Phantom Custom Keyboard Group Buy (CLOSED)

[Tarkoon]

I am not building a prototype. (because of the costs)
I just wanted to offer that it would be possible to get the acrylics done here in germany too. If enough people were interested (and of course only if lister agrees) I would give listers exact drawings to a company here in germany. They would produce it out of original "Plexiglas" (the father of all acrylics - and I think the one with the best quality also).

[trax]

I am not building a prototype. (because of the costs)
I just wanted to offer that it would be possible to get the acrylics done here in germany too. If enough people were interested (and of course only if lister agrees) I would give listers exact drawings to a company here in germany. They would produce it out of original "Plexiglas" (the father of all acrylics - and I think the one with the best quality also).

Plexi is actually the term we use in Dutch for all arcylics.
Im probably ok with ur version, although, Id like to see a aluminum case gb to...

[Tarkoon]

Plexiglas (Plexi) became the common name for acrylics in many european countries. The company I got my offer from uses the original Plexiglas from Evonic.

[Minskleip]

Any thoughts on when the switch buy will be?

[litster]

switch buy will likely go together with the rest of group buy.

The plan is to find a shop here to cut acrylic cases here in the US. I have a few leads already.

[Minskleip]

Ok, thanks!

[litster]

FYI, test PCBs have been ordered!!!!!111one1!!!

[graboy]

FYI, test PCBs have been ordered!!!!!111one1!!!

Nice!
When will you get them?!

Exited for the pics.

[litster]

Not sure. PrinsValium ordered them and have them sent to me. I think will be at least in January.

[BossBorot]

I just finished reading this thread and the 15 page one over at geek hack. However I have a few questions mostly relating to stem and spring swapping before placing an order:

1) It seems like you have yet to test the ability to swap stems and springs is there any eta on testing this?

2) Is the stem swapping enabled by the plate, the pcb, or both?

3) Would a filco tenteyless be able to swap stems and springs with only a new plate, for which the plate choices would be limited to the type of the flico pcb? Obviously the switches would need to be de soldered to remove the filco plate and re soldered with the new plate if this is possible, I mean after the new plate is swapped in.

4) When this ships how many different packages would the parts come in shipped within the US? I ask because say I want only a very small amount of switches would I have to pay shipping on the switches separately from the plate and or pcb? I know that this specific a question may not be answerable until the orders are actually placed but it shouldn't hurt to ask.

[litster]

Here is the new white case I made, shown in white/beige and black/Dolch Cherry double shot keycaps, plus socket cap screws and thinner lock nuts. No gluing required.

Acrylic Case White Blue-1.jpg (72.69 KiB) Viewed 4912 times

Acrylic Case White Blue-2.jpg (75.54 KiB) Viewed 4912 times

Acrylic Case White Blue-3.jpg (95.05 KiB) Viewed 4912 times

Acrylic Case White Blue-4.jpg (72.09 KiB) Viewed 4912 times

Acrylic Case White Blue-5.jpg (81.11 KiB) Viewed 4912 times

Acrylic Case White Blue-6.jpg (41.08 KiB) Viewed 4912 times

[litster]

I just finished reading this thread and the 15 page one over at geek hack. However I have a few questions mostly relating to stem and spring swapping before placing an order:

1) It seems like you have yet to test the ability to swap stems and springs is there any eta on testing this?

2) Is the stem swapping enabled by the plate, the pcb, or both?

3) Would a filco tenteyless be able to swap stems and springs with only a new plate, for which the plate choices would be limited to the type of the flico pcb? Obviously the switches would need to be de soldered to remove the filco plate and re soldered with the new plate if this is possible, I mean after the new plate is swapped in.

4) When this ships how many different packages would the parts come in shipped within the US? I ask because say I want only a very small amount of switches would I have to pay shipping on the switches separately from the plate and or pcb? I know that this specific a question may not be answerable until the orders are actually placed but it shouldn't hurt to ask.

1) will test when new plates are done.
2) both.
3) no, see 2.
4) a) don't know yet. b) don't know yet. c) you are correct.

[BossBorot]

Thank you for the quick response and even more over for the initiative to get this done. I have a few more questions which likely will never effect the group buy, but for some reason I would like to know the answers, if they are known at this point, in order to have a better picture of how this is going to work out. I vaguely listed them by order of importance from my perspective.

1) What are the minimum order numbers required per switch to be able to get each type in a group buy? At some point in one of the forums, if I recall correctly, it was mentioned that red, brown, and clear are already past this point. Is this number the same for all of the switches or is it variable? Is there a sanity cut off level that the organizers of the switch buy reasonably set or is it an absolute threshold that the seller of the switches sets? Personally I think it would help to disclose what the minimum order number is for each switch so that the rare switches are possibly obtainable if a big enough group effort is undertaken to push it past the threshold.

2) I would expect that the per unit price of switches goes down as order numbers of that switch pass a certain point. However do we as a community of forums have to reach specific numbers for buying like 100 250 1000 or can we, as a whole, buy in numbers like 171? Is there an absolute max cost per switch not including shipping?

3) Are certain items that would go into building the phantom farmed out to specific regions of the world at this point? For example are all of the pcbs made in the US or are all of the switches sourced from China?

