I've been in the hobby for about a year and a half now, and I've never once seen a wooden, hobby-grade board that isn't either handmade or bought from some unnamed company in Asia through AliExpress, despite wood's excellent sound characteristics being well known amongst hobby members. I sought to change that, but not just by offering people a keyboard made of wood, but by offering total sound customizability. For those unaware, different woods all have their own unique acoustic characteristic, a characteristic that is used to great effect by musical instruments. So, why stop at one sound?
When purchasing Fiodha, everyone will be given the choice of which wood they would like to be used for the top piece and the much larger bottom piece. This allows a level of sonic customizability that the hobby has never had easy access to. Each wood option will be accompanied by a brief description detailing its acoustic characteristics. Or, you could ignore that altogether and just get what you think looks prettiest!
Here are just a few of the potential wood combinations:
Top: Maple Bottom: Mahogany
Top: Walnut Bottom: Alder
Top: Richlite Bottom: Ash
Thanks to Kingk22 for all the renders!
Construction:
Mounting Method: Top Mount Plate Material: Sandblasted Brass Winkeyless Option: Of course Typing Angle: 6 Degrees Layout Compatibility: ANSI, ISO UK, Split Backspace, Split Shift, Stepped Caps-Lock, 6U Spacebar, 6.25U Spacebar, 7U Spacebar/Tsangan Firmware: QMK and VIA Compatible USB Cutout Location: Right Wood Finish: Pre-Catalyzed (Similar to Nitrocellulose) Lacquer, Matte
Vendors: - TBA
To-Do: - Prototype PCB - Prototype Case - Decide on screws manufacturer - Decide on rubber feet manufacturer - Decide on wood supplier - Decide on case manufacturer - Decide on plate manufacturer - Determine US order fulfillment process - Determine International Vendors/order fulfillment process - Gather Suggestions - Change design of plate and USB port to accommodate h87c/h88c PCB - Implement F13 compatibility - Contact Hineybush about bundling the PCB and keyboard together in the shipment - Contact Stupidfish about developing foam designs for the board - Get Final Assembly Renders - Determine Pricing - Set Group Buy Date
Changelog/Updates: - IC Launched - Suggestions gathered - After hearing from the community and asking a fellow designer, decided it would be best to use the hineybush PCB instead of selling my own, makes the end product much cheaper for everyone - Finished previous semester of college, finally have the time/energy to work on the board - Changed the design of the bottom in a way that allows me to use 3-axis CNC milling rather than 4-axis, making the board cheaper to produce as well as more visually distinct - Implemented alternate top and plate design that has F13 - Altered design to be compatible with hineybush h87c and h88c - IC launched on Reddit
