Week in Keyboards #23

New Topre Keyset

I would say this is the most exciting news this week. The new Topre keyset up on massdrop. This is not a totally new idea as the design inspiration is Skull Squadron. Previously seen in a limited DSA set. It is a 104 full keyset with Topre’s profile. It also comes with a companion PBT spacebar to match the set.

This is exciting as we have not seen official Topre keysets produced in a while. The fact that it’s this slightly interesting colour scheme makes it all the more interesting. Although this is all exciting and good news the major hangup is the lack of HHKB and FC660C support. This might happen in the future but it will be the main thing that stops people from committing. The MOQ for this is 200 sets with the price at $139.99 changing to $99.99 once 500 orders have been placed.

New Stock at 1upkeyboards

These things are worth mentioning as 1upkeyboards is an independent store and does make some very nice sleeves.

New Sleeve Colours:

It’s worth looking at the photos for these. Click the links to see them.

New techmattr Cables

I’m quite a fan of the holly jolly here.

Find all of these at 1upkeyboards.com

A Look at the Hotswappable Chinese Keyboard

This was an interesting keyboard as it seems to have trumped the smart68 quite quickly in the ability to swap switches without soldering.

This is an imgur gallery and review from reddit user /u/redditsavedmyagain

Text seems to be cut off in embed. View on imgur for more text.

It seems interesting but I would like to have a closer look. Although it is an interesting feature I don’t see it as useful or something that I would make use of a lot.

With this news someone was quick to organise an interest check for a potential GB.

Adereth’s Talk about Keyboards

This is a very interesting talk that is a pleasure to watch if you are interested in keyboards. The speaker Adereth, is someone to follow because of their own custom keyboard the Dactyl. The Dactyl is still in development but it is very interesting. Simply put it is an improved ErgoDox with ergonomics and typing ease and comfort in mind. This comes mostly in thee form of the contoured nature of the Dactyl. He also makes his own PCB’s.

There is a nice shoutout to geekhack and Deskthority.

SSK’s Available on Amazon

Courtesy of CorusKB quite a few SSK’s have been put up for sale on amazon. At $230 it’s an OK price. But considering Cindy of elecplus generally sells these at $99 maybe not. But this is the current only source you will easily find an SSK.

Small Note about Katzenkinder

Katz is back and making caps. Possibly in the coming week so time sensitive. This upcoming sale is the RGB sale featuring as you might imagine red, green and blue as well translucent black and purple. This is a bit of a laid back approach to colour schemes more akin to Binge’s ideas on keycaps.

Katzenkinder has been on intermittent hiatus despite the Skidata companion caps. but I am glad to see them back. Katz’s axol is one of my most favourite keycaps.

From the photos of this upcoming sale there is some very clear improvement in the casting quality. There looks to be a lot less bubbles and casting marks all round.

My favicon is all over the place