The long journey of the WhiteFox

[TuxKey]

Today I received a new test case I asked the manufacturer (we are a bit late I know, but I really wanted to try a thing).

I'm typing on the whitefox since a couple of weeks now and it's absolutely divine, but I would have liked it to be few mm shorter in height so the wrists stay in a more natural position. Please note that we are in the "fanatic" field here, nobody would have probably noticed and the previous case was just fine... but now... ohmy. This is pure heaven for your fingers. It's like orgasm for your fingers.

This is the case now (left) and before (right).



This just to show you the level of maniacal research for perfection I'm putting into this thing.

I want to thank once again MD for accepting all my crazy last minute requests.

Reading this brings tears to my eyes
I opted not to get one , because i would have preferred a wider layout a bit like my Leopold FC660M.
Reading this makes me question my choices ..

The level of perfection and attention to detail lifts this from a product to a piece of art..
I'm 100% sure you won't find this in the regular segment of keyboards..

Doing this any other way would just bring it down to the level of being average , ordinary, regular everyday product.
Or in my humble opinion being the CM NovaTouch TKL of the day..
A perfect example of great innovation with Topre switches being compatibility with MX stems.
And a function row that sucks..
But after typing on it for a second (was standing in a store had no other choice) it felt like a regular rubber dome and nothing like the Leopold FC660C Topre board i sampled for a second..

So your attention to detail speaks to the quality of the product, my compliments to you sir.
And i believe MD should also be complimented for seeing this for wat it is..And letting the project go where it needed to go.
9 out of 10 times you see companies making bad compromises, price vs quality vs profit margins..
And by bad i mean in the sense of wanting to create a uniek product vs a mass production one and settling somewhere in the middel, kind of a grey area.. hope i'm making sense as a non native eng speaker, excuse my eng i'm just dutch

I really hope the next project (K-Type) will turn out as good as this one..
Perhaps i'l just bite the bullet and cough up the extra 31% + shipping i have to pay on MassDrop to get my 4 dream keyboards.

- Topre RealForce 87U
- Leopold FC660C
- whiteFox Vanilla
- K-Type

Wow saying it all out loud makes it seem so far away Almost like never knowing how it would feel being a miljonair.

Well i'm going to sell my unused KUL ES-78 with mx-clears..
And my unused DK9008 pro with mx-gray's
Perhaps even my Leopold FC660C with Mx-clears perhaps that will help me to get closer to my goal of owning this list of awesome keyboards..
But seeing how hard it is to sell even my pristine looking KUL on Reddit for $70 less than i payed for it..
I fear it just means my dream collection will have to wait for a bit longer..

Again my compliments to you sir and MassDrop
May you both Live Long And Prosper

ps. excuse my eng, i'm dutch so not native eng but i'm trying my best..

[shreebles]

But seeing how hard it is to sell even my pristine looking KUL on Reddit for $70 less than i payed for it..

Perhaps the problem with the KUL is that few people spend so much on a Tenkeyless Cherry keyboard that isn't a Filco.
I'm sure the KUL is a nice keyboard but not very competitively priced, hence why you have trouble selling it.
In my experience, people on Reddit seem to have looser wallets then elsewhere, and items sell quicker and for higher prices there than on DT. That might have to do with DT's disposition towards vintage IBM and modern Topre, as well as Alps keyboards over MX.

[matt3o]

Again my compliments to you sir and MassDrop
May you both Live Long And Prosper

thanks! I really appreciate your message.

Input Club and MassDrop really went the extra mile this time. Yanbo (MD) is an incredibly nice and energetic guy, he was always super supportive and I'm an extremely difficult human being to deal with.

[TuxKey]

I'm an extremely difficult human being to deal with.

[/quote]

hahaha well i guess that would depend on which side of a conversation one would be with you
People with a particular passion and that aren't afraid to voice there opinion.. as a ex military guy i worked with all sorts of people and i believe we are better of with all types of people even the more difficult ones..ahahhah

Btw..i'm just looking at MassDrop and seeing they have a drop for the Topre RealForce 87U for $215 adding 31% penalty as i call it would be $282 Still $10 cheaper than "keyboardco.com" the only place that i know of we living in the EU can get it..

Seems like a great deal..People Living in the US are really lucky
have you typed on the RealForce 87U ?? is it all i believe it to be ???
I prefer the Leopold Layout..But i do want to try it out..Also it's kind of a shame that this board hasn't the mx-compatible stem. Or is programable like the awesome boards you make..

[matt3o]

you could try at http://keyboardco.com/ (they finally updated their website layout!) and I would take it from them before ordering from US.

Any Topre lover would hate me for saying this, but to me the Realforce isn't worth its premium price.

[TuxKey]

Any Topre lover would hate me for saying this, but to me the Realforce isn't worth its premium price.

Which Topre board would you say is the better choice ??

How about the Leopold FC660C. Only place that i now of to get it from ebay for $246 with free shipping ..

[TuxKey]

@matt3o i just found your post regarding PBT spaceBar..
How much did MD sell the 3color set ???
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=66623.0

[matt3o]

Any Topre lover would hate me for saying this, but to me the Realforce isn't worth its premium price.

Which Topre board would you say is the better choice ??

How about the Leopold FC660C. Only place that i now of to get it from ebay for $246 with free shipping ..

I like that. It was my daily drive since the whitefox

@matt3o i just found your post regarding PBT spaceBar..
How much did MD sell the 3color set ???
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=66623.0

I really don't remember Around $15 shipped for 3 maybe?

