Keyboard Builders' Digest / Editorial
Behind the scenes #180
Keyboard projects, MK Advent Calendar call for submissions, quick news, in the mailbox, meetups, vendors, discounts, deals stuff.
Published November 27, 2024
Hey, what's up everyone!
Welcome back for another weekly recap and behind-the-scenes write-up.
If you are new to kbd.news, you can read how this started out and what this is all about nowadays. If you like what you see, subscribe to the newsletter (free) and donate some bucks to keep this otherwise free and ad-free project alive.
Some posts worth sharing
- I reviewed the amazing Fox65 by Chosfox x Masro – a versatile keyboard packed with features like a modular slider, hidden screws, VIA, and layout options including ISO and split spacebar support for those who prefer these. E.g. me. ;)
By the way, I published the Fox65 review completely unaware that it also comes in a prebuilt version. :) I was only familiar with the barebone kit while writing the article, so I had to quickly update the post once I realized my mistake. A few dozen early bird readers might have thought I'm a complete idiot, and they'd be right. :)
MK Advent Calendar postponed?
So yeah, I started to organize this year's MK Advent Calendar way too late. I have about 5-6 contributors, so it makes no sense to launch anything starting on Dec 1.
Instead, I guess I'm going to postpone this event to mid-December, or even to January. Sure, it will be a pretty unconventional Advent Calendar, but in fact, starting in January makes a lot of sense.
That said, if you'd like to write an article, here are the guidelines for authors, along with last year's edition for reference. Feel free to contact me so I can reserve a slot for you.
"Never give your money to Loobed Switches"
- I'm so sorry for having promoted them and hope that most of you who used the coupon code have received your orders. However, Reddit is full of complains about Loobed Switches (e.g. here and here), and I had a really bad experience with them too. The guy communicates like a real con artist – if he gets back to you at all, after some days or weeks –, stalling, making excuses. And then you realize that a few months have passed without any progress. Trusting him cost me about 300 bucks, don't make the same mistake, simply avoid Loobed Switches in the future.
Giveaway
- Will of Signature Plastics announced a giveaway of the SA Blackest Black – deadline: next Monday. This mysterious product won't be sold, 10 + 10 sets given away, and the double-shot, UV-activated unobtanium is gone. When joining the giveaway, you can nominate a content creator to receive one of the sets, just sayin'. ;)
Please do note that the deadline is next Monday! Shameful self-promotion by creators is highly encouraged – Will.
In the spirit of this idea, if you can't come up with anyone better, you might as well put kbd.news and dovenyi in the input box. ;)
More projects
- A low-profile macropad by Aiden Olsen: k11e1 with Chocs and RGB.
- Adrian Lym's Sheriff is an ergo split with horizontal encoders.
- This 42-key wireless split keyboard by Chad Transtrum is called Lintilla.
- A 36-key low-profile split: ynot by Egradman with roller encoders, trackpoint, and some splay.
- Pierre Broberg's ACS71 is an asymmetric monoblock split – low profile, 71 keys.
TIPS
- In contrast to classic wire keycap pullers, the Kemove P11 is a novel way to remove caps, four at the same time. I put way too many hours of testing in a $5 item. :)
- A modern geometric keycap profile compatible with both Choc and MX switches: GammaCaps by Grigory Pavlichenko.
Closed-source, WIP, etc.
- Tackyclack Blastpad – a gamepad by Lucosis.
- A handwired ortho by SfBattleBeagle.
- Hmm. A Helvellyn build with a layer of cork.
- Minke.io? A monoblock with horizontal staggering, in a tented case.
- Another Totem derivative, this time by JoaoSilvaSenpai.
- Feker Alice60 Rosewood. A bit pricy but probably understandable.
- Zodipact by Split Logic Keyboards.
- A 3D-printed keyboard case by PigModding.
- Qazleship – an epic M122-inspired handwired 40% by Equivalent_Pipe.
Keyboard art
- A tasty Ximi V2 build. Shared by CaptLynx. case design by Chewiedies, original keyboard design by Sadek Baroudi.
- I just loved these photos of a Rouge Bauer Lite with MW Shark Tail.
- It seems mechboards picked up Gleb's Skull (source).
- Weight of the Heracles 80. Posted by phero.
Weekly Diderot effect
- Keeblade bag by Qlavier.
In the mailbox
Hey, no keyboard this week, but a cool mouse!
Dareu was kind enough to send me a white A980 Pro Max. It will replace a dirty 20 yo IBM mouse at my office. :D
Lots of discounts in Dareu's Black Friday Sales, check them out.
The first mouse review on kbd.news, anyone?
Donations
- A new donation by Asa. Thank you!
- As always, many thanks to my awesome regular supporters and everyone who helped this project thus far.
For all the donation options check out the donation page!
Meetup database
Upcoming meetups (1):
- Keyboards Hawaii - Winter 2024 Meetup, November 30, Honolulu, HI, US
Recently added (3):
- Vienna Mechanical Keyboards Meetup, November 16, Vienna, AT
- NOVA/District Keyboards Meetup, December 7, Arlington, VA, US
- 9th Swiss MK Meetup, December 8, Zürich, Switzerland
As always, this meetup database serves as both a calendar and an archive, so feel free to send me upcoming events or even ones from the recent past to make this collection as comprehensive as possible.
Vendors & Discounts
Feel free to use the KBDNEWS discount code at 164 keyboard shops! And do not hesitate to report any issues.
New shops and updates to the database of keyboard vendors this past two weeks:
- Chosfox – while checking the coupon for the Fox65 write-up, I realized that the discount is 5% and not $5 as the vendor database entry claimed. Updated.
- The Lume Keebs coupon (5% off) is temporarily: "kbdnew" (not kbdnewS). Hopefully this issue will be resolved soon.
Deals
I was asked to share some deals with you:
- Lume Keebs: "We are currently doing Black Friday sales, our biggest sale of the year" – Emily.
Developments
- Published: filter by tags, search, order by A-Z or popularity. Every filtered list has a permalink so you can link to it, e.g. if somebody asks for lubed light silent linears with light diffuser, dustproof medium tactiles or 5-pin light Choc tactiles, you can easily link to a filtered list.
Formatting of reported shops. I had to do this to make you aware of reported scammers or problematic shops.
While some shops may offer you discounts and even affiliate commissions for me, if they are unresponsive or reported by readers, I have to sanctionate them somehow. I've really no idea what's going on at Loobed Switches for example, so I marked it as "reported", and also dimmed these suspicious shops in the vendor and discount lists to indicate that's something's not right here.
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That's all for today. Thanks for checking by. As always: Keep learning and building!
Until next time,
Tamás
Published on Wed 27th Nov 2024. Featured in KBD #180.
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