What keycap Profile do you prefer the most?

[Niomosy]

The outer shells of DSA and SA are virtually identical (I'm comparing my Granite ESC key with my Round 4 SPH ESCAPE key). Of course, all that extra plastic from a double-shot legend will give a keycap more heft, so if you're comparing dyesub DSA to double-shot SA, you're comparing apples and oranges, in a way.

I've only got doubleshot caps for both DSA and SA.  I was more comparing the side walls of the two with SA being a bit thicker. 

[kinglukas38]

cherry > topre oem > thick dcs

Cherry is currently number 1 for me but in pbt rather than abs from gmk. Topre oem is only used on my hhkb but still feels better than dcs even if it happens to be thick dcs

[potatobot]

The outer shells of DSA and SA are virtually identical (I'm comparing my Granite ESC key with my Round 4 SPH ESCAPE key). Of course, all that extra plastic from a double-shot legend will give a keycap more heft, so if you're comparing dyesub DSA to double-shot SA, you're comparing apples and oranges, in a way.

I've only got doubleshot caps for both DSA and SA.  I was more comparing the side walls of the two with SA being a bit thicker.

Sculpted DSA would be awesome! Make it happen!

I don't really get why they still use the old molds.


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[zslane]

I don't really get why they still use the old molds.

New molds are about $6000 each, IIRC. Multiply that by each size you'd want in each of the two new row profiles and that's SP's up-front cost. Someone would have to find a way to convince them that there would be enough demand for sculpted DSA to warrant that capital expense.

[potatobot]

I don't really get why they still use the old molds.

New molds are about $6000 each, IIRC. Multiply that by each size you'd want in each of the two new row profiles and that's SP's up-front cost. Someone would have to find a way to convince them that there would be enough demand for sculpted DSA to warrant that capital expense.

  thats crazy high.

[Niomosy]

It's steel molds, most likely, so not all that surprising.  In looking into thermal injection for caps and toy making possibilities, it's often mentioned that steel molds are a big cost.  It's why companies like Lego store them in temperature-controlled environments.

What I'm wondering is how well SP would handle someone just forking out $$ to get new molds made with their own profile design?  Of course, being at that point, willing to throw down tens of thousands like that is quite another story.

[zslane]

It is my understanding that SP has always refused to allow others to directly pay for molds. Consequently, they only have molds made for keycaps they intend to produce on their own over the long-term.

[Niomosy]

That's a shame.  Sounds like we would need to find another party interested in producing the caps based on provided molds.  Not that such a thing is likely to happen but, hey, there's always the chance that I strike it rich and tens of thousands for keycap molds isn't a huge deal.

[Puddsy]

Problem of course being that provided molds would be pricy.

[zslane]

Maybe try to convince Devlin to make their K series sculptured?

[Puddsy]

Maybe try to convince Devlin to make their K series sculptured?

Would also require new molds.

They're not just gonna throw out the ones they already have.

[zslane]

The K series is a "uniform row 3" keyset just like DSA, right? If so, they wouldn't have to throw away anything. They would just add row 1 and row 2 molds to the row 3 molds they already have (and use row 2 for row 4 like SA does if they want to save some money).

[potatobot]

I would love that.


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[Puddsy]

The K series is a "uniform row 3" keyset just like DSA, right? If so, they wouldn't have to throw away anything. They would just add row 1 and row 2 molds to the row 3 molds they already have (and use row 2 for row 4 like SA does if they want to save some money).

3 new molds would cost between $15000 and $20000, all to appeal to some enthusiasts while Devlin makes a penny for every keycap they churn out.

Not worth it from a business perspective.

[potatobot]

The K series is a "uniform row 3" keyset just like DSA, right? If so, they wouldn't have to throw away anything. They would just add row 1 and row 2 molds to the row 3 molds they already have (and use row 2 for row 4 like SA does if they want to save some money).

3 new molds would cost between $15000 and $20000, all to appeal to some enthusiasts while Devlin makes a penny for every keycap they churn out.

Not worth it from a business perspective.

The community could donate the amount for the molds, assuming we can trust him enough with that amount of cash.


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[Puddsy]

The K series is a "uniform row 3" keyset just like DSA, right? If so, they wouldn't have to throw away anything. They would just add row 1 and row 2 molds to the row 3 molds they already have (and use row 2 for row 4 like SA does if they want to save some money).

3 new molds would cost between $15000 and $20000, all to appeal to some enthusiasts while Devlin makes a penny for every keycap they churn out.

Not worth it from a business perspective.

The community could donate the amount for the molds, assuming we can trust him enough with that amount of cash.

I really think you guys are reaching on this one.

If it happens, great, but I think it's really ambitious.

