Group Buy Dates - Starts Feb 10th, 2024 and will go on for 2 weeks.
When designing the Albatross, we wanted to achieve a keyboard with some character, while also keeping things simple. We knew we wanted a TKL, we wanted it to have a weight, we wanted the sides to have some personality, and most importantly sound and feel good. The reason we went with ‘Albatross’ is because of the wing like shape that we gave to the back side-profile (the USB side). The “wings” being as wide as they are, we named it after the bird with one of the largest wingspans. Our philosophy with this board is simple, to design a premium mechanical keyboard that sounds and feels good to type on while also having some personality to it.
Our goal is to offer a premium keyboard with character. We also wanted to ensure this keyboard would be launched at a fair price point. Therefore, we are pricing the Albatross at $350 for the base kit which includes – an anodized aluminum keyboard case with a stainless steel weight, solderable PCB, an aluminum plate, gaskets and the various foam options. **Options like Hotswap PCB, or different plate material can affect the final price of the build.
The Albatross will be a split-plate, gasket mounted keyboard with a sleek mirror polished stainless steel weight. The weight cuts through the bottom case and to show our logo on the inside of the bottom case. The gaskets will utilize a friction fit to stay on the plate, eliminating the need for sticky gum on your keyboard. The gaskets and the gasket tabs are also sized and positioned with intent to provide a comfortable typing experience and enhanced sound profile. The engraving above the arrow keys is 'Ikigai' in Japanese which translates to "A reason for being", in other words a purpose. It is also the inspiration for our name and brand.
Color Options
Price - USD349 Base Kit (Plate, PCB and Weight options will affect price). Base Kit includes - Top Case + Bottom Case, Stainless Steel Mirror Finish Weight, Alu Plate (ANSI), Gaskets, PCB (Solder) + Daughter Board, Rubber Feet, Foam options and all required screws.
Typing Angle - 6 degrees
Front Height - 20mm
Materials - Aluminum top and bottom frame, Mirror finish Stainless Steel weight
Colors - Red, Purple, Gunmetal Gray, Orange, Forest Green
PCB - Solder and hot-swap, designed by Gondolindrim. Please see picture below for supported layouts. The Albatross will use the UNIFIED USB-C Daughter board connector.
Top Case Options - WK w/F13, WK w/o F13, WKL w/F13 and WKL w/o F13. These are only variations in the top case and any of these variations is supported by both the solder and hot-swap PCB’s. Pictured here is the WKL w/F13.
Timeline - We will begin production as soon as the GB is complete. As with any other keyboard GB, the timeline completely depends on the number of GB orders. With that said we expect to start shipping orders 3 months after the end of the GB barring any delays to manufacturing. We will provide updates as and when we get them from the manufacturer and be completely transparent throughout the manufacturing process.
Solder Hotswap
Along with the PCB, the split-plate was also designed in collaboration with Gondolindrim . Using his years of experience in Mechanical Keyboards, we have a come up with a split-plate plate design that allows the Alphas section and the Nav section to be isolated from each other, which provides a more uniform sound profile for both of these sections. This also allows the spacebar to be isolated from the gaskets and let the natural sound of the spacebar to come through.
