Our Aluminum Keycaps
In early January 2020 we started developed the first revision of what we hope we hope will be the start of a cap profile family.
Over the past 6 months we've refined our cap design, and developed the manufacturing processes that enables a dramatically lower price point than current offerings in the market.
We've done this through advanced work-holding, custom developed tooling and machinery, robotics, programming and a bit of chemistry research.
Looking at the beefy keyboard cases being used these days, we felt these beefy cases calls for a tad bit bolder cap profile than the average keyboard case.
In early January 2020 we started developed the first revision of what we hope we hope will be the start of a cap profile family.
Over the past 6 months we've refined our cap design, and developed the manufacturing processes that enables a dramatically lower price point than current offerings in the market.
We've done this through advanced work-holding, custom developed tooling and machinery, robotics, programming and a bit of chemistry research.
Looking at the beefy keyboard cases being used these days, we felt these beefy cases calls for a tad bit bolder cap profile than the average keyboard case.
The Shape
Our profile is somewhat OEM like but with a slightly bolder top.
The top surface of the caps differs slightly between rows and have been optimized for typing speed, taking into account the subtle differences in dexterity and accuracy of motion depending whether you are reaching up or down.
This unique shape makes the keys easier to hit, and and ease the transition between them. It might take you a few minutes to get used to, but we hope you'll love it as much as we do.
Our profile is somewhat OEM like but with a slightly bolder top.
The top surface of the caps differs slightly between rows and have been optimized for typing speed, taking into account the subtle differences in dexterity and accuracy of motion depending whether you are reaching up or down.
This unique shape makes the keys easier to hit, and and ease the transition between them. It might take you a few minutes to get used to, but we hope you'll love it as much as we do.
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The Weight
Typically metal keycaps have been seen as somewhat heavy and in some cases even impractical.
We've engineered our caps to give you the much desired look and feel of a metal cap but without the
drawbacks of an overly heavy cap.
Our aluminum caps are certainly heavier than your average plastic cap, but light enough that only the most sensitive enthusiast would even notice.
Our random sample pool of plastic caps weigh in between < 1gram up to 1.9grams per cap.
Our 1u caps clocks in at about 3grams, so the difference in weight is far below allowable actuation force variation on most switch batches. So if you indeed are one of those that actually notice the difference in weight, you're also one of those who would appreciate our attention to weight balancing of all 1u caps. In other words, 3 grams per 1u cap regardless of row .
This is controlled by material removal on the inside of the individual caps. In subtractive manufacturing like CNC milling, more material removal is more work, but we feel that this approach is certainly worth it.
A heavier cap could actuate the switch marginally faster but it's greater inertia would affect the rebound speed - unless you start fiddling with the springs.
Typically metal keycaps have been seen as somewhat heavy and in some cases even impractical.
We've engineered our caps to give you the much desired look and feel of a metal cap but without the
drawbacks of an overly heavy cap.
Our aluminum caps are certainly heavier than your average plastic cap, but light enough that only the most sensitive enthusiast would even notice.
Our random sample pool of plastic caps weigh in between < 1gram up to 1.9grams per cap.
Our 1u caps clocks in at about 3grams, so the difference in weight is far below allowable actuation force variation on most switch batches. So if you indeed are one of those that actually notice the difference in weight, you're also one of those who would appreciate our attention to weight balancing of all 1u caps. In other words, 3 grams per 1u cap regardless of row .
This is controlled by material removal on the inside of the individual caps. In subtractive manufacturing like CNC milling, more material removal is more work, but we feel that this approach is certainly worth it.
A heavier cap could actuate the switch marginally faster but it's greater inertia would affect the rebound speed - unless you start fiddling with the springs.
The Sound
Any change you make to your keyboard have the potential to impact its sonic signature.
The largest contributor to the sonic signature of a keyboard are usually the top plate, switches and stabilizers,
often amplified by case resonance. A cap with the appropriate clearances within the internal void should not under any circumstance impact the switch body nor the top plate.
Examining cap related sounds in both our aluminum caps and various types of plastic caps, we've found that most pronounced sounds are the ones carried up the stem from a clicky switch. A close second is the rattle of stabilizers on store bought keyboard assemblies.
Given the broad range of factors that can impact the perceived sound from a keyboard, the simplest solution would have been to just made the caps real heavy, blame the switches and leave the customer to deal with issues of premature actuation, rebound inertia and a lively spacebar that injects random spaces whenever it sees fit.
Never mind the fact that people that choose a clicky switch, may actually want to hear the click.
So we put the sledge hammer approach back into the very back of the shed, where it belong and give you a cap set that is not only light enough to work on just about any switch, but also gives you the freedom to dial in the specific sound characteristic you'd want from your particular keyboard, giving you full control over both the actuation feel and sound of your custom creation.
Any change you make to your keyboard have the potential to impact its sonic signature.
The largest contributor to the sonic signature of a keyboard are usually the top plate, switches and stabilizers,
often amplified by case resonance. A cap with the appropriate clearances within the internal void should not under any circumstance impact the switch body nor the top plate.
Examining cap related sounds in both our aluminum caps and various types of plastic caps, we've found that most pronounced sounds are the ones carried up the stem from a clicky switch. A close second is the rattle of stabilizers on store bought keyboard assemblies.
Given the broad range of factors that can impact the perceived sound from a keyboard, the simplest solution would have been to just made the caps real heavy, blame the switches and leave the customer to deal with issues of premature actuation, rebound inertia and a lively spacebar that injects random spaces whenever it sees fit.
Never mind the fact that people that choose a clicky switch, may actually want to hear the click.
So we put the sledge hammer approach back into the very back of the shed, where it belong and give you a cap set that is not only light enough to work on just about any switch, but also gives you the freedom to dial in the specific sound characteristic you'd want from your particular keyboard, giving you full control over both the actuation feel and sound of your custom creation.
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The spacebar riding on Blue Switch and stock Pok3r stabilizers
has been slightly tuned with a thin rubber pad. |
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The Look and Feel
All caps in a set are anodized together on the same fixture to ensure perfect color match between all caps in the set.
The bright white markings are laser frosted into the anodized layer, for a long lasting permanent mark.
We believe we've found the ideal sweet spot between gloss and matte for a beautiful smooth surface finish.
All caps in a set are anodized together on the same fixture to ensure perfect color match between all caps in the set.
The bright white markings are laser frosted into the anodized layer, for a long lasting permanent mark.
We believe we've found the ideal sweet spot between gloss and matte for a beautiful smooth surface finish.
The Precision
CNC Milled to perfection with tight tolerances and excellent surface finish.
Rigid work holding in massive cast iron blocks ensure stable and precise milling, even at speeds that would scare the endmill out of most machining shops.
We put a lot of thought and consideration into the design of this cap profile.
Designing the caps was fairly easy - developing the the manufacturing process needed to reach our price target was insanely hard.
CNC Milled to perfection with tight tolerances and excellent surface finish.
Rigid work holding in massive cast iron blocks ensure stable and precise milling, even at speeds that would scare the endmill out of most machining shops.
We put a lot of thought and consideration into the design of this cap profile.
Designing the caps was fairly easy - developing the the manufacturing process needed to reach our price target was insanely hard.