My Kingdom for Smooth ABS SA Keycaps
Every time I build a new keyboard, I go hunting for keycaps. And every time I go hunting, it eventually devolves into a desperate search for SA (or equivalent) profile keycaps with a smooth finish. SA is the ultimate profile, IMHO, and they're relatively hard to come by. Signature Plastics, which is where a lot of SA sets come from like the T0mb3ry SA Carbon set (they might actually hold the trademark on the SA profile if I'm not mistaken), is reportedly going through some management/ownership struggles (last I heard, they're looking for new ownership), and along with apparently the rest of the industry, they seem to be neglecting this superior keycap profile in their own stocks. If you order direct from them, they have a couple themed sets in stock (maybe), but generally you can have any color you want, as long as it's black or white. Drop carries a fair number of MT3 profile sets, which are very similar to SA. But just like SP's SA-P profile, they're made with a different...
Apr 10, 2024
Tex is a keyboard manufacturer famous for replicating Lenovo’s “mouseball in keyboard” design. Taekeyboard, a well known creator, reviews a new keyboard from Tex called the Shinobi. Actually what drew me to this video is because I used a Lenovo laptop for a few years and fell in love with using the keyboard in mouse design. While I think the keyboard is a bit big for portability, if you’re looking to have an even more minimal setup, this might be an interesting choice to consider. Mech Merlin
Mech Merlin takes us through a day in the life of a vintage keyboard hunter. Visiting several Goodwills and electronic recycling shops, it seems like a true treasure hunt. I thought it was funny that he saw evidence that one of the shops was already picked over by another vintage hunter. Next time you see a vintage keyboard collection at a meetup you’ll have some idea of the effort required to build that inventory up! The 8-Bit Guy
So let’s say that you went through and scavenged from vintage keyboards. But what if you pick up some absolutely horrid, covered in gunk, but historical keyboard? 8-bit guy shows us the process of restoring what he calls the “worst machine” he’s ever seen. While I don’t think most of us are hardcore into major restoration gigs, it’s still fun to see the work of a professional. The video has two parts and runs for roughly 1 hour. The keycaps on the Vic-2 look fairly similar to the MT3 profile designed by Matt3o and sold on our site. That’s it for this week’s curation. If you liked this thread, please give these creators a follow and a like on their video. If you have any recommendations on who we should curate for next week’s content please let me know in the comments section below.