[IC] IBM Doubleshot Key Cap Set Group Buy?

[depletedvespene]

Indeed. And we would bloody well need plenty of them. The ideas I have for fonts!

Speaking of which: what about amateur dyesub? I’ve got some wonderful caps from DecentKeyboards but the whole sets need some community input, so to speak.

Ahem... I did get DecentKeyboards to do a full alpha set of my custom supranational layout for me and was happy with the results.

[robo]

I feel like there must be interest in doubleshot spherical buckling spring keycaps. It's a completely untapped market, even if it's niche.
I think maybe the problem here is confusion about what is being offered and questions about quality, as well as not many people seeing it. Then again, I'm not a marketing expert

It just seems logical though, that a lot of the same people buying the bajillions of custom MX sets out there also own buckling spring keyboards, and would customize them if they could.

[Muirium]

Get a couple of hundred people to sign up, and my guess is you’re talking a couple of hundred bucks per full set. Those molds are pricey. Things do get cheaper though at scale. You’d just need thousands of customers to really get going.

And I mean customers. Not just “interested” window shoppers the like of me!

Ahem... I did get DecentKeyboards to do a full alpha set of my custom supranational layout for me and was happy with the results.

No link? Pics or it never happened! (And what was the princely price?)

[depletedvespene]

Get a couple of hundred people to sign up, and my guess is you’re talking a couple of hundred bucks per full set. Those molds are pricey. Things do get cheaper though at scale. You’d just need thousands of customers to really get going.

And I mean customers. Not just “interested” window shoppers the like of me!

Ahem... I did get DecentKeyboards to do a full alpha set of my custom supranational layout for me and was happy with the results.

No link? Pics or it never happened! (And what was the princely price?)

I totally did post about it! See viewtopic.php?p=440786#p440786. The full set of alphas (no modifiers) cost me 80 USD (plus 7 USD for shipping, a rate that, AFAIU, is not available now).

[Muirium]

I don't see full sets for IBM on their Etsy storefront now. Did you place a custom order? How much flexibility do they have in cap colours and legend fonts? Did you design those sublegends yourself?

I'm the kind of simpleton who prefers a webstore with multiple choice options so I can work this stuff out by myself!

[depletedvespene]

I don't see full sets for IBM on their Etsy storefront now. Did you place a custom order? How much flexibility do they have in cap colours and legend fonts? Did you design those sublegends yourself?

I'm the kind of simpleton who prefers a webstore with multiple choice options so I can work this stuff out by myself!

Yes. A lot. Yes.

I did make a rather detailed spec of what I wanted and then we both iterated a bit until I was fully satisfied with his draft.

[Muirium]

Fancy sharing the draft? I think with a really good, community led design we could Group Buy something from him and make his life easier while he's making it.

[depletedvespene]

Fancy sharing the draft? I think with a really good, community led design we could Group Buy something from him and make his life easier while he's making it.

Sure. PMing...

[__red__]

*woken up from my slumber by the prospect of spherical buckling spring caps*

Have money, will spend,

[hellothere]

Indeed. And we would bloody well need plenty of them. The ideas I have for fonts!

Speaking of which: what about amateur dyesub? I’ve got some wonderful caps from DecentKeyboards but the whole sets need some community input, so to speak.

I might be interested in that. My only problem is that the caps look kinda washed out. I'd want to make sure that's not just bad photography.

[copper4eva]

Unfortunately there is not enough interest for any of these key sets so I'll be holding off for now on anything requiring a new mold. Less than 50 sets' worth of interest for all three options compared to the 500-1000 minimum order quantity.

I am surprised and disappointed there isn't more interest in the buckling spring set. Having a quality set with white legends on black would be awesome, given that such a thing is so rare for buckling spring caps. And double shot is also rare for buckling spring keycaps.

I put my interest down anyways. But I kind of have a hard time believing that you wouldn't meet the quota if, for example, you simply produced a black keyset with white text. A lot of people with buckling springs would jump on that kind of keyset. Since Unicomp only offers blank black keycaps.

I really like the color scheme pictured in the OP. That is what I would ideally want. I love dark gray caps with white legends. With red and black keycap accents.

[Muirium]

Ellipse cannot fail us. Only we can fail Ellipse.

[inozenz]

Only ISO DE for me

[headphone_jack]

Ellipse cannot fail us. Only we can fail Ellipse.

I mean, if you look at his repro thread, you might start to disagree

[Pete]

I am surprised and disappointed there isn't more interest in the buckling spring set. Having a quality set with white legends on black would be awesome, given that such a thing is so rare for buckling spring caps. And double shot is also rare for buckling spring keycaps.

I’m super disappointed too. I’d love to get some compatible keycaps with the same profile and color as those old ones with the spherical indents.

[Muirium]

The problem is manufacturing cost. Setting up the tooling for a run of these costs, what, tens of thousands of dollars? Many tens of thousands for comprehensive stuff.

That's why it's always the same MX stuff over and over. The initial costs are high. Volume must be guaranteed.

[Pete]

That's why it's always the same MX stuff over and over. The initial costs are high. Volume must be guaranteed.

Are buckling spring keyboards too much of a niche to generate sufficient interest? I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case.

[copper4eva]

The problem is manufacturing cost. Setting up the tooling for a run of these costs, what, tens of thousands of dollars? Many tens of thousands for comprehensive stuff.

That's why it's always the same MX stuff over and over. The initial costs are high. Volume must be guaranteed.

I'm just surprised on OP's post that states he only had 50 people sign up. I figured there would be more than 50 people interested in double shot buckling spring keycaps, but maybe I'm wrong.

I do understand that there would be a significant interest for the project to take off. Just surprised that there wasn't more interest in the buckling spring keycaps. I mean, just having black keycaps with white legends would be huge. People seek out the M13 just for the black keycaps, even though those legends wear off.

[Muirium]

I’m interested, and I’m not among those lonesome, 50. Well, unless I’ve just forgotten. That also happens.

What we really need is 5000, who are willing to spend a painful premium. Or much better yet 50,000 who are willing to pay a sensible amount.

That’s a drop in the bucket. I’m sure even the Model M and F niche who would love some white on black caps is bigger than that, globally. But the trick is actually reaching them and getting enough of them to sign up.

[cods]

That’s a drop in the bucket. I’m sure even the Model M and F niche who would love some white on black caps is bigger than that, globally. But the trick is actually reaching them and getting enough of them to sign up.

...I claim no particular knowledge of how best to do this, but perhaps reaching masses of people by boosting off existing success? Like the new Model F success? From the page: "$1,779,000+ so far in orders (11/1/21)! 3,000+ people supporting the project"

[Muirium]

Ellipse was OP. This was his idea, and he says it failed. So that route is closed.

[SK-8K]

I would definitely be interested in this idea.

As for dyesub, why can't we print WOB? You can get white toner. There's got to be a way to formulate a compatible white dye.

[cods]

Ellipse was OP. This was his idea, and he says it failed. So that route is closed.

Yeah, I knew he was the OP - I hadn't seen the death notice you linked to, appreciated.