This turned out fantastic. Thank you for sharing.
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My 660 trifecta is complete. <Insert starter Pokemon reference>
Top to bottom:
- Sho66 prototype
- Ingot66
- Heavy-6
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My latest, a Live Oak from right here in Austin, Texas, care of ATXKB. I was able to do local pickup a few days ago so I’ve had it built it up since Monday evening. Lovely board.
The Bussytown mat, updated Bird Electron wrist rests, and new-style printed Snow keytops also showed up over the weekend. It’s been a good few days.
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That ingot is gorgeous.
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Lovely case, sir. I didn’t know anything about the Live Oak. Was interesting to see all of the prototypes for the plate.
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It’s such a solid kit, top to bottom. The POM housing plate is so pleasant to work with, requiring zero cleanup or time with a file and scraper, and the design for how the top and bottom plates come together to perfectly encapsulate the housing plate is ingenious and functional. Way easier to install and align than the other aftermarket HHKB housing I’ve worked with.
I will say that the feel of it is a bit “stiffer” than my Heavy Grails, I expect because of the additional material in the milled POM plate vs the multifaceted underside cutouts permitted by Norbauer’s injection molding manufacturing technique. I love them both, but that and the sound (due to the extreme lack of extra space in the Live Oak) are the main differences immediately noticed.
I hear they’re planning to run at least two more raffles down the road, so keep an eye on their website or their discord (linked from the website): https://www.atxkb.com
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How are you liking the new Snow printed keycaps?
I like them more than I expected to. When they were first announced I couldn’t stand them, but when I put them on this Live Oak they quickly grew on me. I think the look of them suit the board, though I still have a preference for the more traditional legends from the 25th Anniversary Snow release.
These aren’t without their flaws. Several legends are slightly crooked or not exactly centered. Noticeable on the K key (it’s shifted slightly right), for instance.
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Good point on that K key.
Man, I love these new snow keycaps. In general I prefer the usual HHKB legends, but I found the first run of the snow with those legends to be too much high contrast.
That HHKB case is made out of wood?
No, only the wrist rests. The Live Oak is a pink anodized aluminum case with a black POM plate, and works with any pro3 era PCB (Classic, Hybrid, Hybrid Type-S). They just ran another raffle for silver anodized, and may have another down the road as they’ve teased a black ano Live Oak as well. PC has also been mentioned, so fingers crossed.
Thanks for explaining. The name threw me off. Do you like the s60 btw?
I am sitting tight with my Heavies Grail for the time being, those are the only aftermarket case I have for HHKB at the moment.
is that the brushed stainless finish?
Yup!
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Personal preference between Heavy Grail and Live Oak? Also, thoughts on the carrot domes?
Very nice!! 
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