First sample fresh off the assembly line

Impressions and next steps

The first sample off the assembly line is here! I actually wrote this post with it and here are some pictures I took:

I’ve used it as my only keyboard for two weeks and it’s been a huge upgrade. I have much more desk space now since it’s wireless and slimmer than my old Kinesis.

Before and after (I like to put my track pad in between)

It also feels better thanks to its low-travel scissor switches. To see the keyboard in action, check out the daily typing tests I’ve been posting.

It’s been amazing to watch something that was just an idea come to life. If you backed the Kickstarter that made this possible, thank you for your support!

Iteration and refinements

Although I’m happy using the keyboard, there are still a lot of minor improvements we’ll need to make. Here’s what will improve in the next iteration:

1. The left side legends are off center by less than 1mm. You can only see it if you look hard, but we should still get this right. Our manufacturer is helping us fix it for the next version.

   

2. The LED holes in the keycaps stand out too much. We’re making them smaller next iteration so they look cleaner:

   

3. We picked a yellow-green LED (instead of green) for the light when you turn it on. We did this on purpose to test a lower-voltage circuit to extend battery life. But in testing it didn’t have much impact so we’re going to bring back the deep green LED.

4. The palm pads are a bit too stiff and should feel softer on the skin. I’ve ordered a range of sample materials so we can pick the most comfortable one that still feels supportive.

There are several other refinements that I have followed up on which will be addressed in the next iteration. I want the first unit that we ship out to be perfect.

What’s next?

We’re working on a bigger batch (~60 sets) now that we trust the tooling and assembly line more. Most of these will go to reliability and durability testing, but we may have a few left over if anyone wants to beta test (let me know).

For that batch, shipment of one of our PCBA parts (which isn’t easy to replace) has been delayed. We should still be on track for our original production timeline though because I built in buffer and it looks like we’ll need less iteration than I expected.

Email from the component supplier

That supplier also warned us to expect an 8-12 week lead time on future orders because of a parts shortage. Because of that, I already ordered the rest of the parts we’ll need for the project. That should cut down on waiting, but in the worst case it could delay the project by 4 weeks. So it comes down to whether that part arrives in 8 weeks (no delay) or 12 weeks (we’ll have to wait).

I’ll keep you updated on this since it’s on the critical path. My next post will be when I get a unit from the ~60 unit batch, which should have all the quality fixes in it. I’m looking forward to sharing the before and after pictures comparing the batches.

Can’t wait for you all to try this keyboard. It’s honestly exactly what I wanted, so I hope you enjoy it too! Also, if you’re interested in picking one up I’ve kept the Kickstarter open to collect late pledges before we put in the final order.

Thanks for reading,
Ryan Peterman