HuB Custom Keycap Profile

[evangs]

Hello Deskthorians,

I am proud to announce that the Kickstarter for HuB - a custom keycap profile - is now live and off to a great start!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/th ... d-key-caps

HuB is a custom keycap profile that can most simply be described as a cross between cherry and DSA profiles. The base set includes support for many layouts including but not limited to - 104, 1800, WKL/HHKB, MiniVan, BananaSplit/DZ60, and Planck/Preonic.

The goal is high at $500,000 but the reason for that is creating molding and process that will allow us to produce very high quality keycaps for a very low cost. We are looking to bring the cost of custom keycaps down considerably as well as decrease the turnaround time so that we can get them faster.

This is a very ambitious project, but with the support of this community behind us, we know we can make something truly awesome.

Sincerely,

Evan Sailer
TheVan Keyboards

[Superdoedoe]

GLWB

[Shihatsu]

So at least you removed that "inconsistent GMK legends" babbling... Sorry dude, but you lost me with that.

[scottc]

So at least you removed that "inconsistent GMK legends" babbling... Sorry dude, but you lost me with that.

Haha yes, same here. Any hope of me backing these project died with that nonsense. Not sure what the intention was there.

Still, it's an ambitious project so I hope it goes well, even if I'm not personally interested. I also hope that you don't disappear with half a million dollars.

[Blaise170]

I said this on Geekhack and I'll say it again - I don't get it.

[evangs]

So at least you removed that "inconsistent GMK legends" babbling... Sorry dude, but you lost me with that.

Haha yes, same here. Any hope of me backing these project died with that nonsense. Not sure what the intention was there.

Still, it's an ambitious project so I hope it goes well, even if I'm not personally interested. I also hope that you don't disappear with half a million dollars.

Yes, I wasn’t talking GMK legends as a whole but rather just a couple that seem odd. The point was supposed to be that we are starting from the ground up with nothing prior which gives us some freedom other manufacturers may not feel they have (they are locked in to their molds).

I’ve been in this community a long time and delivered many successful projects. It’s a bit rude to insinuate I would run off with the money.

Anyways, even if you don’t like HuB, it getting funded is a good thing for the entire community as it puts competitive market pressure on the other guys.

Thanks for reading and I wish you both very well.

[scottc]

It was more a joke about Kickstarter and crowdfunding in general, tbh. I personally funded the Jolla tablet whose company had a bad time and I lost most of my money so I am particularly skeptical about it. They raised $2.5m and were heavily delayed even after most manufacturing was done, then the Chinese factories seem to have panicked and sold the units on Taobao. Funny story.

For what it's worth, there have also been trusted people in the community with a good track record who have gone dark and fucked people over. Not sure if you were around for the IvanIvanovich fiasco but he's the perfect example.

[Blaise170]

Don't forget about Gon.

[evangs]

It was more a joke about Kickstarter and crowdfunding in general, tbh. I personally funded the Jolla tablet whose company had a bad time and I lost most of my money so I am particularly skeptical about it. They raised $2.5m and were heavily delayed even after most manufacturing was done, then the Chinese factories seem to have panicked and sold the units on Taobao. Funny story.

For what it's worth, there have also been trusted people in the community with a good track record who have gone dark and fucked people over. Not sure if you were around for the IvanIvanovich fiasco but he's the perfect example.

Yeah I remember that one. TheVan Keyboards is more than just me. People know my name. We are working with US based manufacturers. Hopefully these points can give folks a little more confidence.

[scottc]

In any case, just to make sure that it's perfectly clear: it was an innocent joke and I'm not specifically targeting you or this Kickstarter campaign as particularly likely to run away with peoples' money. It's just a risk inherent to the platform.

By the way, what's the rationale behind the unusual modifier legends? They seem a bit sci-fi, a bit Tron-style or something. It seems a little inconsistent with the more classic and simple Cherry-style alphanumeric legends. I am generally much more interested in icon mods than text mods, but many of these icon legends are new to me (unlike eg. Cherry icon mods which I think are quite recognisable and standard, apart from the large delete-legend 1.5u key for the HHKB).

(Sorry if this was discussed on Reddit/etc during the IC, I don't use Reddit and don't think there was any IC here on DT)

[Tuntematon]

I said this on Geekhack and I'll say it again - I don't get it.

What I've gathered from reading the literature is that this was designed for the modern, contemporary, avant-garde enthusiast. Does that describe you? If so, you may want to hop on board.

