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Comment by busterarm | Hacker News Reader

So it's an ALPS/Matias switch. Of which there already exist quiet versions.

Why do you want money again?

The claim that it's easier to get Custom Key Caps for these is an absolute joke. There is very little available in the market for Alps style keycaps vs Cherry MX which is ubiquitous. Injection molding shops would have to have tooling available to make these keycaps. Most of them don't. That's what makes getting custom keys easy or hard, not the mounting shape. I don't even think you can get them in PBT anymore unless you pop them off an SGI Granite keyboard or older Apple keyboards (or with a Japanese layout).

Cherry MX Reds are also not out of wide circulation at all. Reds and Browns are their most popular switch right now! These comparisons are totally disingenuous.

Not to mention Matias switches are super wobbly...Have fun doing those sticker mods.

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There are quiet versions of Matias switches, but they are all clicky, which we explicitly don't want because even quiet clicky switches are loud and because of the associated fatigue. Our switch is quiet and non-clicky, which up until now hasn't existed in the Matias line.

I'm not sure I understand your question about wanting money. As much as it would be great to give them away for free, the reality is that it cost us money to produce them and it will cost us money to ship them. We're running this campaign in order to simplify the logistics of offering our extra keys to other people.

Regarding custom key caps, another commentator was correct in saying that we're milling entirely custom shapes from raw materials (aluminum in our case).

As for the circulation of Cherry MX Reds, I could only find them available in small quantities for what seemed to be very high prices, when I could find them in stock at all. The Cherry MX is a great line of switches, but Cherry is doing a poor job of helping people (well, me at least) make new products.

I haven't noticed the Matias switches being super wobbly, but I also don't have a full keyboard built yet. I'll keep an eye out for this.

This and the other Cherry comment capture my cynicism as well.

And the reason I'm cynical about it is that they story they offer doesn't seem to make sense to anyone who has purchased key switches for projects.

So lets break it down. $50 donation gets you 150 switches, they are looking to raise $1000. That is twenty $50 chunks, or 3,000 switches. So what they are really saying is that our vendor has a minimum order quantity (MOQ) of 3,000 switches, and if you all buy some, together we'll get switches and you'll get switches. That at least would be an honest narrative. And hey its helping the Open Steno project so its got that going for it.

The sad thing is, if they went on GeekHack or Deskthority, they might just be able to find 20 people willing to group buy Alps switches.

Might.

The economics of this project aren't based on funding the entire MOQ, which is much more than 3,000 switches. We'll be using many of the switches for our own project, but think there will be plenty left over. The $1,000 funding goal is the amount that makes it worth going through the effort to sort, package, ship, and other logistics. I'll make this clearer on the campaign page. Thanks for the feedback!

That is awesome Howard. If I had a use for 150 switches I would certainly consider contributing. Something else you might add to this page which may help would be an STL file that could be 3D printed for a keycap. Looking at what is provided I don't think there is quite enough information to make one and you would definitely want to test fit it for validation before releasing something like that but it would give folks most everything they needed for building a custom keyboard.

With them using a totally custom shape keycap, a standard keycap would be too far outside the scope for it to be worth their time.

No two makes of Alps keyboard have ever used the same stabilizers I think. Designing that I think would be a pretty big job and Matias has a standard layout for their own boards already (as long as you use Macs).

We plan releasing the source files for all custom hardware, including key caps, that we're designing and making for our own keyboard. We have prototypes that we're mostly happy with, but haven't yet nailed down the exact dimensions. Also, our files are in the form that a CNC mill could understand, but as far as I know not suitable yet for a 3D printer. I really like that idea, though, and will keep it in mind for when we do offer our keyboard.

By custom key cap they mean custom shape. Not custom label. For cherry that will cost you $50k to make the mold. Alps you can mill yourself out of wood.

I'm one of the people behind this project. Yes, the custom key shapes + low activation force are the primary reason we're interested in creating these key switches.

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