What is SpaceFN and why you should give it a try
The SpaceFN concept - setting up your space key as a layer switch when held - is probably one of the most useful tweaks in the keyboard hobby. Let me explain how it works. My SpaceFN article on kbd.news made some rounds recently - quite surprisingly given the age of this concept. This piece you're reading is a condensed version of the full post. If you're left with unanswered questions, you'll most likely find the info you're looking for in the original write-up. On my imaginary top list of the most useful keyboard features, tweaks and hacks, SpaceFN would deserve a podium finish for sure. But what makes it so special? In short: SpaceFN is easy to implement, easy to learn, costs nothing, can be used with any keyboard, and can improve your productivity instantly. I will list its benefits below, but can state right at this point that the SpaceFN concept, setting up your space key as a layer switch when held, is clearly one of the most useful tweaks in the keyboard hobby....
Apr 30, 2024
If you won't wait for a solution, please put the planck kit on ebay - I am sure you get there at least the money you have paid. If you have red or blue mx switches, I will even bet myself. I have just as little as 5 plancks, can't get enough of them... ;)
I'm frankly tired of the insults (eg "bring your kid to work day" comparisons) about the quality - I know it's not what you were expecting, and we will take care of every customer that's unhappy/wants a replacement (MD and I will work together on this), but this was out of my control, and I don't appreciate these types of comments - they don't help OLKB grow, me improve the quality, or address any of the real issues.
I'm obviously unhappy about the results too - I don't want to send out poorly cut plates or mis-colored bottoms.
My shop shipped directly to Massdrop this round because of the quantity (1500 orders, 3000+ parts), so obviously I couldn't keep an eye over every part - something I've been able to do in the past (which led to the 6 month wait time for the first drop, and long wait times for the store).
I've ordered this plate cut-out before, and it's been fine - my only guess is that the size of the order/time it was needed by caused them to sacrifice quality/tolerances. I'll be discussing all of this with my shop in the coming weeks once Massdrop is able to collect the images of the problems.
Concerning the milled bottoms - there's always been little marks and imperfections. The anodizer we work with is pretty terrible from what I've experienced, and that's something I'd like to change going forward. As a whole, this round's still looks better than previous ones.
What you can do to help OLKB become better:
* Take pictures and send them to Massdrop's customer support - I'll be able to show my shop all of these, and what exactly will need to be changed going forward. * Please don't email me, private message me, or jump in the question thread about this - I get enough emails from people that won't see this, and it's an insane amount of stress to put the right amount of effort into responses in a timely fashion. I'd like to express my concern for the part quality to everyone, but I simply don't have time to. * Please don't give me advice/tell me what you think - I've had a pretty solid idea of how to fix things since the first reports of problems, and if anything, I'll be consulting people I trust about this. * Please don't speculate about what went wrong, who messed up, or how the the parts are made - I've explained everything I could think of in my last post, but if you have any questions about that, feel free to ask - please consider waiting until this stuff dies down a bit, though.