Round 5 and Round 6 kits for sale!

[gnarlsagan]

OK, so what do you all want?


- triangle cursors in CADET colors
- thumbs/finger keys for the cursor block
- single keys like `~ etc.


Anything else?

I was really hoping to buy the few keys needed for 75% layouts. The bottom 1U ones (alt, fn, ctrl) in multiple colors, and the right edge ones in the correct profile and multiple colors (Home R1, Page Up R2, Page Down R3, and End R3). I think this is correct, but someone please correct me if I'm wrong. And please let me know if this can already be done somehow. I already picked up a bunch of blanks in different profiles. I would pay a lot to have the right keys though!

Also the red "Transmit" enter key and "Abort" escape key would be cool.

[Muirium]

Who else is putting Round 5 on a Keycool? Come on, admit it people!

I ask because the navblock keys are all in strange places in that layout. There would need to be a lot of demand to add all that. SP's MOQ for this is 25 sets, I think.

[romevi]

OK, so what do you all want?


- triangle cursors in CADET colors
- thumbs/finger keys for the cursor block
- single keys like `~ etc.


Anything else?

I was really hoping to buy the few keys needed for 75% layouts. The bottom 1U ones (alt, fn, ctrl) in multiple colors, and the right edge ones in the correct profile and multiple colors (Home R1, Page Up R2, Page Down R3, and End R3). I think this is correct, but someone please correct me if I'm wrong. And please let me know if this can already be done somehow. I already picked up a bunch of blanks in different profiles. I would pay a lot to have the right keys though!

Also the red "Transmit" enter key and "Abort" escape key would be cool.

How do you like the 84? I was thinking of getting in on the next buy if and when it pops up.

[gnarlsagan]

OK, so what do you all want?


- triangle cursors in CADET colors
- thumbs/finger keys for the cursor block
- single keys like `~ etc.


Anything else?

I was really hoping to buy the few keys needed for 75% layouts. The bottom 1U ones (alt, fn, ctrl) in multiple colors, and the right edge ones in the correct profile and multiple colors (Home R1, Page Up R2, Page Down R3, and End R3). I think this is correct, but someone please correct me if I'm wrong. And please let me know if this can already be done somehow. I already picked up a bunch of blanks in different profiles. I would pay a lot to have the right keys though!

Also the red "Transmit" enter key and "Abort" escape key would be cool.

How do you like the 84? I was thinking of getting in on the next buy if and when it pops up.

Actually haven't gotten it yet! Picked it up off the most recent Massdrop buy. Wanted something more compact and saw the 84 with Penumbra and knew I had to give it a go. But with a touch of Honey of course.

[romevi]

I was really hoping to buy the few keys needed for 75% layouts. The bottom 1U ones (alt, fn, ctrl) in multiple colors, and the right edge ones in the correct profile and multiple colors (Home R1, Page Up R2, Page Down R3, and End R3). I think this is correct, but someone please correct me if I'm wrong. And please let me know if this can already be done somehow. I already picked up a bunch of blanks in different profiles. I would pay a lot to have the right keys though!

Also the red "Transmit" enter key and "Abort" escape key would be cool.

How do you like the 84? I was thinking of getting in on the next buy if and when it pops up.

Actually haven't gotten it yet! Picked it up off the most recent Massdrop buy. Wanted something more compact and saw the 84 with Penumbra and knew I had to give it a go. But with a touch of Honey of course.

Oh, my.
Sauce?

[gnarlsagan]

Oh, my.
Sauce?

Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyb ... numbra_84/

And I might actually like the Skull Squadron even more. Although this one's DSA. https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyb ... adron_set/

I really think the 75% boards have a ton of potential.

[jedmund]

I'd kill for:
- Red "Transmit" Enter button
- Red "Abort" Escape button
- Icon mods. All the wonderful icon mods.

[zslane]

Could someone explain to me the cost of a new double-shot legend and how that cost gets folded into the prices for a GB? I mean, clearly if SP doesn't have a legend mold for, say, "SHIP NOW" or a fist icon they have to make one and that costs $$$, right? So how is 7bit able to just add new legends like he does?

[flabbergast]

Yea, 1.75u shift in cadet colours as well

We got that already

Ah yes! It wasn't on my invoice yesterday, and I did not check the wiki page explicitly.
Thanks!

And big thanks, 7bit!

[Phill1]

Could someone explain to me the cost of a new double-shot legend and how that cost gets folded into the prices for a GB? I mean, clearly if SP doesn't have a legend mold for, say, "SHIP NOW" or a fist icon they have to make one and that costs $$$, right? So how is 7bit able to just add new legends like he does?

It costs $25 per new legend. That's all I know.

[7bit]

Yes. For more complicated stuff they take $35.

[Muirium]

How about we send them an SVG of SHIFT so we don't have to put up with their SHIF T on our row 4 REPAIR kits?

[chzel]

How about we send them an SVG of SHIFT so we don't have to put up with their SHIF T on our row 4 REPAIR kits?

Brilliant!

[lorenzfx]

[...]
The trouble with sorting these starts with sorting the bags by kits (like Colemak, Dvorak, Bepo, Neo and normal language kits).
But wait: They are overlapping. Nothing that could be done in a rush.
[...]

Wait are we talking neo2 layout? Did the Neo set not make it or am I just too stupid to find it?

Sorry to be rude and just ask the same question again: Is there a neo2 kit I'm too stupid to find?