[Niomosy]

In theory, sure, the community could raise the money though the profits of various other group buys or something of that nature.  We'd also need Devlin willing to go along with it or some other manufacturer willing to take this on from scratch.  It's possible but it's a fair number of variables to work through for a small hobby community.

[potatobot]

We can dream cant we? 

[zslane]

The K series is a "uniform row 3" keyset just like DSA, right? If so, they wouldn't have to throw away anything. They would just add row 1 and row 2 molds to the row 3 molds they already have (and use row 2 for row 4 like SA does if they want to save some money).

3 new molds...

I take it you don't like the idea of using row 2 molds for row 4 as well?

I wonder if a Kickstarter campaign could raise the necessary funds...

[Niomosy]

A Kickstarter campaign would be an interesting possibility for a known manufacturer.  The question is then if Devlin or some other cap maker is up for it.  Just imagine GMK with that kind of profile.  It would open them up to the spherical crowd.

Okay, that's a pretty big dream sequence right there.  Back to reality.

[Puddsy]

A Kickstarter campaign would be an interesting possibility for a known manufacturer.  The question is then if Devlin or some other cap maker is up for it.  Just imagine GMK with that kind of profile.  It would open them up to the spherical crowd.

Okay, that's a pretty big dream sequence right there.  Back to reality.

Oh god, don't even mention that.

We'd never have another cylindrical GB ever again. How would I buy new keycaps?

The K series is a "uniform row 3" keyset just like DSA, right? If so, they wouldn't have to throw away anything. They would just add row 1 and row 2 molds to the row 3 molds they already have (and use row 2 for row 4 like SA does if they want to save some money).

3 new molds...

I take it you don't like the idea of using row 2 molds for row 4 as well?

I wonder if a Kickstarter campaign could raise the necessary funds...

Probably could. Considering that we have 150 set GMK GBs, it's not outside the realm of possibility.

[Niomosy]

A Kickstarter campaign would be an interesting possibility for a known manufacturer.  The question is then if Devlin or some other cap maker is up for it.  Just imagine GMK with that kind of profile.  It would open them up to the spherical crowd.

Okay, that's a pretty big dream sequence right there.  Back to reality.

Oh god, don't even mention that.

We'd never have another cylindrical GB ever again. How would I buy new keycaps?

I think we'd still get the Cherry profile people running buys.  Though that might diminish the number a bit with all the push for spherical caps.

[LiquidEvilGaming]

As of late I have found myself gravitating back to OEM PBT, Though I still have a DCS ABS set and Cherry PBT set on deck should my tastes change again.

[Niomosy]

I'd love to see some better color options for PBT sets.  I've yet to see anything that really caught my interest enough to want to both spend money on them and receive crap from my wife for buying them.

[potatobot]

I'd love to see some better color options for PBT sets.  I've yet to see anything that really caught my interest enough to want to both spend money on them and receive crap from my wife for buying them.

PBT colors just dont stand out that much compared to ABS.

I was hoping for more colors for SA uniform r3 sets.

[zslane]

I wonder if part of that perception is the fact that the dyesub process can only imprint legends that are darker than the shell color. There's no way to have a bright shell and an even brighter legend, thus giving dyesub PBT keycaps a bit of a dim appearance by comparison.

[Niomosy]

There's one Chinese company that's dyesubbing the cap and leaving the legend untouched, though their efforts still need a bit more work.

http://imgur.com/a/qG0UU

As for PBT, SP offers a pretty decent range of colors.  It's more that those offering doubleshot PBT sets aren't offering a lot of colors. 

[zslane]

There's one Chinese company that's dyesubbing the cap and leaving the legend untouched, though their efforts still need a bit more work.

http://imgur.com/a/qG0UU

As for PBT, SP offers a pretty decent range of colors.  It's more that those offering doubleshot PBT sets aren't offering a lot of colors.

That negative dyesub process holds a lot of promise. There will be issues of color consistency when keycaps are a single solid color (not counting the legend graphics), but if they can conquer that, it could open up a whole new range of creative possibilities.

[Niomosy]

There's one Chinese company that's dyesubbing the cap and leaving the legend untouched, though their efforts still need a bit more work.

http://imgur.com/a/qG0UU

As for PBT, SP offers a pretty decent range of colors.  It's more that those offering doubleshot PBT sets aren't offering a lot of colors.

That negative dyesub process holds a lot of promise. There will be issues of color consistency when keycaps are a single solid color (not counting the legend graphics), but if they can conquer that, it could open up a whole new range of creative possibilities.

Oh definitely.  I was rather excited by the prospect of the negative dyesub.  Hopefully either this or another company can improve color consistency more.  More color options for PBT caps would be fantastic.

[potatobot]

Any thoughts on those PBT spherical keycaps from china with dyesub


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[Niomosy]

I think I want to try them out.

[slot demon]

I like at most cherry profile (abs), but I hope to try out in the near future Devlin Q series keycaps.