[GB] the Heavy Grail, a Norbauer housing for the HHKB

Yes, I just went with a rounded rectangle for the through-hole. You are correct that the longer dimension is the width.

2 Likes

Quick follow-up: is the pro3 variant also a rectangle or is the hole there usbc shaped? Thanks!

But USB C is a rounded rectangle.

I… ok in retrospect that was a dumb way to phrase it. I’m mostly wondering whether the pro3 hole is going to be a tight fit, similar to stock case, or if there’ll be more visible gaps between the case and the port, especially along the vertical. Sorry for bugging you.

More photographs / context

Hi Ryan @norbauer, goes without saying: really lovely work on your part, thank you.

I’m about to go for either the VHS, K2 or the Aperture finish, however to be frank I find that a few more photos of those cases - perhaps just here on keebtalk and not necessarily official product shots - would go a long, long way. It’s a hefty purchase after all, and to be able to see them in different light and from different angles in real-life context of a work desk or a coffee table somewhere, would really help in understanding how they look; having them against a pure white background from a top-down angle makes it rather tricky to really ‘grasp’ them.

Right now I’m trying to decide whether I really wish to go for the Aperture finish going by some third-party pics of your previous cases available around the net, but it’s hard to estimate if this is the exact same shade and texture or if it has changed somewhat.

Any ‘freestyle’ pictures you could share, with variations of keycap colours (i.e. bright off-whites like the KBD BIIP Extended on the Aperture, darker ones on vhs/k2), perhaps also a word or two about how those compare to your Norbaforce / Heavy designs where finishes are similar, with some ref pictures - would be greatly appreciated and would genuinely help.

Ex-commercial photographer here, so go figure :slight_smile:

Very best,
M

5 Likes

For instance, would you say that Heavy Grail VHS has the same shade and texture as the one on this Norbaforce?

Likewise with the Aperture, how accurate would you say this one is?

Again, a few quick and dirty snaps of a similar nature would be very helpful.

3 Likes

are you asking if they will match 100% ? , I mean im pretty sure he’s using the same powder coater so it should be close. nothing ends up being 100% with different batches.

I was not. Not sure what you’re talking about with powder coat, but Norbauer already kindly answered my question with his measurements. With the width of the port hole being 9.6mm, there should be easy clearance for a custom usb-c port controller regardless of powercoat thickness.

sorry I meant to reply to @AristideTorchia

1 Like

@AristideTorchia Different lighting environments definitely make perception tricky. In particular, the forward edge of the image you posted of the Aperture finish looks considerably lighter to my eyes than the actual Aperture finish looks, just because it’s bathed in direct sunlight. In general, I would say that, if you sort of squint your eyes, the overall perception of Aperture is “dark gray” and VHS “light gray.”

The actual finishes on this round will be the same as on previous products (Heavy-6, Norbaforce), so if a finish is called something in particular from those rounds you can expect it to be identical here. Google Image search is also helpful for naturalistic images taken by clients of those finishes. For example, searching “norbauer vhs” turned up the following images of the VHS finish, along with a decent number of others:

Hope this helps a bit. Let me know if I can clarify at all.

4 Likes

It’s no trouble at all; ask any questions you’d like. :slight_smile:

There is a bit of a gap to make ensure safe clearance between the connector and port, particularly since some finishes apply a coating that reduces that dimension and some (like Veracity) leave it uncoated.

It certainly does Ryan, @norbauer thanks for taking the time.

The entire conundrum I found myself in was that looking at the product shots on your official store, I’d found VHS a bit too bright for my liking, and Aperture a bit too dark :slight_smile:, hence leading me on a web search for reference shots of your older designs.

As you rightly said, lighting can be a very deceptive, very subjective thing, yet the trick to keep in mind about the human eye and how we ‘think’ colours is that we mostly do so through comparison and juxtaposition.

By this I mean that by creating a series of photos for each housing, lit always in the same ballpark temperature yet using different, contrasting keycap sets and against two or three real-life backdrops (darker desk, brighter desk, wood average etc), you’d allow a more comprehensive idea of each of those finishes by the virtue of a certain average being calculated in the viewer’s mind. I hope that makes sense.

Case in point: still markedly undecided on vhs vs aperture. I’ll put it down to a possible sly tactic to make me get both :wink:

3 Likes

Hello Mr. @norbauer ! Since we’re still on the topic of Aperture vs. VHS (I also happen to be strongly torn between the two), are the textures of the two finishes similar or different in any way? Just from the appearance of them, I imagined the Aperture to have a glossy hammered feel to it, and the VHS to also feel smooth, but bumpier. Is this accurate? I plan on pairing the heavy grail with the stock HHKB keycaps as well as GMK Mr. Sleeves accents, but I also really want to experience the texture of that Aperture finish… Sorry for the rant, and thanks for taking the time to answer everyone’s questions!!

It’s so beautiful, great work :sunglasses:

1 Like

@norbauer will we get to see one built on stream before GB closes? And if so can you let us know which streamers we should look for?

Fully agree with this, I’m struggling to decide between VHS and K2. @norbauer any chance you could snap a few very candid on desk shots of the various finishes to post here? Seeing them in a more “real world” context will really help with my indecision. Thanks.

I believe that Norbauer never shares his products with any streamer during GB, so I have zero hopes for that – but I might be wrong!

Also, I feel it’s not in his nature to do that :wink:

You can see a VHS and K2 Norbaforce side-by-side in Taeha’s Norbaforce build stream (around 1:24:00): Chatting with Ryan Norbauer + First Look at Norbaforce Mark II - YouTube

Edit: actually, even better – at 2:20:42 you can see Aperture, VHS, and K2 side-by-side.

1 Like

He stated that he sent them out to streamers last night on Mechs on Deck. But you are right it could be for after GB ends.

1 Like

That’s fantastic news! :slight_smile:
I will check those streams as well. Thanks for the info!