[evangs]

In any case, just to make sure that it's perfectly clear: it was an innocent joke and I'm not specifically targeting you or this Kickstarter campaign as particularly likely to run away with peoples' money. It's just a risk inherent to the platform.

By the way, what's the rationale behind the unusual modifier legends? They seem a bit sci-fi, a bit Tron-style or something. It seems a little inconsistent with the more classic and simple Cherry-style alphanumeric legends. I am generally much more interested in icon mods than text mods, but many of these icon legends are new to me (unlike eg. Cherry icon mods which I think are quite recognisable and standard, apart from the large delete-legend 1.5u key for the HHKB).

(Sorry if this was discussed on Reddit/etc during the IC, I don't use Reddit and don't think there was any IC here on DT)

understood and thanks for the explanation.

when designing the set we decided to rework every aspect of keycaps. we wanted icon mods but wanted to do something a little different to give the set it's own unique style. We hand drew many different interpretations of the icons and settled on what we have now. We like that they aren't so easily tied back to the traditional icons as we feel it will give the end users more creative freedom to interpret the icons for their specific layout.

[chuckdee]

I said this on Geekhack and I'll say it again - I don't get it.

What I've gathered from reading the literature is that this was designed for the modern, contemporary, avant-garde enthusiast. Does that describe you? If so, you may want to hop on board.

Its also an alternative for low cost, doubleshot thick walled keycaps. $50 for a set is pretty good, I think.

[jihadu]

yup. I might have to get myself a set towards the end

[scottc]

when designing the set we decided to rework every aspect of keycaps. we wanted icon mods but wanted to do something a little different to give the set it's own unique style. We hand drew many different interpretations of the icons and settled on what we have now. We like that they aren't so easily tied back to the traditional icons as we feel it will give the end users more creative freedom to interpret the icons for their specific layout.

Fair enough, that makes sense for eg. 40% users who have a hard time with matching modifiers in general.

[zslane]

More profiles are a good thing, I feel. Variety being the spice of life and all that. I wish the KS campaign all the luck.

For me, though, the sculpt is too subtle and the shape not spherical enough. When it comes to low-to-med height sculptured spherical profiles, I think DSS will be more my cup of tea.

[Tuntematon]

Wait, a pre-flipped space bar? I think you lose all credibility as a designer with that bit of nonsense.

[evangs]

More profiles are a good thing, I feel. Variety being the spice of life and all that. I wish the KS campaign all the luck.

For me, though, the sculpt is too subtle and the shape not spherical enough. When it comes to low-to-med height sculptured spherical profiles, I think DSS will be more my cup of tea.

the sculpt should match pretty close to cherry. As for 'not spherical enough' are you wanting them to be deeper?

[zslane]

Not deeper necessarily, but rounder (on the tops).

[evangs]

Not deeper necessarily, but rounder (on the tops).

oh, interesting.

[livingspeedbump]

So at least you removed that "inconsistent GMK legends" babbling... Sorry dude, but you lost me with that.

Yup same with me, still can't figure how that marketing statement seemed like a good idea

[livingspeedbump]

Don't forget about Gon.

Let's not forget Beserkerfan

[mike52787]

Don't forget about Gon.

Let's not forget Beserkerfan

I've been trying to for about 2 years

[chuckdee]

Even released the HuB Set Mix and Matcher. It's a site where you can try out a variety of combos using the colors of the different sets. It's pretty cool, IMO. With the changes to the levels (i.e. the colors that are there are no longer set), I might increase my pledge to the 3 sets mark.

[AdrianMan]

Will the legends be nice&sharp&well aligned? It would be bad to go in for 3-6-9-12 sets and the legends to have inconsistencies like early JTK models....

[evangs]

Will the legends be nice&sharp&well aligned? It would be bad to go in for 3-6-9-12 sets and the legends to have inconsistencies like early JTK models....

We will not have any of those issues.i have another meeting coming up with the tooling guys to go over this aspect of the design. I should have a progress update after that meeting.

[davkol]

derp

[evangs]

Are homing keys (F&J) scooped differently? According to FAQ, there should be "Deep dish homing keys", but I don't see them in pictures…?


(Not that I'm interested, ABS is lost on me, but I think it's an important topic.)

Yes f and j are deep dish homing keys.

[pdc]

I’d love to see the making-of video of this project. Going straight for double-shots is even more crazy ambitious than MT3.

[evangs]

I’d love to see the making-of video of this project. Going straight for double-shots is even more crazy ambitious than MT3.

I'll try and get lots of video documentation during the tooling and production phase