类型: IC
作者:
PheonixStarr
发布时间: 2019-11-04 19:00:01
更新时间:
2019-12-12 19:53:32
原链接:
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=103277.0
Hailey
A Stainless Steel 75%
On hold. Previously…
More
/) hi geekhack
Ever since I first heard the
incredibly light, crisp clack of steel, I’ve been in love
with the idea of a keyboard machined from stainless steel.
After a storied, arduous development & 160 hours of
renders, I’m finally ready to present Hailey, a stainless
steel 75%. Its swooping lower assembly draws obvious
inspiration from 159’s illustrious Kepler keyboard, and a
mirror-polished stainless steel finish adds an elegant touch
to the piece. A delightful juxtaposition of gentle curves
and hard angles, Hailey sits as a statement piece on your
desktop, but still remains aesthetically neutral enough to
fit most themes.
> DISCORD <
UPDATES
11/15/19 On Renders & Prices…
yee yee renders
The price for the board has been
finalized at $750… though I’m sure many of you might already
know that after the recent events that transpired. The plate
options are also solidifiedcarbon fiber, carbon fiber ISO,
aluminum, brass, and POM. All are priced at $30 each. PCBs
will go for $55 each. Note that the extra PCBs won’t ship
with a daughterboard, nor will I be carrying extras in stock
at Keylace. Your Hailey kit will ship with two HERA-C boards
by default.
11/11/19 On ANSI & ISO…
Alright, so I finished the PCB. The board will
support ISO (both enter and left shift). There’s been a
decent number of respondents on ISO options, so I will be
offering a carbon fiber ISO-only plate.
11/7/19 On Good News & Bad News…
Hey, I got some good news and some bad news. The good
news is that Hailey will be priced at a much more reasonable
number that is not $850. The bad news is that I
have to remove the PVD option entirely.
The thing about
PVD finishes is that QC’ing them is secretly the tenth
circle of hell. I wouldn’t be willing to accept even a tiny
burr mark, and that’s incredibly hard to guarantee on a
workpiece of this size. I thought limiting it to ten-ish
units would be feasible, but at that point we’d be paying
almost twice the price just for a shiny butt. In conclusionI
can’t go volume production because of QC, and I can’t do
limited production because of price. I’ve very sadly then
struck PVD from the offering entirely. I promise I would
really love to have it, but it’s simply not the move.
Meanwhile,
things developed with the Kagami finish. Turns out, my
manufacturer isn’t intending to polish the internals of the
lower, which means the non-exposed faces will be left with a
raw, machined finish. I must concedeit is very careless to
sell a half-assed workpiece for a retail north of $700, but
I honestly cannot devise any other solutions. I should
clarify, though, that all external faces will be polished to
a mirror standard, which means you won’t see any of the raw
texture unless you peer into the USB port.
The surfaces marked in blue, as well as the housing for
the daughterboard, will be left with a raw machined
finish.
This is a much cheaper alternative to
polishing everything, which is both prohibitively
expensive and minutely impossible in some corners.
Anecdotally,
this also improves sound signature, but I’m not entirely
sure how that works. Something to do with a diffuse
surface vs glossy.
There is at least one more piece of good news.
Engraving through CNC wasn’t an option for the Kagami finish
because it wouldn’t be possible to polish the engraving. I
realized, though, that I could just laser “Hailey” onto the
rear! I’ve always wanted to do a laser engraving on a
keyboard somewhere; I just haven’t had the right keeb until
now. Personally, I think the contrast of a mirrored surface
against a matte engraving would look great. I’ll have some
renders up for that later.
Also, before I get any more
questionsI am not serializing it. I’m not big on serialized
boards, to be honest.
11/6/19 On Colors and PVD…
Okay, I admittedly did not expect to update this
quick, but that’s my fault for pushing out a slightly rushed
IC.
