I’d prefer the rubber feet to be designed in accordance with the rest of the design. Am I seeing things wrong here?

[FlitzDeelman]

By the way, +1 for chonky bezels, please keep them if you can!

[Rotwitt]

I've received a lot of great feedback the past 20 or so hours, thanks a lot guys!
It's nice seeing so many people liking the design I've spent so much time on.
I'm sorry I haven't been able to answer any questions yet. I'll do my best to answer everyone individually

It's going to be a fun experience going through all of your suggestions, and see your take on my work and improve the design.
Please keep leaving your feedback, even if you don't like the board. I'll take reasonable changes into considerations

Two major-ish changes are coming:

• I m going to move the knob up, for both aesthetic and functional purposes
• Everyone can't afford buying a new keyset for this board alone, which is why i am now looking into adding support for a 6,25U spacebar and 1,75U right shift

The last of the changes are going affect the spacing between the clusters on the right side. Don't worry though, I'll do my best to keep it looking good.

Oh, and I'm excited to try out the different colour-schemes that has been suggested in the IC form. Thanks a lot everyone!


 

[pRoDeeD]

Damn! The gold looks super hot!

[Rotwitt]

It looks like indents in the bottom, running at angles to each other. It looks very nice!

But if so, are the rubber feet crossing those indents, and hanging in the air above them?

I’d prefer the rubber feet to be designed in accordance with the rest of the design. Am I seeing things wrong here?

I'm glad you like it!
The rubber feet will have their own grooves to sit in like this:

[leavenember]

It looks like indents in the bottom, running at angles to each other. It looks very nice!

But if so, are the rubber feet crossing those indents, and hanging in the air above them?

I’d prefer the rubber feet to be designed in accordance with the rest of the design. Am I seeing things wrong here?

I'm glad you like it!
The rubber feet will have their own grooves to sit in like this:
(Attachment Link)

How deep are those grooves/how thick are the feet? Seems kinda tall, but I'm interested to see what the effect of such thick feet, even while inset, would be on the sound.

Love the way that one groove goes up and continues into the weight design. GL!

[Rotwitt]

It looks like indents in the bottom, running at angles to each other. It looks very nice!

But if so, are the rubber feet crossing those indents, and hanging in the air above them?

I’d prefer the rubber feet to be designed in accordance with the rest of the design. Am I seeing things wrong here?

I'm glad you like it!
The rubber feet will have their own grooves to sit in like this:
(Attachment Link)

How deep are those grooves/how thick are the feet? Seems kinda tall, but I'm interested to see what the effect of such thick feet, even while inset, would be on the sound.

Love the way that one groove goes up and continues into the weight design. GL!

The grooves aren't as deep as you'd think, only 1 mm. I'm looking foward to testing the sound!

[fakedSkill]

Def interested! Will the pcb be only hotswap or also solderable?

[perry4761]

The knob is a bit too close to the nav keys for my taste, but this is otherwise a stunning design! I think that it would look better if the distance between the knob and nav keys matched the distance between the backspace and the knob.

EDIT: Welp I just reread the post and it looks like the change I suggested has already been made. Any updated renders to show what it looks like now?

[FlitzDeelman]

It looks like indents in the bottom, running at angles to each other. It looks very nice!

But if so, are the rubber feet crossing those indents, and hanging in the air above them?

I’d prefer the rubber feet to be designed in accordance with the rest of the design. Am I seeing things wrong here?

I'm glad you like it!
The rubber feet will have their own grooves to sit in like this:
(Attachment Link)

Great, that is a nice touch. Designed well indeed, to me as somebody who has not designed his own yet.

[mytommy]

hows the underglow going to appear when the case is aluminum?

[zoo]

that backside chonky 

[zoo]

interested in following the development of this design tho

[Rotwitt]

hows the underglow going to appear when the case is aluminum?

That's a miscommunication on my part. It has per key rgb

Sendt fra min G8441 med Tapatalk

[Rotwitt]

Def interested! Will the pcb be only hotswap or also solderable?

It will be hotswap only for now

Sendt fra min G8441 med Tapatalk

[KaosJ]

I really like the project, in fact i had a very similar project in mind (65% with big right knob), i guess i will dump it at this point since this is nice, i also like the bottom and weight design, so let me suggest something.

