Aluminum TKL LED Keyboard

[jardinski]

Hello Everyone! I recently have been getting into mechanical keyboards, I started with a steel series 6g then moved to a poker 2. Anyway, I wanted to pick up another keyboard and can not find a keyboard that has everything I want in it.  I am looking for a Tenkeyless sized board (or really anything with arrow keys but not a numpad), that is led back-lit, and has an aluminum case. I know this will end up costing quite a bit, but at the moment I cant find anything. I like the look of the ducky shine 3 TKL and code TKL, but neither have any aluminum case options as far as I can tell. Filcos have aluminum aftermarket cases but no LED's. I was wondering if anyone knew of any keyboards that are purchasable that meet all these criteria? Thanks so much for the help!

[tbc]

gonskeyboardworks.com has them....but they are very pricey (although still priced appropriately to the competition)

[kohi]

haha breaking out the korean customs
they might have aluminum cases for the ducky, but I haven't seen any specific for it
I found a video of a vortex al case:

by whitefiredragon, and I believe he used his 2013 year of dragon ducky tkl with it.
so if you don't mind the two holes for filco indicator light - you can prob use that if you can find one in stock..
otherwise you might have to look around - there may be some custom aluminum cases - but ofc, those are prob much more expensive.

[jardinski]

TBC,

Thanks for the quick reply! Those are very nice and very expensive. That is exactly what I was looking for though. I was considering spending around 300 for a board but 460 sounds a bit pricey. If anyone knows of any around 300 please let me know. If not I guess ill have to compromise or save up a bit longer. Thanks again!

[tbc]

you can assemble it yourself for a little bit cheaper (assuming you have an iron already).  gon will happily sell you all of the individual parts.

[jardinski]

haha breaking out the korean customs
they might have aluminum cases for the ducky, but I haven't seen any specific for it
I found a video of a vortex al case:

by whitefiredragon, and I believe he used his 2013 year of dragon ducky tkl with it.
so if you don't mind the two holes for filco indicator light - you can prob use that if you can find one in stock..
otherwise you might have to look around - there may be some custom aluminum cases - but ofc, those are prob much more expensive.

Cool, that seems like it could be a good option. Is there a lot of risk involved in breaking the keyboard if you were to file off the edges like he suggests in the video?

[kohi]

Cool, that seems like it could be a good option. Is there a lot of risk involved in breaking the keyboard if you were to file off the edges like he suggests in the video?

I wouldn't think so, since you'd technically only be filing the metal plate
but it really depends, because I don't know how the dimension of the 2013 tkl compares to the ducky shine 3 tkl
they will most likely be the same, but just to be sure - it might be a good idea to ask someone else who knows;;

[minho]

haha breaking out the korean customs
they might have aluminum cases for the ducky, but I haven't seen any specific for it
I found a video of a vortex al case:

by whitefiredragon, and I believe he used his 2013 year of dragon ducky tkl with it.
so if you don't mind the two holes for filco indicator light - you can prob use that if you can find one in stock..
otherwise you might have to look around - there may be some custom aluminum cases - but ofc, those are prob much more expensive.

Cool, that seems like it could be a good option. Is there a lot of risk involved in breaking the keyboard if you were to file off the edges like he suggests in the video?

Pretty sure that case is very difficult to find right now

[CPTBadAss]

It's not a full LED board but I really like the KMAC TKL boards.

[jardinski]

It's not a full LED board but I really like the KMAC TKL boards.

I saw this keyboard but I couldn't find anywhere selling one. Are these still being sold?


Also thanks everyone for the great suggestions!

[Puddsy]

kbdlab (kbdmod?) has them but you have to get a proxy.

[jardinski]

I know this isn't what i was originally asking, but if I decided to simply cut out the LED factor, and only looked for a tenkeyless board with an aluminum case, would i have more options?

[Pacifist]

I know this isn't what i was originally asking, but if I decided to simply cut out the LED factor, and only looked for a tenkeyless board with an aluminum case, would i have more options?

phantom in a vortex case

[jardinski]

phantom in a vortex case

in the video hojunski posted, the guy tried that and said it didn't fit.

[sakai4eva]

Not exactly TKL, but you can try checking out the Lightsaver thread to see if anyone's willing to let go.

