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Keygeek Purple Dawn Switch
Designing a switch is a lot of fun, but it is a lot of work too if you want them to be as good as possible. Keygeek Purple Dawn was actually the first switch designed by Unikeys, but it wasn't the first to go live. One of the reasons is that the development process took a very long time. The project was initially established in May 2023, after more than one year of sampling and prototyping, we are finally confident enough to say they are ready for production. Let's take a look at the switch itself and the development process.
Price
Price:
Premiere Price：0.21USD per switch
Switch Specifications
Switch type: Linear
Designer: Unikeys
Manufacturer: Keygeek
Stem material: L4 (POM blend)
Top Housings: PA66
Bottom Housing: PBT + 30% fiberglass
Operating Force: 50±3g
Bottom-out Force: 58±3g
Pre-travel: 2.0mm±0.2mm
Total Travel: 3.6±0.2mm
Spring: 22mm KOS Single-Stage extended spring
Factory Lubed: Yes!
Keygeek Purple Dawn
Development Process:
May 2023: The Purple Dawn project was officially established, and we reached out to Keygeek regarding sampling.
June 2023: We received the first batch of samples and they look like the following. The samples were not bad but not optimal either... One of the major reasons is that they are too noisy. By saying this, I don't mean that they are too loud; Every keystroke comes with some unpleasant sound, and it was a combination of spring crunch, loose top-out sound, and shrill bottom-out sound after listening to it closely. We then reported the issues to Keygeek and asked for a second round of samples
August 2023: We received the second batch of samples. Keygeek changed the top housing material from PA66 to POK because "the POK top housing mold is more mature" according to them. We tested out the samples again, and they were still not as good as we expected. Although the top-out sound was more muted, we could still hear the noises. We contacted Keygeek immediately and reported this issue to them once again.
September 2023-March 2024: During this period of time, we received another 3 rounds of samples. The results were all the same. Noises, noises, and noises. No matter which material we tried, the noises were still present. Bottom-out sound was fine but the top-out was always weird sounding. It was at this stage, that Keygeek realized that they needed major modifications to existing molds to fix the issues.
March 2024-June 2024: We basically waited during this time. Keygeek promised that they would send in new samples as soon as the new molds were ready. By the beginning of June, we received the sixth batch of samples. This time around, they were finally as great as we expected. After dailying the samples for about two weeks, I decided that they were ready for production.
Materials:
When designing the Purple Dawn, we wanted a switch that feels smooth, solid, and good-sounding in stock form. That was why we chose to go with a full PA66 housing and a POM stem. After rounds of tests, the bottom housing material was changed to PBT with 30% fiberglass because a full PA66 housing dulls and mutes the switch sound. The PBT+30% FG bottom housing brightens the bottom-out sound and it is not overly loud or clacky.
The POM stem and PA66 top housing combo is classic; It is great when the PA66 top housing dulls the top-out sound (It is not going to be silent) as the switch overall would sound more consistent and clean. Pure POM is a bit scratchy when paired with PA66, so Keygeek added PTFE to make it smoother. You won't feel any scratch when using the keygeek Purple Dawn switches as a result.
Mold:
As mentioned, one of the major issues with the previous Purple Dawn iterates was that they had a noisy top-out. In order to fix that, a new top housing mold was customized. Now the stem-top housing touch point is completely different from before. The stem sits with a better fit in the top housing now, and the touch point re-design reduces the noisy sound.
The bottom housing was also modified. Now the bottom-out sound is clean and more solid. It is comparable with an HMX or BSUN style bottom-out now.
Form of Sales
Time of Sales
July 15th