4) I seem to remember seeing someone post that the final orders will go out end of Jan beginning of Fed on geekhack. Is this the absolute cutoff or only for individual items to make the final product?

Thank you again. I feel like I am nit picking away at a project that is headed for the finish line at this point. Obviously a lot of this may not be known, however at this point I am just trying to gain an insight into how the process is going.

[hoggy]

I know it's early days, but would it be possible to order the case in white, and include the black panels as a conversion kit?

[hoggy]

btw - the new case looks really sweet!

[litster]

Thank you for the quick response and even more over for the initiative to get this done. I have a few more questions which likely will never effect the group buy, but for some reason I would like to know the answers, if they are known at this point, in order to have a better picture of how this is going to work out. I vaguely listed them by order of importance from my perspective.

1) What are the minimum order numbers required per switch to be able to get each type in a group buy? At some point in one of the forums, if I recall correctly, it was mentioned that red, brown, and clear are already past this point. Is this number the same for all of the switches or is it variable? Is there a sanity cut off level that the organizers of the switch buy reasonably set or is it an absolute threshold that the seller of the switches sets? Personally I think it would help to disclose what the minimum order number is for each switch so that the rare switches are possibly obtainable if a big enough group effort is undertaken to push it past the threshold.

2) I would expect that the per unit price of switches goes down as order numbers of that switch pass a certain point. However do we as a community of forums have to reach specific numbers for buying like 100 250 1000 or can we, as a whole, buy in numbers like 171? Is there an absolute max cost per switch not including shipping?

3) Are certain items that would go into building the phantom farmed out to specific regions of the world at this point? For example are all of the pcbs made in the US or are all of the switches sourced from China?

4) I seem to remember seeing someone post that the final orders will go out end of Jan beginning of Fed on geekhack. Is this the absolute cutoff or only for individual items to make the final product?

Thank you again. I feel like I am nit picking away at a project that is headed for the finish line at this point. Obviously a lot of this may not be known, however at this point I am just trying to gain an insight into how the process is going.

1) minimum order per color is 1000. Only red and clear have cleared the 1000 switches, IIRC. This was covered in the other switch buy thread, if you didn't read it in this thread or the phantom thread on Geekhack.org

2) bulk discount price is at 1000. That is the MOQ we received. You can order any integer number of switches. 171 is fine. Fractions unfornately is not allowed. I wonder if 7bit's script would handle decimal points in all different number formattings around the world.

3) PCBs is made in China, shipped to the USA. Plates are cut in the USA. For EU and Asia orders, PCBs and plates will be bundled and shipped to 7bit in Germany for distribution. US distribution will be done by BiNiaRiS in Oregon, USA. Switch source is in Germany I think. Where are you at now?

4) when we are ready to collect money, we will post in this thread to let everyone know. People will have a week or two to finalize their order, and we will close the group buy and start collecting money to order parts. Closing January and February sound about right. More February then January, I expect.

[trax]

I like the black case more, since that one will fit my round 4 doubleshots ;D

[litster]

So I did some testing on one of the the second set of mounting plates. This video demonstrates that it is possible to open up a plate-mounted switch on Phantom's metal plate without de-soldering it first. In fact, the 4 holes on the PCB is not necessary, but are there just in case.

Way to go, PrinsValim!!

[RiGS]

Nice. How securely does that plate hold the switches compared to a regular plate?
I think you should rename the video, or add some description.
I forsee how newbs will try this on their regular plate mounted keyboards.

[litster]

Here is a 720p version from a better angle. This time I have a cameraman.

The switch isn't very secure in this particular setup because it wasn't soldered onto the PCB. But it is as secure as it can be. It doesn't twist or turn. Once it is soldered, it will be as secure as any plate-mounted switch.

[RiGS]

Thanks. It is a lot better.

In fact, the 4 holes on the PCB is not necessary, but are there just in case.

If I correctly understood, this plate design would work with the regular Filco PCB as well, right?

[litster]

It should, but we have not tried that, and I don't think we will. At least it is not something we would do before this project is done.

Are you thinking about using this plate with a regular Filco?

[trax]

Nice. That means i can change clears into ergo clears without desoldering?

[Minskleip]

Nice. That means i can change clears into ergo clears without desoldering?

Yeah, but you have to solder the switches at least once anyway

[trax]

Nice. That means i can change clears into ergo clears without desoldering?

Yeah, but you have to solder the switches at least once anyway

Ye well I'm getting someone to do that for me

[litster]

Just took delivery of our first test PCB!!

I have all the parts EXCEPT plate-mounted stabilizers. I ordered some but they are back-ordered. Does anyone have extra Cherry plate-mounted stabilizers that you can sell to me so I can complete the prototype build?

Phantom PCB Back.JPG (704.88 KiB) Viewed 4729 times

Phantom PCB Front.jpeg (779.69 KiB) Viewed 4729 times

[xbb]

I have some but it will take too long to ship them to you :/

[trax]

That shit is so cool.

[Ekaros]

I almost just want one PCB to frame it ;D

[litster]

And I tested it last night, the holes on the plate line up correctly to the holes on the PCB, even for the 7bit layout. I can sandwich switches between the plate and PCB. You can have Esc and 14 Function keys, and extra keys next to both of your tiny shifts, and extra keys between the arrow keys and the 6-pack cluster.