类型: IC
作者: Patrickwu
发布时间: 2021-04-14 11:08:12
更新时间:
2021-06-02 02:45:42
原链接:
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=112301.0
Ladies and gentlemen, this is Patrick, owner and designer of
NEO Keys
(
NEO Keys Discord,
NEO Keys Instagram). I am honored to present you NEO Keys third project,
Element G67.
It is a machined alloy, gasket mounted,
seamless, minimalist design, compact size, slim bezel, low
stack height and budget friendly custom mechanical keyboard
kit.
NEO Element started from the idea of designing a
board that expresses nothing but its true form, bears no
identity but the geometry and texture of material, without
the burden of symbolism of concept or representation of
individual. It is elegant, easy to build, amazing to type
on, and most important affordable.
The project has been
going on for almost a year. I’ve built 6 engineering
prototypes and a test bench to experiment different design
ideas, acquire test data and test different surface finish.
Most of its design has been finalized, but some decisions
are better left for users. So here is the
IC Form.
Featuring:
Precisely calibrated gasket hardness
and compression rate for optimal typing sound and feel
Completely
seamless case design for visual integrity
Light chamfer
and round corners on top and bottom case for a little bit of
warmth
Straight lines, slim bezels (7.6mm front and
rear, 3.6mm sides), low front height (17mm), clean, simple,
compact and comfy wrist angle
Case exterior has no
logo, no engraving, no laser etching, no badge
Interior
tool path is designed to be as simple as possible to shave
off manufacturing time and cost
Case material available
in aluminum, brass and stainless steel; switch plate
material available in carbon fiber and brass
Custom
Cerakote ceramic coating finish option available for
ultimate durability
Case specs:
Dimensions:313/111/17mm front/30mm rear
Element G67 Aluminum
top and bottom case, sandblasted and anodized.
$260-280
Element Plus G67 Aluminum top,
sandblasted and Cerakoted, full brass bottom,
zircon-blasted/
and nano-coated//*. $420-450
Element Ultimate G67 Stainless
steel top and bottom case, brushed exterior, zircon-blasted
interior, both nano-coated. $650-700
/If you’re not familiar with zircon-blasting, it’s a type
of sandblasting. Instead of sand or glass bead, zircon is
used. It provides ultra fine fininsh and smooth touch.
It’s the same type of finish as Iphone6 back plate and
some Macbook Pro cases.
//*Nano coating is a few nm thick and practically
invisible. It retains the raw texture and color of treated
metal surface and protects it from oxidation and grease.
It’s awesome.
Element has one of the lowest stack
height and smallest bezels on the market. Here are some
external dimensions.
Switch plate comes in 2 layout and 2 material
options: brass and carbon fiber (so far)
ANSI:
ISO:
PCB:
Soldered and Hotswap versions will both be
offered. QMK and VIA support.
Unified daughter board
with 17cm JST cable.
Screw in stabs only
If you
are in my discord serveral or following my Instagram, you
probably already know this. But anyway, here is some
background story of how the board was developed. To find out
what’s the best gasket material, thickness, compression
ratio to use, I designed and built a test bench, which is
basically an open frame gasket keyboard with adjustable
compression ratio. Open frame design and thumb screws allow
me to micro adjust compression distance by increments of
0.2mm. I was able to use different gasket material in
different hardness and thickness, compressed by different
amount of distance. After several weeks of fine tuning and
testing I found my favorite combination and used it in final
design.
Some renders:
And I may or may not do a machined aluminum + carbon
fiber or PC wrist rest, depending on how IC results go. Feel
free to leave comments.
Samples pics and build streams will be available
soon. Stay tuned to NEO Keys discord, MechMerlin, Taeha,
Alexotos and Andy Nugyen’s twitch/YT channels and
social media!
Andy V Nguyen’s Build Stream
Andy V Nguyen’s Type Test
Andy V Nguyen’s Full Length Review
MechMerlin’s Build Stream
Alexoto’s Build Stream
Taeha’s Build Stream