Irma (Survey Form Added)

UHMW WKL/WK TKL
(Ultra High Molecular Weight plastic Winkeyless/Winkey Tenkeyless) keyboard

Working on better renders. Some of these are really old.


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**UPDATE: Survey form added. Please fill this out https://goo.gl/forms/ayiwiBF3Ppz1Yx5g2

Expected benefits of this new material:
SOUND
Weight/heft compared to other plastic cases
Durability compared to other plastic cases
RGB diffusion

What is UHMW?
It's really dense, very abrasion-resistant plastic. It's commonly found in cutting boards and used as mouse feet (the mouse in your hand, not in the cage).
It's also used in rifle round body armor protection and strung into threads for rope climbing. The most popular textile form of UHMW is Dyneema, so google that if you'd like. It's been used to make bags that float on water but hold hundreds of pounds.

Am I using it for any of that? No. My experience with the material is this:

These are sliding pucks for longboarding (skateboarding). It's also used as pucks for knee dragging in motorcycling.
That also gives shows you the common finish put on UHMW. It can be refined much smoother or textured, though.

I also like the light diffusion characteristics of it. Here's a video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58OyYOz6rkE

Notes:
Mounting is topmount so far, but may switch to sandwich mount based on prototype.
No proprietary PCB planned. Will be based off Hineybush's A87 PCB with RGB underglow
Material is white UHMW for diffusion, black UHMW for sniper/ninja feelz
Black version will have larger base for sound & weight (white design is based more on underglow)
Black render will be done by Monday.
Plate material will be either brass or UHMW depending on sound/feel testing
Plate will be 1.5mm, either UHMW, brass, or some other plastic.
Screws will be magnetic, all same size
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Background:
I was a Korean airborne linguist for the US Air Force for about 10 years. Now I work in a hospital.
I carry my keyboard with me to and from work every day.
It gets shoved in my backpack or carried by hand from one work station to another a few times a day.
I don't have my own desk.
I want a board that feels like a Kustom,
but one that I'm not terrified of scuffing and ruining anodization,
or dropping and denting,
or scratching against a corner as I walk with it in hand.

Sometimes I want RGB.
In those cases, I want it to be diffused throughout the board itself,
not weakly reflected off the desk.

Feel and sound are very important to me. Most important, actually.
Looks are up there too, but sound and feel..oh man.
I don't want to have to add a weight or sorbothane to improve my case's sound quality.
Especially if it already costs so much.

Heft: a board should be solid and not move when typing. But it shouldn't be prohibitively heavy.
Sometimes, I like just holding my THE50 or CA66. I can't do that with my TX-CP.


This first board in UHMW is a TKL, well, because I don't have one, and I want one.
Next iteration will be based on what I want at that time.
Likely a modified Alice/EM7 board, well, because I don't have one, and I want one.

NO ISO planned right now. Interest check may change my mind.
No split backspace planned right now. Interest check may change my mind.
Google survey coming soon.
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Expected hurdles:
Reliable manufacturer.
So far, I plan to use a local (Northern California) manufacturer,
so that if there are delays or problems,
I can be on site to get details or help fix things.
Experienced manufacturer.
UHMW is not often CNC'd into anything this complicated.
Thermal expansion is a minor issue,
but feeding is the more prevalent issue so far.
UHMW doesn't turn to dust like other plastics when machined.
It turns into spaghetti. This requires more attention,
and constant resetting,
which means longer machine time. Meaning higher cost.
There are innovative ways around this, though.

Unforeseeable stuff. This is really sappy. Read at your own discretion.

Here's what won't be a problem: COMMUNICATION (Rant coming...)