deskthority

After much enthusiasm from quite afew people across several social platforms I am proud to present The Pawn, a 35% keyboard originally designed as a mobile keyboard for use with cellphones/tablets or an ultra portable travel board.

This is being presented as a KIT however assembly is offered as an additional charge. Shipping ConUS will be included with the price, outside ConUS will be addressed on a case by case basis estimates of around 20$ are presented however that could be +- afew USD$ based on my experience.

a minimum of 10 is set for this group buy but there will be no upper cap.

Kit includes

37 Gateron switches
1 aluminum plate (5052)
1 wood case (sanded unfinished Oak)
1 set of stabilizers (plate mount clips, wire, key side)(Costar)
40 Diodes (extra included)
ribbon cable for wiring
Teensy 2.0 controller (NOT programmed unless you select assembled)
mounting screws

$120 - kit
+25 for caps
+40 assembly
+20 shipping outside ConUS (shipping subject to change based on location. this is a guideline)



***Keycaps are NOT included unless you select the extra option. this layout was designed to work with standard ANSI keyboard key sets. one set of ANSI key caps (104 set) will complete one 35% Pawn keyboard. the profiles will likely not match the rows and there may be gaps in the key. this will be a hacked set made to fit this layout not a custom set designed for it. please keep this in mind when selecting add key caps option.


ok whats in store
the Pawn is based on this keyboard with a few slight modifications to better fit standard key sets. this makes finding a complete key cap set much easier to buy. However, this set does not by default come with key caps. A in expensive set has been selected with several color options in the event you want a complete keyboard kit including the caps.

unless indicated you will receive only what is required to complete the kit no additional parts or caps will be included.

below is the layout for this Group buy
i will use this thread for the main hub for all of this group buy. if you have any questions please PM me and include "The Pawn" in the subject so i can attempt to keep track of everything.
this will be my first group buy so be gentile.

this GB will be open until Aug 31 2016 some time in the afternoon. i reserve the wright to close this GB early. all payments must be made by 9/10/2016 at 12 midnight.

if i have forgotten anything i apologize i'll try to keep things updated here.


CLOSED
Beginning invoicing

primary thread on GH https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=83967
this link may be broken untill post is approved will ensure working link as quickly as possible.

-------------------------
because some have asked here is the KLE link so you can play with the layout. the layout in the picture featured on the order form is the only layout included in this kit.
http://www.keyboard-layout-editor.com/# ... d1de141d28

Your GeekHack markup doesn't work.

All threads in that GH forum require admin approval and I guess he's still waiting for his thread to be approved.

That's why DT people always the the first slots

Waited almost one day for my HADapter kit approval.

yeah i'm still waiting for approval bump. but thats ok. the link to the order form works xD

Pfff I didn't even get an approval bump after waiting for the approval for ages ...

Wodan wrote: Pfff I didn't even get an approval bump after waiting for the approval for ages ...

well i PMd afew mods shortly after the post was submitted so hopefully if there are any modifications i need to do to it in order to get approval will be responded to quickly. i already have several orders

Oh do I see this correctly, there is no PCB ?

No, I mean you've literally used a load of markup in the post that doesn't render on DT. It looks like you copy pasted it from Geekhack.

Also the picture is upside down which really bothers me

Wodan wrote: Oh do I see this correctly, there is no PCB ?

no PCB this is a hand wire kit. if i can do it you can do it

http://imgur.com/a/qeYxJ

scottc wrote: No, I mean you've literally used a load of markup in the post that doesn't render on DT. It looks like you copy pasted it from Geekhack.

fixed

Just for curiousity's sake, do you have a battleship you can compare the size to? xD

Chyros wrote: Just for curiousity's sake, do you have a battleship you can compare the size to? xD

the keyboard above is my Dataluxxx its a 60% on the bottom. standard layout. ruler for scale.

i should take a picture of it in my back pocket but then you'd have to look at my butt. perhaps i'll find a model to do it. or just not tell you its my butt and make your brain whirl.

hey bishop, nice to see you here

good luck with the gb sir

jerue wrote: hey bishop, nice to see you here

good luck with the gb sir

thanks. there are already several who have signed up!

It looks pretty and I hope your gb succeed; in my case. I consider 60% my bare minimum.

WTF the link is still dead. Get your shit together GH

Wodan wrote: WTF the link is still dead. Get your shit together GH

you said it not me but yeah

Maybe this should be the primary thread, and update that thread to point here at this point.

