Realized I have no interest in going back and fully hand lubing my SP Star Soda Melons and would rather spend the time soldering some MechWild boards.
So I ordered some Haimu Pastel Skies and Gateron Yellow Pro 3.0s from CK plus some 63.5g 21mm CK springs. These seem nice…2gf tolerance and dry lubed. I usually like 60gf, but I feel like the preload on these could make them feel like a pretty similar weight.
Have to pull the lubed 60gf TX springs out of the Soda Melons now and give them back their 70s…
Picked up a PP plate (Jane style) for my Safa TKL, along with a POM plate for my KBD8x MKII from HypeKeyboards out of Canada.
I also grabbed some Nixies, films and springs during Black Friday.
I jumped on the KBD8x since I was already ordering, but we will see how it turns out. I am a little skeptical. I am worried I really won’t be able to get the board to a place I want. I was all done to try and give it a new home, and then the KBD8x MKIII was released
I don’t know about y’all, but there seems to be a general “downsizing” trend/vibe in the Seattle mech community, the only issue is that it seems like a lot of stuff just isn’t selling.
I don’t know the Seattle scene, but I would say it’s true of the hobby in general. It’s still going strong, just not many willing to pay top dollar for items anymore.
I don’t blame them. Vendors with huge sales, sometimes slashing hundreds of dollars off of items, sets an expectation. I know I personally haven’t paid full price for much of anything in the last several months.
On the one hand it’s hard to see items that I paid full price for sitting on sale for a fraction of what I originally paid. On the other hand, cheaper stuff to buy!
Speaking of, I ordered a 3rd HMKB today. This time a WKL black TKL. Shipped for $100! Crazy deal. That’s without a PCB though. I have a few extra Hiney PCBs, so I figured why not?!!
I, too, just ordered a PP plate from HypeKeyboards for my Derivative! Will be my first time trying one. Any experience yourself?
I’m looking into downsizing my collection as well, but having a hard time selling some older boards. Understandable given how the market has gone with so many budget options that offer much more than their price.
Seems like I need to start looking at marketplaces more. I don’t feel like I quite know how, tbh.
Another barrier is wanting to build it myself but not necessarily wanting to desolder. If I had a Hakko desoldering iron maybe that would change things.
Lastly is the availability of extra PCBs and plates or plate files. I like to have extras to try or for failures, since I generally plan to keep my boards for life. It’s less possible with aftermarket unless it has compatibility or already comes with extras.
NGL, the photos make it enticing. Maybe I’m crazy, but $27 discount doesn’t seem near close enough to being a deal. I’m looking for something like $99 for base kit. But I get it. SP is expensive. And Novelkeys/Omnitype normalizing sub $100 deals is a problem for smaller vendors.
The Hakko gun would definitely change things. I waited a long time to pull the trigger, now that I have, I don’t regret it in the slightest. Just do it. Maybe there is a good holiday sale?
The only thing that surprised me a little bit, is that the actual solder sucking is fast, however the cleaning and keeping it in nice shape does require a little time. If doing one switch, whipping out the SS-02 is still better in that regard.
Beige 87u variable from ebay. Less than current model cost, which is a big win for me since it’s my model of preference, and this was the first model real force I owned. Also a r3 30g. I got bob from crp, tulip, irish. I got a bauer lite. I got also a t-shirt designed by the guy who designed the hhkb’s, and an official hhkb carrying sleeve. I don’t know what else I’ll get. I’m thinking about a jane me but I’ve got a shopping problem and that’s a bit too much right now. I think when I have a significantly bigger amount I’ll just get a pink v2 which is the one I want most. Been looking for a siig minitouch plus but they’re no where around on ebay but i cant think of any other american auction sites that might carry them. they have the huajie minitouch for cheap whereas the plus was plentiful about a year and a half or two years ago, and the opposite is true now. Have also been considering a filco numpad on amazon. And along with the jane I have also wanted an lz tkl for a while but there’s not a lot of them I like, and at that the price sensitive boards for me that are also desirable aren’t available. I don’t know what next, I guess I should wait for my shit to arrive first lol. I also got a Mx master 2 for pretty cheap. Ran into some money recently
@Manofinterests and @djmantis I think I’ll spring for one at some point, but I’m still working on that doing a lot of soldering part It does seem worth it.
I love that case - it takes me back to snap-together model kits from when I was a kid, and it’s got a really unique and very tune-able sound profile. What a steal at $9!
I also got something on sale at NK_ today, and I feel like I got a similarly good deal if on something decidedly less thrifty… after waffling many times over, the sale on the Salvation was enough to tip the scales for me. :3 I considered purple, but there were still Copper Slag units left! I almost got a soldered PCB, but my curiosity for trying different switches on new mounting styles won out.
Yeah even though I got well over 100 in stock I ended up grabbing some more new nixies too, just couldn’t pass them up at the sale price. I also ended up grabbing GMK Yuri since it was $51 + tax & shipping ($62 total) on the first day of NK’s sale. Same thing here not sure what I’ll use either with, but I’m sure I’ll figure something out!
In theory, plastic case shouldn’t be an issue (look at the HHKB after all), but my main concern would be the quality of the EC parts and their tolerances. That is usually what sets Topre apart from its EC competitors.
My guess is the tolerances will be a tiny bit sloppier, but that gap might be bridged with some good 'ol lube.
But also thank goodness for being able to use MX keycaps lol
oh man! I bought one of these off of mm a few weeks ago not realizing that there were in stock options. Looks like even outside of cyber Monday NK_ is selling it for $15 which, even with shipping, is way lower than what I paid. Oh well
Hoping to put one of Cipulot’s EC60s in this thing once they go on sale at vendors (soon…)
It does seem worth it.
