IRON165 by Smith + Rune, Round 2 
New year, new Iron165! Prototypes are done, group buy date is set! We’ve come prepared.
Group Buy ThreadSmith + Rune WebsiteJoin Smith + Rune DiscordFollow us on InstagramAfter the success of the Iron180 group buy we were left with some big questions. What do we roll out at the beginning of the year? A new Iron in a different layout, or perhaps another new series of boards entirely, but we decided a revisit to our debut board made the most sense.
The Iron180 saw many little tweaks and improvements over the original Iron165, and we’re continuing that trend of optimization again for round 2.
Timeline, Vendors, and QuantitiesGroup Buy Start TimeThe group buy will go live on
February 27th, 2021 at 10 AM EST worldwide!
Countdown Timer Vendors, Pricing, and QuantitiesWe're very proud to announce we've partnered up with
CannonKeys in the US,
DeskHero in Canada,
MyKeyboard in the EU, and
ILUMKB in the AP/China market to handle sales once again.
If you are unsure which vendor covers the country you live in, please reach out to the vendors directly to confirm.
Vendor LinksCannonKeys - North/Central/South America Vendor (excluding Canada) -
About CannonKeys Raffle Queue500 boards, region locked, CannonKeys hybrid FCFS/raffle checkout. Limit 1 per household.
$424 USDDeskHero - Canadian Vendor
150 boards, region locked for first ten minutes.
$566 CADMyKeyboard EU - European Vendor
300 boards, region locked, Koi raffle systemClick here for Koi Raffle System info
More
The raffle will take place here:
https://www.koi-raffle.com/To join the raffle you need to join the Koi Raffle System Discord. The following link should be the invite, otherwise google for it:
https://discord.gg/yxqVMrwAfter joining the discord you need to verify yourself in the registration channel (should be the only channel you can see) to verify just press the thumbs up reaction on the bot-post in that channel like over 9k others have. After doing so you will get the verified role (your name is blue and you can access the verified channel).
Next you head to the website (koi-raffle.com) and log in with your discord account.
If you followed the steps above and are verified on the server it should work and your discord username, hash and email will be displayed at the top of the website.
To change the email you will have to change your discord email and re-log into the website.
Once the raffle starts it will be displayed on the koi-raffle website and allow you to join. The raffle will not be visible to you if you are not verified on the server!
If you win an invoice will be sent to the displayed email.
The raffle will remain open for 12 hours.
- AP Vendor
500 boards, region locked, FCFS
$566 SGDIron165 Changes for Round 2- Deeper gasket pockets, allowing the same poron gaskets, but with less overall compression, making the case easier to assemble
- 0.25mm top case height increase, to better hide keycaps that aren’t as deep as GMK, while still maintaining the same overall switch height
- Better, beefier, longer screws
- Removal of cable channel
- Revised PCB with VIA compatibility **NOT HOTSWAP**
- Further optimized consistency aluminum plate
- All aluminum construction
- Many other minor tweaks to optimize machining
Iron165 Features- 7 Degree Typing Angle
- Full Gasket Isolation Mount
- Bottom Accent Plate w/exposed rune logo
- Low-Profile Front Height (less than 17.25mm)
- Seamless Case Design
- QMK/VIA compatible PCB, designed in collaboration with Gondolindrim
- Unified C3 USB-C daughterboard (centered on case)
- Optimized plate for consistency on every key press (see analysis below)
Iron165 ColorsEach board comes with a black anodized aluminum base and contrasting aluminum accent plate and aluminum badge. Please refer to the renders for a visual depiction.Addons and Extras (All prices in EUR include VAT)- Extra PCB w/daughterboard and JST cable - $60 USD / €60 EUR / $80 CAD / $79 SGD
- Extra Aluminum Plate - $40 USD / €40 EUR / $53 CAD / $53 SGD
- Forged Carbon Plate - $50 USD / €50 EUR / $67 CAD / $66 SGD
- Stainless Steel (mirror polished) Weight and Badge Set - $175 USD / €175 EUR / $232 CAD / $235 SGD
- Copper Weight and Badge Set - $100 USD / €100 EUR / $133 CAD / $135 SGD
- Brass Weight and Badge Set - $90 USD / €90 EUR / $119 CAD / $120 SGD
Additional Information- Badges and weights will only be sold as addon sets to simply order fulfillment across all vendors due to the increased quantities offered. We're planning to order many extra badges for the online store though for those original Iron165 owners who'd like a new and different badge.
- We are adding a small pocket to make it compatible with other JST 65% PCBs on the market. This should help ensure that even if we run out of stock on PCBs that a suitable replacement can be found in a pinch.
Supported LayoutsThere will be three plate layout options, semi-fixed. All plates support split backspace and stepped caps. ISO plates may not be available from all vendors.
- Tsangan (7u bottom row)
- ANSI (6.25u bottom row)
- ISO
What's In The Box- Iron165 Keyboard
- Aluminum Plate
- PCB, USB-C Daughterboard, and JST cable
- Gaskets and all mounting hardware
- Iron165 custom carrying case
Optimized Plate, the Process, and FEA analysisMore
Keyboard plate FEA analysis was needed to measure deflection and try to achieve a uniform plate deflection distribution across the keyboard. You can read more about our process and testing methodology in the original Iron165 IC.
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=101470.0While we did make a bunch of optimizations to the Iron165, we didn’t feel it warranted a full version bump. The naming convention we follow is series name + version number + layout.
Okay, cool, it’s a 165 and not a 265, but how will be tell them apart?Visually this should be quite easy, especially because this one is not the SE (special edition) version, which means no giant through-hole weight, but an entirely differently designed bottom accent.
Gotcha, so this is just Iron165, not Iron165 SE, and kinda like the Iron180 with no designation after it?Yep, you got it
So this doesn’t have a crazy amount of brass like the SE, so will this be less expensive?That’s the hope! We don’t have any pricing info yet, so we can’t really talk about it as a new, affordable Iron, but that’s the goal.
SE, FE, no designation, I’m still a bit confused.The goal is that long-term our naming system will scale as more boards get released. Currently a board with no designation is representative of the standard version of that board. We’ve reworked this a bit since our first release where we referred to the SE as the standard edition, which in hindsight didn’t make much sense. We’ve since decided to repurpose SE to mean a special edition. In the case of the Iron165 SE, that meant a liberal use of brass throughout.
Why not just use the round number in the naming convention?At first glance, this seems like a great solution until it isn’t. What I mean by that is it might not mean much. Let’s say we run the 165 in the future but nothing changes and no improvements were made, and then a year later we run it again with some improvements. It would become very confusing to track changes across multiple runs.
Sounds good! But where is the PC!?! I’ve seen pics! I’ve seen leaks!The Iron165 PC will be released as an in-stock board later in the year and will be much more limited in number. More info on this board coming soon.
I have a question about something that isn’t covered here!Make sure to check out the original Iron165 IC here:
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=101470.0Or shoot us an email, visit our instagram, or join our Discord. Links are at the top.
Interest Check DisclaimerKeep in mind this is an interest check.
Nothing, including options, pricing, etc, is final until the GB starts. This IC represents the most correct, up-to-date information we have regarding the Iron165 at this time. Some things may change.
We will be announcing any changes, if any, here first, and on Discord as well.
Renders
PrototypesProof of concept, please refer to the renders for colors offered in this round
Addon Weight and Badge Set Prototypes
Special Thanks- LBaron, the other half of Smith + Rune!
- Mods, admins, and of course, the Inner Circle, best team ever!
- The entire Smith + Rune community, a bright light in a sometimes very dark world
- Everyone who has supported us this far. We couldn't have got to this point without you!
