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jackhumbert
1040
OLKB
Jul 21, 2016
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Hey folks - I'm sorry to hear about some of the issues that you're having, but I wanted to clarify a few things about the manufacturing process that people have been speculating about.
The bottoms are milled, sand-blasted (new for this revision), then anodized - often times there can be some artifacts from one of these processes that don't get removed. The previous revision of cases had a lot of milling marks showing, and we were hoping that the sand-blasting removed these, and it looks like it has. Some people have been referring to them as "scratches," but that's not really accurate - they're just artifacts from the milling. They're not 100% perfect yet, but we're definitely heading in the right direction. If you feel like yours is extra bad/bad at all, please reach out to support with pictures and we can take a look at it, but a lot of the photos I've seen so far have been just what we're dealing with in terms of quality of the finish.
Sometimes there's a bit of white crud left on the support pillars of the milled bottom - I believe this happens when one of the rubber stops (to prevent the anodisation of the inside of the threads) gets stuck at some point in the process. I've cleaned several of these out for the ones I gotten for the store with some sort of sharp utensil (knife, pick, fork, etc), with a large amount of luck. It's a bit annoying, but it comes out of the thread fairly easily.
The biggest concern I have right now is with the plates - this is a new design for the Planck plates, but not new design for keyboard plates - this cutout was used on the Neutrino plates produced a while back, and worked really well to house both MX-style switches and Matias ones. There is a small break-off nib that's allowed to at one of the four locations here:
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- this was choosen because it shouldn't interfere with the MX or Matias switches. Unfortunately it seems some of the lines around that area a little out of tolerance. It most cases this won't really be a problem (it may take a little more force to get in), but it some situations with the Blue keyswitches, they seem to get stuck. I've seen/experienced this problem with previous plate designs that were too tight, and it's pretty frustrating, as it seems it affect the switches randomly.
If when you place your switches in your plate you experience this (please check before soldering), please reach out to support with pictures to get this taken care of - unfortunately it may be a little while before we get some sent out, because the ones I have in stock are from the same batch, and we don't wanna risk having the same problem with the replacements.
The general jaggedness/sharpness is pretty common for the plates we've been making (you can see it, as well as the milling artifacts here: https://massdrop-s3.imgix.net/product-images/planck-mechanical-keyboard/MD-16981_20160325124540_145b5d51bd83e7e8.jpg?auto=format&fm=jpg&fit=crop&w=1023&dpr=1), but it appears that they may be a little exaggerated on these plates. If it's something that really bothers you, feel free to reach out to support, but I can't guarantee replacements for these right now.
To the people complaining about the burn marks and scratches on the plate: please flip the plate over - that is the bottom, and there are no cosmetic requirements for the bottom. Obviously if these things are on both sides or otherwise scratched, please reach out to support with pictures and we'll get things taken care of.
Thanks for being patient with us, folks - please keep in mind OLKB is just me, so I'm not really able to handle these sort of requests myself - Massdrop has the infrastructure needed for this level of support, so it'll be much better to reach out to them through the official channel (Transactions in the menu at the top -> Contact Support).
Jul 21, 2016
PoLoMoTo
199
Jul 21, 2016
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jackhumbertI don't think the break off nibs were the problem, I know for me there were not. For me the problem was is the corners in the places I circled. I filed all four down on every hole and managed to get it to work for the most part (I have a few switches that are a bit sticky).
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EDIT: The specific issue for me I believe was that these little ledges or corners where somewhat hooked towards the switch, filing them flat was my solution.
Jul 21, 2016
falola
1
Jul 21, 2016
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jackhumbertAren't the bottoms supposed to feel smooth and not like rough metal? I got mine (purple) and it feels like powder coated metal. Its not glossy and smooth like the previous drop. http://imgur.com/a/j7IsK the orange is from a previous drop.
Jul 21, 2016
PoLoMoTo
199
Jul 21, 2016
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falolaJust for clarification powder coating will result in a smooth glossy finish, not a rough or matte finish as exhibited by this run of keyboards. I believe the difference between this finish and that of the previous drop is due to the sand blasting and was attenuated by the anodization.
