Interest CheckKeyboards

Whimsy - 40% Keyboard | UPDATED DESIGN AND GB INCOMING!

by prkns

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byprkns

Description

WELCOME BACK!

Apologies that things went a little quiet... that's on me. However, that aside, Whimsy is back with a full overhaul and update!

I needed to take some time to get things tidied up before this was promoted any further so thank you to everyone for the awesome feedback (and patience)... it has been incredibly useful and genuinely helpful in getting Whimsy to this point and the kind responses have been collated into what you see here.

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::: UPDATED RENDERS :::

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::: CASE COLOURS :::
The overwhelming majority of feedback voted in favour of a machined aluminium case with the final colours being:

- White -
- Pink -
- Anodized Aluminium -

(Case choice will be coupled with a brass plate)

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::: KEY LAYOUTS :::
There was a lot of interest in having an alternate bottom row to include a split spacebar, so this has been added to the PCB and plate.

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::: OLED OPTIONS :::
Since the original IC and the change in the case design, the option of either 128x32 or 128x64 OLED screens is now available

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::: KIT CONTENTS :::
PCB
Case
Brass plate
Acrylic Cover
EC11 Encoder
Diodes
Hardware
OLED Choice (128x32/64)
Elite-C (Hopefully)
Header Sockets

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Price: TBD

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::: ALTERNATE RENDERS :::

KAM_Superuser by FreshFromTheGrave

KAT Cyberspace by Ulliam

KAM Lil Dragon by InverseDC

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::: FAQ :::

Q. Where are the other case options you offered?
A. As I said, there was an absolutely overwhelming sway towards a machined case and that was the option I personally preferred as well. I'm currently in conversations with a couple of providers to be able to offer the 3D printed option.

Q. How much and how many?
A. I'm aiming to keep the price of Whimsy down, this would mean that there will most likely be a low MOQ ensure costs stay down. There won't be a maximum number. No raffling, no auctions... just a straight-up buy.

Q. Any other controller boards?
A. Whimsy was designed around the use of an Elite-C. Ideally, the v4 version to give more space for the OLED but earlier versions will also work

Q. I wanted Ortho!? You said there would be ortho!!
A. Apologies for this, despite trying a few different ideas for this, there wasn't an option that I found that would work but also look good too... Sorry

Q. Why is the projected GB date so far away?
A. The long and short answer is that this is my first board and I'm being very cautious to ensure that everything is as close to perfect as possible. I also need to understand the best option to get these shipped out to everyone.

Q. Hotswap or nah?
A. Unfortunately not... based on the initial interest check, hot-swap was not favoured. My personal choice wouldn't have been hot-swap either but I wanted to see what you lovely people wanted before I wrote it off entirely.

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(Provisional Dates)
Group Buy: Feb 2021
(Depending on final prototypes)

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FOR UPDATES

DISCORD
THIS IS FOURTEEN
MAILING LIST

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DON'T TAKE THINGS TOO SERIOUSLY!

Massive thanks to Jasper, Nayf, Ulliam and Dave/Ben from Mechboards UK for all the help and support in getting Whimsy to where it's at right now

If you want to see the original IC click "More"

Hi! I'm Dave and this is my first keyboard design/production project. What started as something to prove to myself that I could design and produce a keyboard PCB, quickly escalated into something a little bigger. I'm properly excited about this as it's a lot of firsts for me and I'd love to hear what you think about whether it's viable for GB. It's currently in testing and design phases and so it only seemed right to ask for some feedback and hopefully open it up to GB as and when it's reached it's "final form".

So without further ado, here I present...
Whimsy!

Inspired by the damn perfect UT47.2, Whimsy is aiming to be the most "extra" 40(ish)% profile keyboard. OLEDs and Rotary Encoders are the perfect addition to any board in my mind, so the idea of having them within the tiny form factor of a 40% just makes sense.

Current Specifications:

40/45% Form Factor/Layout
Elite-C
OLED (128x32)
Rotary Encoder

Planned Updates/Features:

Plate
Brass bottom weight (case and interest depending)
Integrated USB and controller rather than using an Elite-C
Hotswap (interest depending)

Layouts:
This is pretty much it... if there's interest in multiple layout support then I will, of course, get this added to the roadmap. The PCB is completely designed by myself so it'd be fun to see how far I could push it.

The PCB will be open-sourced after the initial GB (if we get there), so there will always be a way of producing replacements if required.

Case Colors/Styles:
I was hoping to release this as a fully aluminium cased keyboard (hence the renders), but if there's interest in just the PCB + Plate bottom, then I'll release that too. However, the potential case variants are as follows:

Aluminium Case: Blasted, then anodized in a select colour range. Ideally, I'd like to keep the variations low in the interest of fulfilment. Fill out the IC form, please!
Acrylic Layer Case: This is another potential option to keep the board feeling a little more "premium" but this option will only be properly explored if there is enough interest.
3D Printed: The case design already exists and is currently in the phase of test prints to check for alignment issues and other potential problems. Like the PCB, the case will also be available to download and print once the initial GB has run.
PCB/FR4 Plate: The easiest, cheapest and really the only other option we have is a PCB/FR4 plate in the same colour as the chosen PCB colour. Just make sure interest is specified in the form.

INTEREST CHECK LINK: https://forms.gle/hQ3SqLB3EJPA5gsM9
WHIMSY UPDATES PAGE: https://prkns.me/whimsy
INSTAGRAM: https://instagram.com/whimsykbd

Renders: Renders were done by myself... another first for me as I've never used 3D tools before but I thought I'd give it a go. Turns out it's very hard and took me far longer than I first anticipated that they would. Should there be some genuine interest, I will invest in some better renders. Even if you're not interested in Whimsy, I would love to hear feedback on these as I had a load of fun doing them and would love to try and get them looking better. I've attempted to get as close to Nautilus and Taro but don't claim these to be anything other than "inspired by".

Thanks in advance to everyone who comments/fills in the form... it genuinely would mean a lot! If you have any questions, suggestions, or advice for me, please don't hesitate to send them over. I've loved every second of this project's journey so far, and I'd love for it to continue.

Cheers,
Dave