Topre PBT Spacebars

matt3o · 18 Dec 2014, 09:23

color matching will be done on black and white only. Colors will be chosen on pantone...

... unless this becomes incredibly popular. By incredibly I mean like 5000 spacebars popular.

atlas3686 · 18 Dec 2014, 09:33

matt3o wrote: ↑color matching will be done on black and white only. Colors will be chosen on pantone...

... unless this becomes incredibly popular. By incredibly I mean like 5000 spacebars popular.

Fair enough, thanks matt3o

002 · 18 Dec 2014, 09:48

Just out of curiosity, matt; do you know if the creation of the PBT spacebar is going to make other caps any easier because the mount will be known then or does it not really matter? I suppose the prohibiting factor is always going to be MOQ but I still dream of an Olivetti or Red Alert Realforce

matt3o · 18 Dec 2014, 09:56

no, unfortunately the spacebar doesn't help with other caps.

not long ago SP was extremely interested in building the tooling for Topre keyboards, we had a quick conversation about that a few months ago and they asked me which topre keyboards to buy to make tests.

Then the SP dark age came and everything is on hold now.

Actually it would be quite inexpensive to contract the work in China, I probably know a couple of companies able to do such a thing, but it's not easy to deal with them, so ultimately I preferred the BSP route.

matt3o · 19 Dec 2014, 00:16

ok, after a very quick start we definitely slowed down. We definitely need a "sponsor".

MechanicalKeyboards.com dropped the ball, Massdrop seems still interested. I'll talk with them again tomorrow. If that doesn't work, I'll send an email to all retailers I know to see if we can sell a couple of thousands here and there.

Hypersphere · 19 Dec 2014, 01:47

matt3o wrote: ↑ok, after a very quick start we definitely slowed down. We definitely need a "sponsor".

MechanicalKeyboards.com dropped the ball, Massdrop seems still interested. I'll talk with them again tomorrow. If that doesn't work, I'll send an email to all retailers I know to see if we can sell a couple of thousands here and there.

Yes, so it is with functions that approach an asymptote. Too bad about MK. I hope that Massdrop will remain interested. I have been frustrated recently trying to interest companies in producing keycap sets for keyboards with Matias switches -- a classical Catch-22 or chicken-egg scenario. If there were more keycaps available, more people would buy Matias-switch keyboards, but because more of these are not sold, no one will commit to making the keycaps.

002 · 19 Dec 2014, 01:51

*fingers crossed*

matt3o · 23 Dec 2014, 09:02

We had some new orders yesterday.

We are at 37%

Color preference changed a bit

Code: Select all

    [Medium gray]
    [Sky Blue/Light Blue]
    [Blue]    [Red]
    [Mint/Light Green]
    [Purple]
    [Green]
    [Pink]
    [Orange]
    [Beige]
    [Yellow]
    [Lavender]
    [Brown]    [Magenta]

Community impact also changed. Basically geekhack alone is 50%, reddit and deskthority 20% each, then the others.

On Monday January 5, I'll contact all the resellers I could think of (please help me make a list), it is clear at this point that we can't proceed our own, but if we find 4-5 resellers willing to buy 1000 each we could still have our spacebar done!

If by January 16 I'm not able to get this sorted out, I will throw the towel and declare myself beaten!

Please keep ordering!

002 · 23 Dec 2014, 09:15

Aside from the very obvious stores, you could try contacting the following Topre stockists:

http://www.mechkb.com/ (Australia)
https://www.diatec.co.jp/ (Japan)
http://www.leopold.co.kr/ (Korea)

Let me know if you want any help getting in touch with the first two, but should be pretty easy.

Hypersphere · 23 Dec 2014, 15:03

matt3o wrote: ↑We had some new orders yesterday.

We are at 37%
<snip>
Please keep ordering!

1/e of the way there!

Khers · 23 Dec 2014, 15:11

Hypersphere wrote: ↑
matt3o wrote: ↑We had some new orders yesterday.

We are at 37%
<snip>
Please keep ordering!
1/e of the way there!

From a physicists point of view, we are good to go then!

brdrgz · 23 Dec 2014, 18:12

There is a reddit user by the name

Code: Select all

gammalbjorn

who posted in the last 24 hours that he has "unrestricted access to an injection molder, a CNC mill, and other manufacturing equipment". He's asking for suggestions on what to produce. This is the perfect opportunity, IMO. A manufacturer tailoring to enthusiasts and open to damn near anything.

https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyb ... lity_caps/

Daniel Beardsmore · 23 Dec 2014, 20:03

I'm more intrigued at his mention of a magnetic switch — sounds like the ideas being floated at geekhack a while back.

