M65A by RAMA WORKS. Render by Misono. (Full Size)DSS Late Harvest is a custom keycap set in the
DSS profile that combines a classic grey & white pairing with a muted, autumnal approach to vintage
RGB mods. It consists of a large base kit that provides physical compatibility for a wide range of mainstream and exotic MX-compatible boards along with three child kits for additional color & language options.
DSS Late Harvest keycaps will be made with doubleshot ABS plastic and manufactured by Signature Plastics.
This keyset will be my second custom keyset GB (Group Buy), following the success of KAT Napoleonic.
Misono (
a.k.a. misononyan), who is currently preparing for her own
SA Magica GB, created all renders for DSS Late Harvest and designed the deskmat.
MOLLY by TheKeyCompany. Render by Misono. (Full Size)The Group Buy for DSS Late Harvest is expected to run from April 12th to May 12th, 2021. Because DSS tends to have a faster manufacturing turnaround than many other popular keycap profiles, it is hoped that these keycaps will be shipped to most customers before the end of Autumn, though a more accurate estimate should be available before the Group Buy begins.
Estimated Prices & MOQThe following represents the approximate prices planned for the kits. There have been some questions about the size of the base kit and its cost, so I want to share these earlier rather than later to emphasize that the set will be affordable. While these numbers are not final, they are based on actual quotes from Signature Plastics.
KitEstimated MOQEstimated US Price (USD)Base Kit250135.00Grey Kit10034.00Spätlese Kit (NorDe)2519.00Novelties Kit1009.00
Estimated prices exclude all taxes and shipping.
Kits & ContentsDSS Late Harvest will be sold as a base kit with three optional child kits. Using a combination of both popular and agnostic modifier legends, this base kit should provide wide physical compatibility with a large array of keyboard types, including Full-size, 1800s, Tenkeyless, 60-75%, Split/Alice, Ortholinear, 40%, and Ergodoxian.
Base Kit diagram (up-to-date as of 26 Feb 2021) (Full Size).
Base kit Render by Misono (contents outdated) (Full Size).The
Grey Kit contains grey-colored versions of the accent-colored keys from base along with an additional R3 Stepped key with an agnostic legend.
The
Spätlese Kit provides “NorDe” support. It provides the additional legends used by the the German, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Estonian, & Fareoese layouts. Spätlese, which literally means “Late Harvest” in German, is a wine grown along the western rivers of Germany. Legend has it that this wine’s invention came about by accident. A courier carrying orders from the Bishop of Fulda to begin the harvest was delayed by 14 days; the grapes succumbed to “noble rot” before the late harvest and yielded an unexpectedly good wine (
Spätlese on Wikipedia).
The
Novelties Kit for Late Harvest is intentionally small and should be priced very competitively. The novelty designs are likely to be tweaked prior to production.
Obtaining Further SpacebarsThe kitting for Late Harvest does not currently offer a distinct spacebar kit for alternative spacebar sizes. Signature Plastics does not currently manufacture convex spacebars in the DSS profile that are typically used in split and nonstandard keyboards. Because of the uniform nature of DSA and its structural similarity to DSS, concave DSA blanks are provided in the base kit as a reasonable alternative for several common sizes. If you require other sizes of bars, please refer to Signature Plastics’ own Pimpmykeyboard storefront, where a wider range of DSA blanks and DSA spacebars are regularly available.
More RendersBelow is a selection of the renders created for DSS Late Harvest. All renders performed by Misono.
Further renders can be found the official home page of DSS Late Harvest on Wordpress.
Prime_E PCB by Prime Keyboards. Custom case design & render by Misono. (Full Size)Klippe S by Mekanisk with Boardwalk PCB by Shensmobile & MK Ultra. Render by Misono. (Full Size)
DSS Late Harvest on SP-111 by BlindAssassin111 and TheKeyCompany. Renders by Misono. (Full Size)DSS Late Harvest on SP-111 by BlindAssassin111 and TheKeyCompany. Renders by Misono. (Full Size)
DSS Late Harvest on Karina Rev 2 by Misono. Render by Misono. (Full Size)DSS Late Harvest on Ribbon. Keyboard design & render by Misono. (Full Size)More
DSS Late Harvest Color Standards. Grey and white will be Signature Plastics’ stock colors GSZ and WA. The red, olive, and blue colors will be matched to RAL 8015, RAL 090 30 20, and RAL 260 30 20. Colors shown in keyboard renders and diagrams should not be treated as accurate representations of final keycap colors. Manufacturer samples of the three custom colors will be checked against physical color decks of the RAL standards above. Be aware that some variation is always possible, and these colors are not guaranteed to be exact.
DSS Late Harvest has drawn some comparisons to Honeywell for the use of grey, white, and red. DSS Honeywell is an implementation of the classic Honeywell color scheme in DSS profile. It was produced by Prime Keyboards, and it consisted of a comprehensive kit for a variety of 40% keyboards. Below is a comparison of the two colorways’ specs.
More
DSS is a keycap profile created by the company that would become Signature Plastics. It was designed in the mid-80s to meet the DIN standards (Deutsches Institut für Normung). While DSS was not initially very popular, it became the basis of the successful uniform DSA profile (
Source).
DSS keycaps have spherical top surfaces nearly identical to those of DSA. However, as seen in the images above, the heights and angles of the top surfaces vary by row. The overall pattern of these heights and angles resemble Cherry profile, though in practice DSS feels quite different.
DSS Late Harvest will use an R3 bottom row, which matches the overall angle and height of the convex spacebars and is not as sharply angled as R4.
DSS keycaps are only available in ABS plastic. DSS tends to be more noticeably textured than other keycap profiles. The somewhat rougher feel of the caps may not be a common preference, but personally I find that texture quite enjoyable. The unique feel and sculpt of DSS make it one of my favorite keycap profiles, and I am excited about the possibility of more DSS group buys on the horizon.
More
One of the reasons that DSS custom sets have been so sparse is that until recently, there wasn’t a way to render them in a reasonable fashion. The original DSS moulds had been created long enough ago that Signature Plastics haven’t been able to provide digital models and geometry for the profile. However, in the past year, DSS rendering has become possible using KeyV2.
KeyV2 is an open source project that uses OpenSCAD to generate keycap STEP files parametrically. As part of a
collaboration with github user colegleason, I assisted with porting the Signature Plastics’ specifications for the DSS profile to KeyV2, and I used the tool to produce 3D models for most of the sizes of keycaps available for the profile.
Misono has been one of the first 3D artists to create renders using these often-difficult-to-work-with models. They are the best digital models of the DSS profile currently available, but it is important to note that they are still
approximations. Likewise, the legends shown in renders are based on common text mods and alphas for DSA / DSS as manufactured by Signature Plastics, but they too contain several inaccuracies. For better examples of how DSS legends and keys look in reality, please check out the product listings
DSS Dolch and
DSS Tecla (
note that Dolch uses a different bottom row than Late Harvest).
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