Jul 21, 2016
olesm
41
Jul 21, 2016
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jackhumbert"They're not 100% perfect yet, but we're definitely heading in the right direction. "
While I appreciate you commenting to address some of the issues that have come up, I'll admit that I'm pretty disappointed with this statement. You just shipped 1000+ units. "We're almost there" doesn't do anything for those of us who received sub-par components. None of us paid to beta test new designs and manufacturing processes, and we certainly didn't pay beta test prices.
The Planck has been around long enough that it is (or was, prior to this drop) a known quantity. Why did you pick this particular moment to introduce new manufacturing/finishing methods for key components of the kit? Why was the switch to a sandblasted finish not mentioned in the drop's description? (Like the change to a white PCB was, for example.)
I understand you're a one-man operation, but I would have expected a little more prudence on a >$100k group buy.
Jul 21, 2016
fantastic-ferret
0
Jul 21, 2016
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PoLoMoToThat's definitely the problem I'm having (I tested with Cherry MX Clear and Brown). It seems like the manufacturing tolerance was just way too wide.
Jul 21, 2016
stevecole90099
15
Jul 21, 2016
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jackhumbertI have to agree with olesm, I paid for the product that was advertised, a product that had a known quality, the quality that I was expecting to receive. Had it been made clear that these parts were going to have a new design and be manufactured in a different way I would not have joined; I know what happens when people try to fix thing that aren't broken. This isn't kickstarter or indiegogo. I understand that you're a one man team at OLKB but you are still running a business and a business shouldn't send untested product out to it's customers because when it turns out to not live up to the quality expected you lose those customers and that is exactly what happened here. Like I said in my last post this is the only and last product I will purchase from OLKB because it's clear the quality isn't dependable.
Jul 21, 2016
golden
110
Jul 22, 2016
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jackhumbertFirst of all, ya you are getting some bogus complaints like the underside of the plate having burn marks or something, which is pretty insignifant so I understand you there. But to address the real point:
"Unfortunately it seems some of the lines around that area a little out of tolerance. It most cases this won't really be a problem (it may take a little more force to get in), but it some situations with the Blue keyswitches, they seem to get stuck. I've seen/experienced this problem with previous plate designs that were too tight, and it's pretty frustrating, as it seems it affect the switches randomly."
No they aren't "a little out of tolerance" it's an actual nightmare to even use these things. It is honestly impossible to get the keyboard assembled without milling and metal work on almost 90% of the edges of my plate. Luckily, massdrop does have good customer service so they'll get this sorted out, but I've bought the ergo here and other things and people won't forget how crappy this drop was from a quality control perspective. It's a shame because I really, really like the final product.
"this is a new design for the Planck plates, but not new design for keyboard plates"
I've assembled other keyboard kits, from massdrop and other places, and this is the first time I see this design. It's a terrible design but maybe I'm just biased because it has screwed me over. I can't understand what benefits this type of design would bring as opposed to the standard plate design the ergos etc had aside from making the probability of missing tolerance standards skyrocket.
Anyway, the planck itself is a fantastic keyboard and product, but I won't be buying from you anymore nor recommending it.
Jul 22, 2016
Bombenhagel
66
Jul 22, 2016
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jackhumbertWould you happen to have any photographs of the manufacturing process which you could share? I'm interested to see how these were made. And by one man, no less.
Jul 22, 2016
TWD-Industries
303
Jul 22, 2016
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goldenSo to address your "can't understand the benefits" bit, the universal hole design (which has been around) allows for both alps and MX switches to be used without needed two plate designs, as well as giving MX switches clearance to have the tops removed without desoldering for spring and stem swaps. The latter point is a thing I advocated for, and the main reason I was happy it was included here.
This is not to say that there wasn't some pooch screwing with some of the top plates (haven't gotten mine yet, so I can't speak on personal experience), but that's not the fault of the design side
Jul 22, 2016
redd
15
Jul 22, 2016
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jackhumbertJack, first of all the kit overall was damn good. The bottom looks great, the PCB is EXCELLENT, and the plate does have some issues with tightness, but I was able to install all switches without filing. I do agree with PoLoMoTo on the points that were the problem though, but I did find that I had no issue installing the switches as long as I very, very carefully aligned them. They were tight, but they all fit.
Typing on my Planck now, it's a strange keyboard to get used to, coming from a traditionally laid out Poker II, but it's very comfy, and I love the smaller spacebar and layout!
Jul 22, 2016
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