[7bit]

Yes, just need someone who makes the legend.


NEO, BEPO etc: No, currently there is nothing like that.

[zslane]

Ah, okay. But then why the difficulty in getting SHIFT keys with a proper FT ligature? I mean, that's just a one-time $25 fee per key size, right?

[Muirium]

And someone has to make the art. SP uses some in house crap called Gorton Modified (search DT for the name to hear its random story) that is not available in digital form. 7bit doesn't draw legends for them. He just specifies the text, which SP then typesets. Badly.

I'm not a fan of SP's fonts. Just look at the Q! That's why I like dyesub so much. Along with the freedom to do multiple colours on the same cap. Every legend is made from scratch, every time. Doubleshot is the opposite. We pick things from a costly toolbox.

[zslane]

Oh, I know. I have been schooled in the fine details of dyesub vs. double-shot thanks to these forums. The Granite development thread was quite enlightening.

However, if all it takes is $25 per key to get SP to re-make their SHIFT key legends, this should be a trivial matter to resolve. Then again, is it worth it to fix just the legend? Is the flawed FT ligature bad/noticable enough that it would be worth running new shift keys just to fix that alone? I mean, combining that with the production of proper R4 molds would be ideal, but that might never happen.

So what's the consensus on just fixing the legends?

[Halvar]

I think it will be quite hard to specify the letter thickness in an SVG so that it turns out right on a doubleshot keycap.

[zslane]

I was thinking more along the lines of asking SP to simply re-kern with their own font/vector tools. I mean, that can't take more than about 10 minutes of their time...

[Muirium]

You're thinking digital. Their tools are mechanical! As in metal blocks of type, like at a pre-computing newspaper. That missing ligature is unlikely to ever be fixed. They need a blacksmith!

[zslane]

So how does 7bit create new text legends that match the rest of the existing SP text legends?

[chzel]

He just specifies "print XYZ in medium size" and they assemble the (pre-existing) mold pieces to make that legend.

[Elk]

I just noticed that on The Cappening, pictures show legends on the modifiers to be sometimes compressed (like the 1.25U "COMMAND" for exemple which looks "stretched vertically"). Since it doesn't appear this way on the R5 wiki, I suppose SP did it on their own initiative to fit intended legends on cap sizes that are too short.

Is there a specific reason to have full-word legends that are too long to fit the intended cap size properly ? Or, wouldn't it be better to proactively abbreviate legends ("CMD") so they fit on the short keys without being compressed ? I see that 7bit did it on FN / FUNC for exemple.

So, maybe people have requested full legends even if they look deformed, although I didn't find anything on this subject while searching this thread.

Just a thought...

[Muirium]

[zslane]

Gotcha. Interesting nut to crack. I can't help but think that some enterprising (and talented) graphic artist could match five uppercase letters from the Gorton Modified typeface used for these legends and send an SVG file to SP. I'm not saying it would be easy, but it's gotta be doable (think like an artist duplicating/forging another work of art).

[Muirium]

How about if I told you these two legends were produced from the same .svg?



[sobold]Oh my![/omgbold]

There really is nothing these guys can't fuck up. Anyway, you're learning quick. Here's another fine thread for your accelerated eduction in the ways and lore of Signature Plastics: the inimitable insanity of Honey Sphericals Extras Extras Read All About It! The picture above is from near the end. As usual, that's when we get to discover what happened this time…

[potatowire]

Gotcha. Interesting nut to crack. I can't help but think that some enterprising (and talented) graphic artist could match five uppercase letters from the Gorton Modified typeface used for these legends and send an SVG file to SP. I'm not saying it would be easy, but it's gotta be doable (think like an artist duplicating/forging another work of art).

I think it would be great if one of the artists here could work with SP to fix the SHIF T typesetting. I can't un-see it.

On the subject of molds, Is it just urban legend that molds for SA R4 Shift keys would cost $9K? Seems like someone (with an established GB reputation) could run a group buy for shifts in some of the colors of big or recent favorites like Round 5, SA Retro, and add a proportional share of the $9k (or however much) to all the sets. The shift keys on the GB would be cost more (or even a lot more) per unit, but there are probably enough dummies like me who would be willing to do this as a sort of "community service." It's definitely something SP should do themselves, but I'm not sure they ever will.

[zslane]

I'm of the same mind. potatowire. I mean, if it's just a matter of throwing money at the problem, that seems rather solvable (as a motivated community). However, if there is some sort of immutable refusal to even consider it by SP, that's a different matter.

[Muirium]

New molds are more work but also more practical for SP. They've done it before. Round 5 opened up several new ones, after all. I reckon a nice big load of cash will be enough to convince them. Ugh! Who else do you have to pay so they can keep selling to you?

But! The SHIF T problem will require prototyping. SP will fuck it up on first try, no matter who does the .svg and however perfect. Iteration is the only way to get a SHIFT legend that doesn't look shit for some other reason. Matching existing stuff is hard. Stare at that picture I posted above for a little while to get a handle on how much can go wrong. They couldn't even match the thing they just made from the same source file! And even worse: they *never notice". That's the thing with SP, you've got to do all their QA for them. It's madness. I expect we'd need to work close with them over a sequence of 4, 8, 12 attempts until we finally get a SHIFT that looks passable. And who's paying for all that?

It would take nore than enough time for us to spot a few more egregious errors in their typography, of course. We're like that!