[Grendel]

You could get a TEX case for your Poker II until a TKL comes around

[minho]

phantom in a vortex case

in the video hojunski posted, the guy tried that and said it didn't fit.

Vortex case should fit the Phantom as Phantom was designed to fit Filco and Vortex was designed with Filco in mind too...

However, Phantom is not backlit compatible too my knowledge.

[Pacifist]

phantom in a vortex case

in the video hojunski posted, the guy tried that and said it didn't fit.

Vortex case should fit the Phantom as Phantom was designed to fit Filco and Vortex was designed with Filco in mind too...

However, Phantom is not backlit compatible too my knowledge.

he wanted to see what non backlit options he had

[minho]

phantom in a vortex case

in the video hojunski posted, the guy tried that and said it didn't fit.

Vortex case should fit the Phantom as Phantom was designed to fit Filco and Vortex was designed with Filco in mind too...

However, Phantom is not backlit compatible too my knowledge.

he wanted to see what non backlit options he had

Doh, my bad.

On a related note, are there any backlit keyboards that fit into the Vortex case? I searched and only a modified Shine 2 was mentioned.

[Oobly]

Sherry lists these on his site, the Black Filco option seems to be available: http://www.originativeco.com/collections/keyboards/products/filco-realforce-aluminum-case

But I'm not sure if he actually has any to sell... Send him a PM if interested. They look like this: http://kbdmod.com/web/detailimg/Maje_DB.jpg

IMHO, a Ducky Shine in that case would be rather nice 

MK also sell an aluminium case, but it seems they're out of stock: http://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=280

You may be able to find a KMAC2 in the classifieds or for sale elsewhere. Not sure about backlighting on that, though.

Then there's Gon. Not cheap, but you get what you pay for.

The MK case is the cheapest option, so may be best to send them an email asking if and when they'll get stocks again.

[kohi]

I think jdcarpe is selling the vortex aluminum tkl case on classifieds (last item)
http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=59475.0
if you're still looking...

[jardinski]

Thanks everyone. Looks like I missed the jdcarpe sale of the aluminum case. I think I'm going to pick up a shine 3 then get one of those aluminum cases if I can find it somewhere.

[minho]

Thanks everyone. Looks like I missed the jdcarpe sale of the aluminum case. I think I'm going to pick up a shine 3 then get one of those aluminum cases if I can find it somewhere.

Are you sure the shine will fit?

[Puddsy]

Thanks everyone. Looks like I missed the jdcarpe sale of the aluminum case. I think I'm going to pick up a shine 3 then get one of those aluminum cases if I can find it somewhere.

Are you sure the shine will fit?

I can assure you that it won't.

OP, don't do that, there are no ALU cases that fit the shine 3.

[minho]

Thanks everyone. Looks like I missed the jdcarpe sale of the aluminum case. I think I'm going to pick up a shine 3 then get one of those aluminum cases if I can find it somewhere.

Are you sure the shine will fit?

I can assure you that it won't.

OP, don't do that, there are no ALU cases that fit the shine 3.

That's what I thought, only ducky I heard of in any ALU case was a nodded shine 2

[jardinski]

Thanks everyone. Looks like I missed the jdcarpe sale of the aluminum case. I think I'm going to pick up a shine 3 then get one of those aluminum cases if I can find it somewhere.

Are you sure the shine will fit?

I can assure you that it won't.

OP, don't do that, there are no ALU cases that fit the shine 3.

Ok never mind then, and thanks for the great advice. I guess I'm back to searching. There really isn't many aluminum TKL boards out there.

[minho]

Thanks everyone. Looks like I missed the jdcarpe sale of the aluminum case. I think I'm going to pick up a shine 3 then get one of those aluminum cases if I can find it somewhere.

Are you sure the shine will fit?

I can assure you that it won't.

OP, don't do that, there are no ALU cases that fit the shine 3.

Ok never mind then, and thanks for the great advice. I guess I'm back to searching. There really isn't many aluminum TKL boards out there.

BTW, about the KMAC not being sold... I tried to order one off kbdmod.com but was unsuccessful (couldn't register) so I emailed the email they have in the contacts about international shipping. The person replied a few days later that they do support international shipping, so if you contact them, you might be able to arrange something.