Hopefully this chap knows how to cool PBT properly :)

matt3o · 05 Jan 2015, 09:32

We are at 45% now

Honestly it's a hell lot of spacebars for a community based project, I would be pretty shocked if a vendor wouldn't want to join the wagon. Anyway today I will be sending out a dozen emails and also will talk again with MassDrop.

I'll keep you posted.

Color preference so far:

Code: Select all

    [Medium gray] => 48
    [Sky Blue/Light Blue] => 43
    [Red] => 42
    [Blue] => 34
    [Purple] => 34
    [Mint/Light Green] => 33
    [Green] => 27
    [Orange] => 27
    [Pink] => 26
    [Lavender] => 22
    [Beige] => 14
    [Yellow] => 12
    [Magenta] => 11
    [Brown] => 4

Khers · 05 Jan 2015, 12:56

45% is pretty good! Almost 1000 spacebars then, right?

Since we are where we are in this, I'd be willing to double my order if it helps getting things moving!

Once again, thank you for trying this matt3o!

wheybags · 05 Jan 2015, 14:55

How did I not notice this until now? O.o
Just put in for 2 white and 2 black.

Muirium · 05 Jan 2015, 15:25

I'd go for 1 black and 3 white if the UI let me. Anyway, we're getting there. Just needs a store to bite, really. Keyboardco? EK? Teraset?

pyrelink · 05 Jan 2015, 21:04

Will filling out the form a second time, overwrite your previously placed order, or will it add onto/subtract from the first one?

Muirium · 05 Jan 2015, 23:04

Use the same email address and it will OVERWRITE. So the opposite to 7bit's system.

matt3o · 10 Jan 2015, 09:57

I'm talking with other manufacturers. There's still hope!

Keep ordering!

I'll keep the IC open another week, it seems it could be actually done!

noobie94 · 10 Jan 2015, 12:06

Ordered 2 black/grey and one color pack

Hypersphere · 10 Jan 2015, 16:49

Finora va tutto bene!

matt3o · 19 Jan 2015, 09:34

Status update

All retailers backed off.

MassDrop is still willing to do it if we can find a cheaper manufacturer that we might have found. We are sending a sample spacebar to the new manufacturer that will make a quotation. This might require some time, I guess at least 2 more weeks. I hate this situation as much as you do, but honestly 1 month ago I had a quote from the manufacturers and 3 retailers fighting for the exclusive, now we got nothing.

Fortunately I haven't asked anyone money yet.

-----------
side note

Admittedly I'm a bit fed up of manufacturers saying that they can do it, but they actually can't... of sending emails and receiving replies after weeks... of retailers super excited wanting to participate at all costs and then backing off... I believe the next time I will be much more cautious when evaluating the feasibility of a project.

cookie · 19 Jan 2015, 13:23

I believe noone here is upset because of you! I am running into similar problems with manufacturers, sometimes I have the feeling that they don't read the email entirely...

You are doing a great job!

wheybags · 19 Jan 2015, 20:20

Did they at least give excuses?
Or just disappear? :S

Muirium · 19 Jan 2015, 20:48

Counting the days until Matteo starts casting his own PBT…

wheybags · 19 Jan 2015, 20:50

I looked into it before. Apparently it's a resin, so it would be feasible. But I couldn't find any non-industrial quantities for sale.
Also colour matching would be literally impossible.

Muirium · 19 Jan 2015, 20:52

What material do you use for your WheyClacks? (My name I invented right now. Not necessarily for the best…) My understanding is that PBT is pretty tough work. It cools funny, and bends. Plus it melts at a higher temperature than its easy cousin ABS. That's how it can cope with the oven temperatures of dyesub.

wheybags · 19 Jan 2015, 20:55

Polyurethane resin, pretty much the basic hobbyist casting resin.

scottc · 19 Jan 2015, 21:04

Muirium wrote: ↑What material do you use for your WheyClacks? (My name I invented right now. Not necessarily for the best…) My understanding is that PBT is pretty tough work. It cools funny, and bends. Plus it melts at a higher temperature than its easy cousin ABS. That's how it can cope with the oven temperatures of dyesub.

I coined that term ages ago! I get the commission!