I'm wondering...with your layout for the groupbuy, is it a design choice to have the rows not match the 'standard' rows?

there is a .25 stagger on a 'normal' keyboard, and a .5 stagger with this keyboard between the top and second row, seems like an odd choice to me

bubblebobbler wrote: I'm wondering...with your layout for the groupbuy, is it a design choice to have the rows not match the 'standard' rows?

there is a .25 stagger on a 'normal' keyboard, and a .5 stagger with this keyboard between the top and second row, seems like an odd choice to me

that was to keep some of the modifiers larger or more easier to source. when designing it i wanted one standard keyboard key cap set to equate to one Pawn. that way if you buy an off the shelf set you dont have to buy more than one to get the required caps.

MrBishop wrote:

bubblebobbler wrote: I'm wondering...with your layout for the groupbuy, is it a design choice to have the rows not match the 'standard' rows?

there is a .25 stagger on a 'normal' keyboard, and a .5 stagger with this keyboard between the top and second row, seems like an odd choice to me

that was to keep some of the modifiers larger or more easier to source. when designing it i wanted one standard keyboard key cap set to equate to one Pawn. that way if you buy an off the shelf set you dont have to buy more than one to get the required caps.

is there a reason this wouldn't work? any set with an ISO shift would provide this cap, and it feels weird to force a different layout for the sake of selling taihao keycaps (low quality caps) with it


edit: on second thought I guess it's because of key profile?

bubblebobbler wrote:

MrBishop wrote:

bubblebobbler wrote: I'm wondering...with your layout for the groupbuy, is it a design choice to have the rows not match the 'standard' rows?

there is a .25 stagger on a 'normal' keyboard, and a .5 stagger with this keyboard between the top and second row, seems like an odd choice to me

that was to keep some of the modifiers larger or more easier to source. when designing it i wanted one standard keyboard key cap set to equate to one Pawn. that way if you buy an off the shelf set you dont have to buy more than one to get the required caps.

is there a reason this wouldn't work? any set with an ISO shift would provide this cap, and it feels weird to force a different layout for the sake of selling taihao keycaps (low quality caps) with it


edit: on second thought I guess it's because of key profile?

no it was done based on standard ANSI sets available online. the Taihao set was the least expensive so i'm offering it in lue of doing a special set from SP. future revisions will likely have a set made if there is enough interest. i have been using the board almost every day with no issues.

perhpas the way i type it doesn't bother me or its not a big enough modification to cause me issues.

If you type in English you do not need accented characters, that may be a bit less an issue; however, if you need accented characters this layout will be very hard to use.

ideus wrote: If you type in English you do not need accented characters, that may be a bit less an issue; however, if you need accented characters this layout will be very hard to use.

i have been adding some of the accent characters to the function layers. i find about he only one i miss in this layout is the apostrophe i may have to make that a dedicated key. but i'll be uploading the kb.sized.io firmware dump for easy layout modification.

MrBishop wrote:

ideus wrote: If you type in English you do not need accented characters, that may be a bit less an issue; however, if you need accented characters this layout will be very hard to use.

i have been adding some of the accent characters to the function layers. i find about he only one i miss in this layout is the apostrophe i may have to make that a dedicated key. but i'll be uploading the kb.sized.io firmware dump for easy layout modification.

In Spanish, for example, you need these characters ¡¿ that are normally accessed using Alt Gr + ! and ?, their use is so frequent that lacking them is a good reason to avoid a keyboard like this. I have been considering it heavily, because its design is great, but who I could access those and the other accented characters. The tilde and right accent are needed as well.

Can't you program the layout to something that would help you? It seems that no keyboard is (unless it is standard) already setup in the way that the whole world can use it.

chuckdee wrote: Can't you program the layout to something that would help you? […]

That would imply that there are more than just 26 alpha keys like in this design.
Accented letters and/or other diacritics are not just accasional in most languages, but full-fledged characters. As an example, in French the frequency of é is higher than even g and even à is more frequent than k, so that it would seem rational for a French keyboard with only 26 alpha keys to have é rather than g and à rather than k - but of course you will still need (but have no place for) g and k.

Trying to reduce the number of keys of a keyboard (at least to that point) is a merely aesthetical exercise which has clear negative impact on its usability.

kbdfr wrote: Trying to reduce the number of keys of a keyboard (at least to that point) is a merely aesthetical exercise which has clear negative impact on its usability.

You have to suffer for beauty

This keyboard design is really cool and I can see its usefulness for use on a phone, but for a full computer system I would need more modifier/function keys.

MrBishop wrote:

Wodan wrote: WTF the link is still dead. Get your shit together GH

you said it not me but yeah

Not even a courtesy/approval bump ...