Big thanks to 159 as well as some others for
warning me about the insane QC for PVD parts (and keyboards
at large). After some deliberation, I’ve decided to limit
the buy to 75 units of Hailey. As suggested by Rensuya,
mirror-polished stainless steel will be made available as an
option. Personally, I was rather surprised that this was a
pretty well-received feature. In order to reduce the price
tag (and also issues with polishing), I’ve very
unfortunately decided to remove the engraving at the bottom
of the board. It’s on the bottom, anyway; you’ll never see
it. The mirror-polished Kagami finish will be priced lower
than the PVD coating in a vain attempt to keep the quantity
of that latter finish low. I should note, however, that
there will be a limit of ten units for the PVD coating, for
those who really want that shiny rose gold tone.
From
lack of interest, I’ve dropped the Ano. “Nightingale Blue”
upper and the PVD “Onyx Black” lower from the lineup. I’ve
also modified the daughterboard cutout to keep things a
little more sensical.
SPECIFICATIONS
‣ Aluminum 6063-T6 upper +
beadblasted & anodized or electrophoretic coating
finish
‣ Stainless steel 304L lower
assembly + mirror-polished finish & a laser-engraved
logotype.
‣ Personally, I find it
quite convenient to be able to buff & polish away any
scratches. This is something I do on watches and other
stainless steel-made wear, so I imagine it won’t be much
different with a keyboard.
‣ Carbon
fiber plate suspended in a full isolation mount, supported
by custom-cut shock absorbent PORON strips.
‣
A brass & an aluminum plate will also be available for
an added sum. It won’t be much, though. And as per usual,
the plate files will be made publicly available at the
conclusion of the buy phase.
‣ An Alps
EC11 rotary encoder with a click switch. Unlike the renders,
knobs will be knurled on the sides. It is made of aluminum
and available in silver and black.
‣
The encoder uses a standard 6mm D-shaped post, should you
wish to use your own rotary knob.
‣
Custom “May” PCB; with an ARM STM32 chip, ESD &
overcurrent protection, and the HERA-C daughterboard.
‣
Keylace will offer, for as cheap as possible, extra May PCBs
& Hailey-type HERA-C daughterboards in case yours goes
yoink. Each Hailey will ship with two HERA-Cs.
‣
Please note, also, that I design in the 19mm spacing.
‣
Two adhesive-backed silicone rubber feet, custom-cut
‣
5.5° typing angle
I’ll be running Hailey as an FCFS GB
through my site Keylace.co, which will soon be launching to
carry Cygnus. Mid-December, three prototype units will be
shown and sent out to streams.
SALES
Price
$750. Add plates for $30, add PCB for
$55.
Quantity I am still oscillating
on this matter. Currently, the board has a 75 unit limit. At
100, the Cost of Goods for the board itself goes down, and
if this is the case, I would very much like to use this
extra overhead to focus on better presentation, packaging,
and fine-tune the board at large (essentially, instead of
reducing the price, I offer a better product than budget
would’ve otherwise allowed).
Shipping
USPS.
Lead Time Three months, give or
take. I should note that the shipping phase won’t take long,
as I have about half a dozen people assigned to packaging
& logistics.
IC FORM
RENDERS
Note: the renders are representative, and while I try to
show what I want to sell, they are not 100% indicative of
final colors, finishes, or other product options.
Please
be aware that the ano. “Nightingale Blue” Upper & rose
gold/black PVD Lowers are no longer offered. Additionally,
contrary to renders, the stock knobs will be knurled on
the sides. I’ll have more renders posted soon to reflect
the changes.
SPECIAL THANKS
…to 159 for
providing early feedback, the Kepler TKL, & saving me
from the sheer hell of QC’ing a hundred PVD parts;
…to
Rensuya & senter for suggesting the Kagami
mirror-polished stainless steel finish;
…to
driftingbunnies for consultation on sale quantities and the
“Hailey” engraving;
…to enome for reminding me to make
a Discord server and being an excellent wall to which I
could bounce ideas off, as well as an amazing source of
support;
…to mrpetrov for also being an excellent
wall;
…and to you for reading, especially if you left a
comment