The current layout is a bit wrong imho (especially the bottom-row). Also some people can't really go split, on both spacebar and backspace splitted. Keep in mind that split is used by a minority of people, but apart that, i would totally go for the most standard ansi/iso you can and also support split as a second option. I believe this keyboard should have this layout https://i.imgur.com/Kacsuvo.png as standard and later support other layouts (e.g. split)
 
Also, the current knob is pretty much un-centered http://i.imgur.com/xXJUZzA.png so i would suggest to raise it up a bit to make it equal on all the sides (you have big bezels so you can do it).

In a nutshell, i think you have two options to make it more usable for people (0.25 vs 0.5 blockers) https://i.imgur.com/ZMSuTFA.png (the right part of the spacebar can be 1.5+1.5 eventually)

[Rotwitt]

I really like the project, in fact i had a very similar project in mind (65% with big right knob), i guess i will dump it at this point since this is nice, i also like the bottom and weight design, so let me suggest something.

The current layout is a bit wrong imho (especially the bottom-row). Also some people can't really go split, on both spacebar and backspace splitted. Keep in mind that split is used by a minority of people, but apart that, i would totally go for the most standard ansi/iso you can and also support split as a second option. I believe this keyboard should have this layout https://i.imgur.com/Kacsuvo.png as standard and later support other layouts (e.g. split)
 
Also, the current knob is pretty much un-centered http://i.imgur.com/xXJUZzA.png so i would suggest to raise it up a bit to make it equal on all the sides (you have big bezels so you can do it).

In a nutshell, i think you have two options to make it more usable for people (0.25 vs 0.5 blockers) https://i.imgur.com/ZMSuTFA.png (the right part of the spacebar can be 1.5+1.5 eventually)

First of all - Thanks for taking your time to provide your thoughts and feedback. Few people do so, so this is very much appreciated.

I'm glad you like the design. I agree with you on the layout. During the past weekend I have been reworking the layout to turn it into a more conventional one. Both to provide wider keycap compatibility, but also to allow people who don't normally use split-spacebar to use keycaps they already own. I will update the IC, with new renders showing both the ISO and ANSI layout, when I have all of it ready. Here's the new layout for ANSI and ISO: https://imgur.com/gallery/BQHwMKf

I have also fixed the spacing around the knob

Hope you like the changes!

[kumori]

reminds me back in the old days... when i played roblox

[treeleaf64]

Nice work glwic

[Rotwitt]

The knob is a bit too close to the nav keys for my taste, but this is otherwise a stunning design! I think that it would look better if the distance between the knob and nav keys matched the distance between the backspace and the knob.

EDIT: Welp I just reread the post and it looks like the change I suggested has already been made. Any updated renders to show what it looks like now?

I am currently working on some new renders, so they should be ready soon

Sendt fra min G8441 med Tapatalk

[Rotwitt]

Show Image

Feel free to share your thoughts on the design

Sendt fra min G8441 med Tapatalk

[Lizcuits]

First of all - Thanks for taking your time to provide your thoughts and feedback. Few people do so, so this is very much appreciated.

I'm glad you like the design. I agree with you on the layout. During the past weekend I have been reworking the layout to turn it into a more conventional one. Both to provide wider keycap compatibility, but also to allow people who don't normally use split-spacebar to use keycaps they already own. I will update the IC, with new renders showing both the ISO and ANSI layout, when I have all of it ready. Here's the new layout for ANSI and ISO: https://imgur.com/gallery/BQHwMKf

I have also fixed the spacing around the knob (Attachment Link)

Hope you like the changes!

I definitely think this was the way to go! The only other change I would recommend is adding some sort of blocker or changing the 3 1u keys to the right of the spacebar to 2 1.5u keys. I think more people will have keys to support that from most base kits. Otherwise, I think it's a really good change, I'm super excited to see the new renders!

I am sad we are losing split spacebar support, but having 6.25 is definitely the way to go for broad compatibility. Maybe a solderable PCB in the future with split space support?

Also... maroon... burgundy? Maybe? Perhaps? Pretty please?

Looking forward to following this project more!

[KaosJ]

I really like the project, in fact i had a very similar project in mind (65% with big right knob), i guess i will dump it at this point since this is nice, i also like the bottom and weight design, so let me suggest something.

