Hi everyone,
This is the first of hopefully many positive updates :) I plan on keeping everyone on this mailing list involved in the design process, so please feel free to email me at any time with your input and feedback. I promise not to swarm you with emails though, only the major changes or milestones will be sent out to you. Once I get feedback from you, I'll post the update to the GH post or make a new Reddit IC when there's a major revision.
Current Status of Design
NB: I get rambly when I have the option to type, so I will bold the major items. You should be able to get the gist of the email just by looking at the bolded text. Read the rest to get an insight into my design process.
Manufacturing Change
OK so let's dig down into some of the changes since the posted IC. One of the biggest feedback was price. At the end of the day, the purpose of this IC/GB/Design was to make a high-end Ergodox-esque keyboard. I don't want to compromise the design of the board or cut corners to bring the cost down, I think we should take pride in designing quality hardware, but I definitely understand that $360 was a tough pill to swallow.
I have been shopping around for a new manufacturer and I think I've found a good fit. I reached out to a manufacturer suggested by another key player in this community (not sure if I'm at liberty to say who right now) who vouched for their quality. This is a smaller manufacturer that has a side factory that only makes keyboards, so their design guys know the requirements of our community. They provided a fantastic quote for manufacturing and I'm happy to bring those savings to you guys.
The new price point we are aiming for is $300 USD - AND a 5mm plate will be offered by default. I'm hoping that the lower cost + upgrade to 5mm plate (something that I personally really wanted) will be a sweet price point for everyone. The 5mm plate has the proper switch clip cutouts and stabilizer clearance. I know that some of you on this list are not interested in the CNC case and just like the layout. I'll talk about that later in the email.
Oh also I learned how to do ray-traced renders in Solidworks :D
This is the first of hopefully many positive updates :) I plan on keeping everyone on this mailing list involved in the design process, so please feel free to email me at any time with your input and feedback. I promise not to swarm you with emails though, only the major changes or milestones will be sent out to you. Once I get feedback from you, I'll post the update to the GH post or make a new Reddit IC when there's a major revision.
Current Status of Design
- PCB layout complete, just need to run traces
- Case design complete.
- Quotes received for manufacturing
- Most popular colours are: Black, Silver, Grey, Purple
- Order prototype PCBs
- Test firmware on PCB
- Pick a battery size that will fit in the case and find a supplier
- Order resin-printed prototypes of case for final fit/tolerance testing
NB: I get rambly when I have the option to type, so I will bold the major items. You should be able to get the gist of the email just by looking at the bolded text. Read the rest to get an insight into my design process.
Manufacturing Change
OK so let's dig down into some of the changes since the posted IC. One of the biggest feedback was price. At the end of the day, the purpose of this IC/GB/Design was to make a high-end Ergodox-esque keyboard. I don't want to compromise the design of the board or cut corners to bring the cost down, I think we should take pride in designing quality hardware, but I definitely understand that $360 was a tough pill to swallow.
I have been shopping around for a new manufacturer and I think I've found a good fit. I reached out to a manufacturer suggested by another key player in this community (not sure if I'm at liberty to say who right now) who vouched for their quality. This is a smaller manufacturer that has a side factory that only makes keyboards, so their design guys know the requirements of our community. They provided a fantastic quote for manufacturing and I'm happy to bring those savings to you guys.
The new price point we are aiming for is $300 USD - AND a 5mm plate will be offered by default. I'm hoping that the lower cost + upgrade to 5mm plate (something that I personally really wanted) will be a sweet price point for everyone. The 5mm plate has the proper switch clip cutouts and stabilizer clearance. I know that some of you on this list are not interested in the CNC case and just like the layout. I'll talk about that later in the email.
Oh also I learned how to do ray-traced renders in Solidworks :D
TRRS Jack
One of the popular requests was to add a TRRS jack for wired fallback. I really wanted to do this as well but holy crap, TRRS jacks are large. All the "logical" places to put the TRRS are unfortunately being used by various ICs for electronics features. I decided that the hassle of finding space for a TRRS jack onto the PCB wasn't worth it. Instead, I think the Bireme can rely on its large battery capacity to prevent from dying mid-use (the PCB has a fuel gauge IC to provide accurate battery percentage to the MCU which will blink LED's based on battery life). For cases where bluetooth doesn't work (IE BIOS), you can plug in one side of the keyboard to use it as a USB board, and the other side wirelessly connects to it which then allows you to use both halves with the computer via the wired connection.
Stabilizers
The PCB currently supports PCB mount stabilizers. You will not be able to use Zeal stabs at both 2u positions at the same time. This is because Zeal stabs have a larger threaded insert which will collide with the other stab. Sorry but there's no way around this. If you only plan to use one 2u switch at a time, Zeal stabs are good to go.
The other thing I want to bring up about stabilizers is a switch to Costar stabs. I know that Costar is not at all welcome these days but I was thinking about stabs the other day and I'm coming around on Costar after a while. They're removable/maintainable without having to disassemble the board, they are silent (usually Cherry stabs are the loudest part of silent switch builds), they require less complexity on the PCB, and they also require less cutout on the 5mm plate. How do you guys feel about Costar? Is it still taboo/a dealbreaker?
Thumb Cluster
Don't worry, the thumb cluster isn't moving. I just wanted to bring up a point for discussion. Cherry MX stems are not a uniform cruciform:
Note that the horizontal arms are wider than the vertical arms. Keycap stems are designed for this as well. The issue I'm worried about is that the Bireme thumb cluster switches are sideways, which would put the thick side of the stem into the thin side of the keycaps. This could potentially cause cracking/issues with GMK (their tolerances are tighter than SP). A lot of the new-wave ergo keyboards use "sideways" switches for their thumb clusters (Corne/CRKBD and Ergodash for example use the wrong orientation for their 1.25u and 1u switches respectively) and I don't think I've seen any cracked stems yet.
The switches are sideways so that we can allow for 1u and 2u options. If they were oriented vertically, we couldn't get the switches to snap into the plate, which is a major problem with hot swap switches. The only solution would be to ditch universal layouts and choose a single fixed layout for the thumb cluster. My personal thoughts on the matter is that since there has not been any instances of sideways switches cracking keycaps (that I know of, can you guys think of any?), this is an acceptable risk. I would 100% suggest NOT using Box switches on the thumb cluster, as even with the rework, their horizontal arms are still slightly wider than standard.
Low-Cost Option
I know a few people contacted me and were primarily interested in the layout. The case has been designed to be 3d printable on any FDM printer easily, and the STL files will be released with the GB. Would any of you be interested in a machined plate for a 3d printed case? That would provide significant heft, as well as a more rigid typing experience. It would be a potential half-way option without having to spend the full $300.
The other option for a low cost option is an acrylic layer case. I can release the DXF files and people can reach out to their favourite laser cutter to get parts cut for themselves. Again, I could look at providing an option for a CNC'd 5mm plate that would go into a layer case.
There was also some interest in a cheaper wired-only PCB, potentially using a Pro Micro for DIY or pre-assembled. While I will definitely work on that, I'm currently swamped with real life and I think that those PCB files will have to come later, not at the same time as the GB. I'm sorry to disappoint those who were interested in that option.
Feedback
Let me know your thoughts and feelings via email! I will get back to everyone eventually, I really value your feedback.
If you don't have time to ramble back at me, please fill out this survey instead: https://forms.gle/JxTUBkkkgVVWSmk59
Thanks for your time to read this everyone!