Round 5 and Round 6 kits for sale!

zslane · 14 Apr 2017, 23:17

The recent DSA Carbon knock-off set is a good example of where that technology is right now. The quality control isn't quite there yet.

It's tough because the tolerances for legend/graphic placement on any dye-sublimated keycap are such that only the most robust, fully-automated manufacturing methods will yield consistently high-quality results. But when you have people placing each keycap onto a peg on a setup board, which is then placed into the printer, you are going to get a pretty noticeable degree of variability.

Of course, the smaller the legend the less noticeable the variance is, but this community is largely composed of people with a freakish attention to detail, and they notice every little flaw. I suspect it will be a little while before reverse-dye-sub meets with the demanding standards of mech board enthusiasts.

doom2 · 15 Apr 2017, 05:40

What's up with the bot right now? I've sent at least three wassup messages with no reply. I almost have my order prefect but want to double check before paying my invoice.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

phinix · 15 Apr 2017, 15:45

zslane wrote: ↑MT3 is a beamspring clone, which is quite a bit different from SA.

The are similar in that they are both fully sculptured, high-profile spherical sets. But the row profile angles are different, the heights are different, the top surface areas are different, and the thicknesses will undoubtedly be different. Plus, we don't know if MT3 will ever have semi-gloss finish as an option. Combine that with a lack of double-shot legends for MT3 and I think the two keyset families are similar in only superficial ways.

Now, when you mentioned semi-gloss finish - does it mean that PBT always come as matt?
I actually love semi-gloss/gloss finish of SA. Especially on those Filco SA sets.

Ail · 15 Apr 2017, 16:23

doom2 wrote: ↑What's up with the bot right now? I've sent at least three wassup messages with no reply. I almost have my order prefect but want to double check before paying my invoice.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

I just sent one yesterday, and got a response this morning. It is working. It takes a day or so sometimes.

caligo · 15 Apr 2017, 16:24

phinix wrote: ↑Now, when you mentioned semi-gloss finish - does it mean that PBT always come as matt?
I actually love semi-gloss/gloss finish of SA. Especially on those Filco SA sets.

PBT keys usually come with a matte finish because that's the point of the material – it holds that finish way longer than ABS. It's quite possible to polish it up, but it would kind of defeat the purpose. If one wants shiny keys, might as well go with ABS since it's cheaper and easier to work with.

zslane · 15 Apr 2017, 18:00

phinix wrote: ↑Now, when you mentioned semi-gloss finish - does it mean that PBT always come as matt?
I actually love semi-gloss/gloss finish of SA. Especially on those Filco SA sets.

PBT keycaps from SP usually have a matte finish, while ABS keycaps from SP usually have a semi-gloss finish. But it doesn't have to be that way. The finish is actually determined by the mold used to apply the final texture. It doesn't matter what type of plastic is used, it only matters what texture the mold has. Examples of matte texture ABS would be Dolch DSA and 23Commando SA. Examples of semi-gloss PBT would be Ice Cap SA and Industrial SA.

I would argue that the "point" of semi-gloss PBT keycaps is that they convey the look of vintage spherical keycaps and also have the advantages of not yellowing and not becoming fully glossy over time.

krutmob · 16 Apr 2017, 22:33

Looks like certain sets can get in the queue pretty easily . . .

maximm · 16 Apr 2017, 23:32

Pretty sure MD gets slots with SP without payment nowdays.

zslane · 16 Apr 2017, 23:57

Pretty sure they are tentative dates, subject to pre-emption if MD doesn't pay on time. Nevertheless, I imagine that SP's policy is meant to reduce the risks involved in dealing with (frequently unpredictable) individuals rather than large, stable companies in good financial standing with them.

caligo · 17 Apr 2017, 08:00

Massdrop is treated just like any other company by SP, meaning they don't get the same treatment as an individual runnning a GB (as touched upon here, for example).

Massdrop most likely has money in the bank and enough liquidable assets to use as security, meaning SP feels comfortable agreeing to do the order before any money has changed hands. That's how it usually works with companies ordering stuff from other companies, at least where I'm from – paying in advance is quite rare.

zslane · 17 Apr 2017, 19:03

caligo wrote: ↑Massdrop is treated just like any other company by SP, meaning they don't get the same treatment as an individual runnning a GB (as touched upon here, for example).

