Therian40 | Update 1 - 22/2/21

Therian40
If you're at a loss when it comes to finding a functional, available and great looking 40%, then you're in the right place.
The therian 40 is arguably the most versatile case in the 40's market with the ability to use both Staggered PCBs AND Orhtolinear by simply swapping the plate.
This feature on its own would be pretty cool, however, who wants to unscrew their case to swap the PCB?!
Our solution to that problem? Magnets.
By making use of magnets, we are able to have the top and bottom case securely fastened while also allowing the user to easily and quickly swap out their PCBs to fit their needs.
Our design essentially takes 'hot-swap' to the next level...
As well as using magnets in order to hold the case together, we have also decided on Sorbothane as the gasket material for its incredible sound and vibration dampening properties to hopefully give a great sounding 'Clack' profile.

Renders

*Unfortunately I can't get any images to load directly into GH so you'll have to use the Imgur gallery linked below, sorry for the inconvenience. *
Imgur Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/IHJjxDx

IC Form

The following link will lead you to a Google Form with a variety of questions that will allow us to ensure that the keyboard is best tailored to you, the end-user.
It shouldn't take longer than 10 minutes to complete and it would be greatly appreciated if you provided as much detail as possible so that we have more to work off of.
Link: https://forms.gle/7g5f98LaGotiEbmY8

Features

- Magnet mount connection [MMC]
- Sorbothane gaskets [SG]
- 5° typing angle
- Multiple layout support
- Universal USB port access
- 100% screwless assembly
- Quick-switch PCB swapping

Supported PCBs

This list is not comprehensive as any 12u x 4u PCB should work so long as they don't have weird spacing. The PCBs listed below are just those that have been physically tested.
We are still exploring the Ortholinear PCB options as we may need a 3rd plate in order to support the spacing for the Planck PCB.

- JD40
- BM40
- Daisy

PCBs on order(To be tested)

- Niu Mini
- AMJ40
- Anything else that you suggest.

Planck Spacing
After some deeper thought we have decided that the case itself won't be offered with a Planck PCB, there are many reasons for this with the primary being:
- an additional 6mm of space on the sides of the keycaps due to the reduced spacing
- the need for a third plate adding alot of work to the production process

Don't panic though, there are already plate files for the Planck that will work with the case.
These files will be made available after the GB so you can get your own plates cut, the case will still be compatible with Planck just not directly through us.


Behind the name

The name is the first thing you see when having new designs marketed towards you so it's vital that we pull you in off the bat.
"Therion" in Greek translates to "wild animal or beast," however when combined with the word "Anthropos" which means "human", you get "Theriantropy".
In essence, Theriantropy is the Ancient Greeks shapeshifting mythology.
Shortening that, we get "Therian" which doesn't technically mean anything but with some appreciation of greek mythology and an understanding of the design, you should be able to see the connection.
I also felt that 'Therian' sounded as though it could be used as a name for a spaceship which funnily enough, fit very nicely as we had considered space-age design elements when exploring this design.

Materials

The final materials are still to be decided and will take cost as well as demand/interest into consideration.
For the renders the top is Aluminium and the base is frosted Polycarbonate.
These 2 materials are the current working materials for quotes etc but dependant on demand these can be altered to get more accurate quotes and end prices for you.
No matter what the case materials, there will also be an engraved Brass or Steel weight in the base.
The design for this engraving is still in the works but it will be posted here as well as on all other IC posts to get your opinion before the "Ok".

From the healthy amount of form responses we have now narrowed down the final case materials to an aluminium top and either an aluminium or Polycarbonate base.
PC for the base may be swapped for acrylic if we aim to go for a lower price point though to reduce material and machining costs.
Don't worry though, this will be polled on in time.

As for the finish on these materials, coloured anodised was obviously a strong contender with Cerakote following closely behind.
Again, dependant on the price point we aim for, the finish may be subject to change.

For the weight, we are exploring either an engraving or an interesting finish to create a Damascus-esque design or something along those lines.
The more we talk to factories the more info I can offer on each of these possibilities but for now, I'll leave it at that.

Prototypes
After some tweaking, we now have a functional prototype of the board to test fit sizes and test the typing feel.
As of yet, I haven't gotten my hands on Sorbothane or the final magnets but once I've removed as much of the friction between the case parts i will purchase some to allow for the most accurate testing results of the magnets pull forces.
from the prototype, we also discovered that the spacing between the case and the top and the bottom rows of the keycaps was a little big so this has been reduced to be closer to the distance of the sides.
On top of this, we also increased the sizes of the portals to allow for bigger cables to be used.
In this prototype, we were also able to test fit both a daisy and a bm40 PCB with no issues. It has also been decided that 2 bespoke PCBs will be offered, one staggered and one ortho.

As for the plate materials, these will come from the results of the IC form and will then be taken forward to manufacturers for quotes.

Prototype Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/kB97U2u

Updates
- Material choices
- Finishing choices
- Top case keycap spacing
- Overall case tolerances
- Bespoke PCBs
- Proto Gallery
- Planck Spacing comment

Contact

If you have any further questions, please don't be afraid to ask, you're critique will make this board. You can reach me at any or all of the following outlets:

- Twitter: TouchTypes
- Instagram: touch.types
- Email: [email protected]
- Discord: Touch Types#5593

If you would like a more organised display of the progress you can also check out my website which will be updated as the process goes on.

Website: https://touchtype.online/

Finally, for the most active source of information please our Discord server.

Discord: https://discord.gg/PdHMEHCb6f