The CK980C is finally ready for group buy! We’ve tested everything we needed to test, and everything looks like it’s good to go, so we’d like to announce a date, pricing, and group buy details now.
More pics here:
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TL;DR:
CK980C will run from August 29, 2025 to September 28, 2025 with a Q3 2026 estimated shipping date. Pricing starts at $360 for MX, $375 for EC (Naevy Compatible), $385 for EC (OEM compatible) with a 100 MOQ.
The Board If you’re not sure what the CK980C is, I would encourage you to check out our IC thread - we go into a lot of details there about it. But as a quick summary, the CK980C is a fully custom EC-first keyboard designed around the same layout as the Leopold FC980C, except with a fully retro-modern style aluminum case and USB 3.1 hub built in (tested to USB 3.1 speeds!)
This board is EC first, but we’re also offering an MX variant. Furthermore, with EC, there’s now a larger ecosystem available, and we want to support what we can.
So we’ll be offering 3 variants of this board during the group buy.
First, we have the OEM EC version - this will support OEM style EC parts such as parts from Dynacap, KLC, and Deskeys, as well as OEM Topre. This version will have a threaded brass 1.2mm plate (based on IC results), and an EC PCB included. You will need OEM compatible EC parts and EC stabs for this version.
Next, we have the Naevy EC version. This will support Naevy style EC parts, and feature a 1.5mm threaded aluminum plate and include an EC PCB. You will need MX stabs for this version.
Finally - there is the MX version, which will come stock with a 1.5mm alu plate and MX hotswap PCB. You will need MX stabs for this version.
All the necessary screws and/or standoffs will be included for each version.
In terms of the cost of a full build, once you buy all the parts, the MX version will be cheaper than the Naevy version, which will be cheaper than the OEM EC version. By offering all three options, we hope we can make trying out EC a little more affordable.
Layouts
Since EC requires specific fixed plates to really function well, we’re going to be offering the following plate layouts:
1.2mm Brass: FC980C layout (6U)
FC980C layout except with ISO (6U)
FC980C layout except backspace is split (6U)
7U Bottom Row, ANSI Enter, Full BS
1.5mm Aluminum: FC980C Layout (6U) Fixed
Universal
If you would like other layouts, Cipulot will have a plate maker for this board, so you can also order a custom one - but the unit you buy as part of the GB will come with one of these layouts.
Colors
Based on IC results, people seemed to really like the proposed colors, so that’s what we’re going to go with:
Black only
Silver only
E-beige only
Black w/ Red Accent
Navy w/ Silver Accent
(These images are renders)
Pricing While we didn’t get a TON of interest in the IC phase, we really hope we can hit a 100 MOQ here. As such, we priced the board at a 100 MOQ. We’ll be paddling a bit upstream, but we hope there are enough EC and 980 enjoyers out there to make this a reality.
In the IC, we quoted a $450 price target. At an MOQ of 100, we can actually achieve the following prices:
This is significantly less than what we projected, and we’re thrilled to be able to offer this pricing.
Addons
We’ll be offering all the usual addons listed below with this group buy, but we’re also going to be offering a new DynaCap kit with this keyboard as well - this should remove the hassle of having to source your own OEM EC parts.
The DynaCap kit will contain all the EC parts you need to build a CK980C and will cost $155. I’ve put the full list of what’s in the kit in the next post.
The rest of the addons are as follows: Extra PCB - MX (hotswap) - $55 Extra PCB - MX (solderable) - $55 Extra PCB - EC - $70 Extra USB 3.0 Hub + 100mm JST Cable - $55 Extra MX Plate - Threaded Aluminum - Either Fixed 980C Layout- $50 Extra MX Plate - Threaded Aluminum - Universal Layout - $50 Extra MX Plate - FR4 - Universal Layout - $28 Extra MX Plate - Polycarbonate - Universal Layout - $45