The current layout is a bit wrong imho (especially the bottom-row). Also some people can't really go split, on both spacebar and backspace splitted. Keep in mind that split is used by a minority of people, but apart that, i would totally go for the most standard ansi/iso you can and also support split as a second option. I believe this keyboard should have this layout https://i.imgur.com/Kacsuvo.png as standard and later support other layouts (e.g. split)
 
Also, the current knob is pretty much un-centered http://i.imgur.com/xXJUZzA.png so i would suggest to raise it up a bit to make it equal on all the sides (you have big bezels so you can do it).

In a nutshell, i think you have two options to make it more usable for people (0.25 vs 0.5 blockers) https://i.imgur.com/ZMSuTFA.png (the right part of the spacebar can be 1.5+1.5 eventually)

First of all - Thanks for taking your time to provide your thoughts and feedback. Few people do so, so this is very much appreciated.

I'm glad you like the design. I agree with you on the layout. During the past weekend I have been reworking the layout to turn it into a more conventional one. Both to provide wider keycap compatibility, but also to allow people who don't normally use split-spacebar to use keycaps they already own. I will update the IC, with new renders showing both the ISO and ANSI layout, when I have all of it ready. Here's the new layout for ANSI and ISO: https://imgur.com/gallery/BQHwMKf

I have also fixed the spacing around the knob (Attachment Link)

Hope you like the changes!

Looks perfect to me! I really dig it, it has everything i want

The only other things that comes to mind:

• more colors please, e.g. white, other...
• a EU proxy
• i would prefer the brass weight to be flat with the back https://i.imgur.com/U2pj9J1.png but that's just a personal opinion

[fakedSkill]

Looks really amazing, wondering how it would look with thinner lines on the back, and straight not round corners.

[Infallible]

Beautiful work on the aesthetic design. The bezels are a touch too thick for my liking, but that is preference and I think you've done a great job with what you were going for. Really like the cutouts on the bottom and the way the weight frames the usb cutout.

[teesui]

Super interested. Like others have mentioned, I too, do find the bezels a tad too thick, but it adds to the overall aethetics. just wondering if there could be some contrast colours to the knob? since if it's the same colour as the case, I do find that there is a bit of an imbalance to the aesthetics, where there's an overwhelmingly concentration of the case colour (in comparison to the other corners) in that top right corner. is there an option to pick the knob from the other case colours  or does the knob have to match the case?

[loop | esc lab]

This is aesthetic

[Rotwitt]

A rather big update has been made. It includes a new Layout for ISO and ANSI, a bunch of new renders, new placement of the rotary encoder and an exploded view of the keyboard.
The specs has always been expanded with two important things: GMK and VIA.

[Lulzthax_]

Quite fond of the design on the bottom as well as the green pantone. For my personally I feel like the feet somewhat interrupt the design crossing through them and it might benefit from corner feet, objective opinion of course

[Lizcuits]

the madlad actually did it

Add a plum/maroon color and I will sell my soul for this

I'll take 28

Please make a banner for this IC so I can shill for it everywhere I go

[zeejet]

Just here to show love for the design aesthetic and the brassed Leica M6 in the renders; you have good taste sir. Unfortunately, I'm a thin bezel type of dude

[kohalified]

Loving the new colors!

[Glueeater]

New colors & design look great!

[Current Keyboards]

I love this design. Honestly the only thing I dislike is the brass bezel at the front but I think I'm very much in the minority there. Nice work. Will watch.

[Rotwitt]

Happy to see you like the changes I've been working on. Next on the list is preparing for prototyping the PCB and the case. It'll probably tak some weeks to get there, but that's part of the fun!

[atlanticise]

I'M ALL IN ON THAT JUICY PLUM YOOOOOOO

[Lizcuits]

I'M ALL IN ON THAT JUICY PLUM YOOOOOOO

retweet

[Ben2707]

Corners are awesome, thick boi bezels are slowly becoming a thing and I love it. Great way to expand table presence without being too flashy. Tasteful design. Not sure about rotary encoder taking up such a huge spot on the upper corner as it throws the design off a little but overall looks great. Will be in for this if budget allows.

Also +1 on yellow to match dualshot/nautlius.

GLWIC!

[Icemanrec]

This looks like something I could really like, is there a discord for this yet?