NEO Element G67 - GB Ended

Ladies and gentlemen, this is Patrick, owner and designer of NEO Keys (NEO Keys Discord, NEO Keys Instagram). I am honored to present you NEO Key’s third project, Element G67.

NEO Element G67 groupbuy is unlimited and starting the next Friday June 4th and ending on July 4th, expected lead time 90 days in early Oct, depending on actual order qty.

Original IC post link here

Place your orders here:
Element G67
Element Plus G67
Element Ultimate G67
Element Alu/Carbon Wrist Rest
Extra Plate and PCB

Build streams and reviews:
Andy V Nguyen's Element G67 Build Stream
Andy V Nguyen's Element G67 Type Test
Andy V Nguyen's Element G67 Type Test with PCB foam
Andy V Nguyen's Element G67 Full Length Review
MechMerlin's Element Plus G67 Build Stream
MechMerlin's Element G67 production version unboxing
MechMerlin's Element G67 production version build stream
Alexoto's Element G67 Build Stream
Taeha's Element Ultimate G67 Build Stream


It is a machined alloy, gasket mounted, seamless, minimalist design, compact size, slim bezel, low stack height and budget friendly custom mechanical keyboard kit.
NEO Element started from the idea of designing a board that expresses nothing but its true form, bears no identity but the geometry and texture of material, without the burden of symbolism of concept or representation of individual. It is elegant, easy to build, amazing to type on, and most important affordable.

Featuring:
Precisely calibrated gasket hardness and compression rate for optimal typing sound and feel
Completely seamless case design for visual integrity
Light chamfer and round corners on top and bottom case for a little bit of warmth
Straight lines, slim bezels (8.1mm front and rear, 3.6mm sides), low front height (17mm), clean, simple, compact and comfy wrist angle
Case exterior has no logo, no engraving, no laser etching, no badge
Interior tool path is designed to be as simple as possible to shave off manufacturing time and cost
Case material available in aluminum, brass and stainless steel; switch plate material available in carbon fiber and brass
Custom Cerakote ceramic coating finish option available for ultimate durability

Case specs:
Element G67 – Aluminum top and bottom case, sandblasted and anodized. $265
Element Plus G67 – Aluminum top, sandblasted and Cerakoted; full brass bottom, zircon-blasted* and nano-coated**. $440
Element Ultimate G67 – Stainless steel top and bottom case, brushed exterior, zircon-blasted interior, nano-coated. $680
*If you're not familiar with zircon-blasting, it's a type of sandblasting. Instead of sand or glass bead, zircon is used. It provides ultra fine fininsh and smooth touch. It's the same type of finish as Iphone6 back plate and some Macbook Pro cases.
**Nano coating is a few nm thick and practically invisible. It retains the raw texture and color of treated metal surface and protects it from oxidation and grease. It's awesome.

Case dimensions:
Element has one of the lowest stack height and smallest bezels, providing relaxed and comfortable typing angle. Here are the external dimensions.


Plate specs:
4 types of materials: Carbon fiber, brass(+$10), FR4, PC.
3 layout versions:
Fixed ANSI

Variable ANSI, supports stepped capslock, 7u space bar, split backspace.

Variable ISO, supports stepped capslock, 7u space bar, split backspace.


Half plate will not be offered for the GB but drawings will be open sourced.

PCB Specs:
NEO67 Hotswap PCB (+$10)
-QMK and VIA programmable
-South facing switch mount
-Per-switch SMD RGB light
-RGB blacklight
-JST connector

NEO67 Soldered PCB
-QMK and VIAprogrammable
-South facing switch mount
-ISO, Split Backspace, 7U spacebar compatible
-RGB blacklight LED x18
-JST connector
*For those who wonder, yes these PCBs are compatible with Keycults, and no they're not compatible with Iron's

Unified C3 daughter board with ESD protection and JST cable with pre-installed heat shrink wrap included.

Element Wrist Rest
IC result says yes to it, so I'm going to make it happen.
It's a machined alloy base + carbon fiber top wrist rest, with matching side profile with Element G67 case, identical angle, height and even bezel size. They will be avilable in the same colors as case kit as well (anodized silver for Element Ultimate).



About the gasket design:
If you are in my discord serveral or following my Instagram, you probably already know this. But anyway, here is some background story of how the board was developed. To find out what's the best gasket material, thickness, compression ratio to use, I designed and built a test bench, which is basically an open frame gasket keyboard with adjustable compression ratio. Open frame design and thumb screws allow me to micro adjust compression distance by increments of 0.2mm. I was able to use different gasket material in different hardness and thickness, compressed by different amount of distance. After several weeks of fine tuning and testing I found my favorite combination and used it in final design.


Some renders







For custom render requests, please join NEO Keys Discord

Change log (Production version vs streamers' review samples)
1. PCB dimension reduced by 1mm on width and depth.
2. Increased top and bottom bezel size by 0.5mm, from 7.6mm to 8.1mm
3. Increased plate/gasket strip contact width by 1mm, from 3mm to 4mm.
4. Revised gasket strip pockets, from one side open to fully closed wall.
5. Added plate relief cut near spacebar
6. Elevated case top by 0.2mm; reduced bottom by 0.2mm while maintaining the thinnest part above 2mm.
7. Lowered daughter board mount by 0.81mm.
8. Added case foam to kit.
9. Added silicone dampener design to wrist rest.
10. Added FR4 and PC options to plate material.
11. Added Light Sand, Crushed Orchid, DeWalt Yellow Custom, Zombie Green and Robin's Egg Blue to Element Plus color options.
12. Revised USB port cut out design. From through hole to closer fitted and stepped hole and chamfered edges.
13. Revised ELEMENT logo font and size. Narrowed T a bit to make it symmetrical; resized in proportion to case dimension.