Massdrop most likely has money in the bank and enough liquidable assets to use as security, meaning SP feels comfortable agreeing to do the order before any money has changed hands. That's how it usually works with companies ordering stuff from other companies, at least where I'm from – paying in advance is quite rare.

Exactly what I said, only way better.

I am always amazed at how often the community gets up in arms over companies doing business with other companies differently than they do business with individuals. It's as if fundamental business practices are a complete mystery.

krutmob · 18 Apr 2017, 16:11

Just got an email from SP. They have processed my wire transfer.

We are confirmed PAID UP on Round 6b.

Wodan · 18 Apr 2017, 16:13

#dicksout

phinix · 18 Apr 2017, 16:51

Wodan wrote: ↑#dicksout

..I just fell of my chair

krutmob · 18 Apr 2017, 17:09

zslane · 18 Apr 2017, 18:54

Still...

...for our production slot date.

(Yes, I am going to relentlessly harp on this until we get our assigned slot.)

gnmar2723 · 18 Apr 2017, 19:26

We are waiting to hear how long it is that we have to wait...

Mr. J · 18 Apr 2017, 20:14

krutmob · 18 Apr 2017, 22:42

Good news and bad news.

Bad news: Melissa says we are not paid up. I don't understand why. I have inquired into this.

Good news: Tentative slot is August, pending "a few more payments."

zslane · 18 Apr 2017, 22:44

krutmob wrote: ↑...Melissa says we are not paid up.

Somehow I am not surprised by this.

krutmob wrote: ↑Tentative slot is August, pending "a few more payments."

I am very surprised by this. Are you sure she didn't mean August of 2018?

chuckdee · 18 Apr 2017, 22:48

How does the accounting go that it is in question what has been paid and what hasn't? And what about the others (sl89 and mashby) now that they are back in touch?

krutmob · 18 Apr 2017, 22:54

zslane wrote: ↑ Are you sure she didn't mean August of 2018?

I am not sure.

chuckdee wrote: ↑How does the accounting go that it is in question what has been paid and what hasn't? And what about the others (sl89 and mashby) now that they are back in touch?

Mashby and I have been in weekly communication. Seems he's having trouble fitting this task into his schedule. I won't theorize any further than that. I was promised the full accounting yesterday, but did not receive it. I emailed him this morning to check in (bug him more).

I don't know anything about SL89, except that he stated the other day in this thread that he paid his invoice:

SL89 wrote: ↑No idea on that. I paid what I had collected and came out of pocket with the transfer fees.

Unfortunately this conflicts with what 7bit said weeks before:

7bit wrote: ↑It is worse, but I really hope it is only a technical reason that SL89 did not yet pay.

krutmob · 18 Apr 2017, 23:50

Apologies for double-post. Just heard back from Melissa, and I consider this to be good news.

"We are waiting for payment of $3,737.81, which was an invoice sent to [mashby]."

I have forwarded this to mashby. 7bit is in the loop as well.

zslane · 19 Apr 2017, 00:01

Um, it is only good news if Mashby is actually in a position to pay the invoice. If not, then we remain in limbo until someone coughs up $3,737.81.

krutmob · 19 Apr 2017, 00:04

We could cover that right now even if mashby doesn't.

zslane · 19 Apr 2017, 00:22

krutmob wrote: ↑We could cover that right now even if mashby doesn't.

I really think we should.

Waiting for past collectors to get their act together has not served this GB well these last six months.

krutmob · 19 Apr 2017, 00:48

I agree, but that's 7bit's call. I've probably already overstepped my responsibilities here.

saboy · 19 Apr 2017, 00:55

I think that "wave of refunds" is coming if mashby doesn't pay his invoice.

krutmob · 19 Apr 2017, 00:58

saboy wrote: ↑I think that "wave of refunds" is coming if mashby doesn't pay his invoice.

As I said above, if mashby fails to pay, we have enough on hand right now to cover it to get production started.

Update

Just heard from Melissa again. Our tentative production slot is for August of this year.

saboy · 19 Apr 2017, 01:01

krutmob wrote: ↑
saboy wrote: ↑I think that "wave of refunds" is coming if mashby doesn't pay his invoice.
As I said above, if mashby fails to pay, we have enough on hand right now to cover it to get production started.

Update

Just heard from Melissa again. Our tentative production slot is for August of this year.

Really good news! Maybe we will have our keycaps for Christmas.