[TuxKey]

Thx for the nice chat by the way.. i'm supposed to do sum research on SSD and Trim on Linux hahaha..oeps..

I do not envy you! Lately I tend to put discard in fstab and forget about it except for older samsung models, in that case I use fstrim in a crontab (or actually a systemd timer)

[scottc]

I finally got my Whitefox yesterday after a long battle trying to convince customs that it wasn't a bomb or 1.5kg of cocaine.

I have to say: wow. It's even better than I expected. We all know that matt3o is a hardcore perfectionist, but the board is really fantastic. I've soldered quite a few PCBs (FaceU, HyperMicro, Phantom, qHACK, Alps64, THKB... you get the idea) and I have to say, this PCB has just been such a pleasure to work with, definitely the nicest. Not that any of the others were bad at all, but this was just .,mjso easy. The case feels so premium too, much more than anyone could expect for the really reasonable price tag. Everything fits together so snugly: no wobbly bits, off-by-one errors, not even a single second of filing needed for the Costar stabilisers (my arch nemesis). Input Club and matt3o have done nothing short of a stellar job here, and I have to give props to them both. If IC's other kits are this good, I think I'll see more of them in the future.

Just finished assembly earlier this evening. I used:
- Stock MX reds (this is very unlike me but they're about the only switch that I had 70 of to spare! I'll probably lube them and swap springs a bit later)
- SIP sockets in the LEDs
- Plain white LEDs in the switches, amber for caps lock (also quite unlike me, but why not?)
- DSA granite (of course!)

unnamed.jpg (1007.16 KiB) Viewed 8176 times

I even got the nice USB cable even though it apparently wasn't supposed to be part of the barebones set.

By the way, if anyone has a spare 1.5u tab or backspace or 1.75 icon shift key from Granite icon sets, I'd be happy to buy them...

[matt3o]

wonderful build scottc! thanks for sharing!

[caligo]

Got my board a few days back, finally had time to sit down and solder today. It all went surprisingly smooth, LEDs and all, using an el-cheapo soldering iron (albeit with a brand new tip). Really dig it so far, this thing is really impressive as far as build quality goes. Really nice keycaps as well (although they're mostly a placeholder until my Round 6 order arrives, i.e. some time next year or so – the UK layout isn't really my thing).

The configurator and I are not on friendly terms though – I guess there is a really good reason it does not play well with ISO keyboards, but it sure makes for some frustration. I suspect I'll be spending some time learning how to write json instructions for it instead, seems like less of a hustle.

[lot_lizard]

I missed out on the original GB for this because I am a schlub... but I did join the most recent round for the WhiteFox on Massdrop. It arrived today. What a wonderful little board with great attention to detail. It's the small things at this point that please me, and this certainly satisfied that craving. Matt3o's eye for aesthetics in every aspect that I have observed (this board, site management, general comments and aid to others) are incredible. You are very gifted, and I just wanted to say thank you for everything you do.

PS... my 5 year old daughter asked if it was a new iPhone as I opened it. My reply... "no, but it is packaged like one"

PS PS... I am well aware this is being necro'd. It should be

[matt3o]

thank you lot_lizard. glad you like it!

[scottc]

I might as well share my second build too.



It's a prototype I built for a friend who missed out on the WhiteFox on Massdrop. It's got 65g Zealios, white LEDs, and whatever spare caps I had lying around. I think he's going to use Tai-Hao dolch on it. Thanks again matt3o!

[matt3o]

that is a beauty!

[sems]

Do you know if there will be another Massdrop run?

[matt3o]

I'm sure there will be more

[Wodan]

I might as well share my second build too.



It's a prototype I built for a friend who missed out on the WhiteFox on Massdrop. It's got 65g Zealios, white LEDs, and whatever spare caps I had lying around. I think he's going to use Tai-Hao dolch on it. Thanks again matt3o!

Ü much, bro?

[duynguyenle]

I might as well share my second build too.



It's a prototype I built for a friend who missed out on the WhiteFox on Massdrop. It's got 65g Zealios, white LEDs, and whatever spare caps I had lying around. I think he's going to use Tai-Hao dolch on it. Thanks again matt3o!

Ü much, bro?

Those Umlauts aren't gonna type themselves!

[scottc]

It's just such a happy keycap, I couldn't turn it away

[NecromanX]

I'm sure there will be more

\o/

[KeepClackingAnd...]

Hey!

Short question to the people that already got a WhiteFox: I ordered the WhiteFox with the Vanilla layout, but my favorite layout would be the Vanilla Layout EXCEPT on the bottom row, where I'd like to have the True Fox layout. Will this be possible with the content of the package I'll get?

edit: Got the package. Answer: I can't do this, because it won't work with the plate.

[Matt_]

Let's bump this thread once more. Matt3o, are there plans to sell the full Whitefox/Arctic keyset (as shown on page 3) at some point? I'm hunting for a nice keyset and I'm leaning towards Hydro, but I'd rather pass on it and wait if there is a possibility that your keyset will be available in a few weeks/months.

[matt3o]

I don't think the arctic set will be ever sold alone

[Wodan]

Have there been any changes to the keycaps for V1.1?
Only received mine 2-3 days ago ..

[matt3o]

yeah technically v1.1 is slightly better, but only if are a reeeal dickhead like myself you can spot the difference.

[Wodan]

LOL okay then I have three sets of V1.1 keycaps for sale

Spoiler:

Not really selling any

[Matt_]

I don't think the arctic set will be ever sold alone

That's too bad, I'll have to get a whole Whitefox then