Custom keyboard keycaps

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$210.00

That’s for the “base kit” for GMK Dots. $210!!

The $43 it says on the quote is for the “nomad” version. That’s 19 keycaps. 19 keycaps at $43 is $2.47 per keycap!

I would love to have that keycap set, but I do not want to pay $210 (or $2.47 per keycap) for it! I was thinking maybe a tenth.

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Yeah I’m not sure why the inbox quote says $43, it was $210 when I looked at it.

Another seller who is also out of stock:

I think they are manufactured in Germany, wonder if @NobbZ can get in touch with them and ask if they’ll be available again soon and whether we can have a discount :laughing:

What did you think of that BEAR keyboard @ohm? I’m kinda n love with it but I’m not spending $1,000 on a keyboard!! :rofl:

I bet you can use custom keycaps - why not? The caps snap right on to the switches, so if the caps are compatible with Khail or MX switches, they should just work, right?

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I think I read something about the tops being uniform/‘flat’ whereas on traditional keyboards each row has a slightly different angle - I’m not sure now but I think it was in one of these vids Brent:

I might have just dreamt it :laughing: or maybe you just need a specific type of keycap?

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The Moonlander comes with XDA DSA keycaps (these have a uniform profile) on all keys except for the ones on the thumb clusters. I can’t remember for sure, but I believe that 1.5u cap sizes will work for those if you want to replace them (even the triangle shaped ones, though they may not look as nice). Any MX cherry stem compatible keycaps will work for any of the keys.

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Thanks @foxtrottwist, so something from here I guess…

They have some ergodox ones here:

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This turns out to be incorrect. The keys are uniform except for the thumb clusters, but not DSA. I came across this but of info on the MoonLander faq page:

“ What keycaps come with the Moonlander?

The Moonlander’s 1u (“square”) keycaps are OEM Row 3 profile, with the “line” keycaps custom-produced for the Moonlander. We also created the 1.5u vertical “piano keys” on the thumb cluster, as well as the 2u red “Launch/Any” keys specifically for this product. The Launch/Any keys ship with a costar stabilizer, which you can remove if you’d like (they’re quite stable without it). You can replace them with any Cherry-compatible 2u keycap, and replace the “piano keys” with any Cherry-compatible 1.5u keycap.

All switches are precision-injected out of high-quality PBT plastic, made in a doubleshot manufacturing process (i.e, the characters are physically baked into the keys, not printed). They’re made for us by Tai-Hao, a Taiwanese manufacturer of high-end custom keycaps.”

https://www.zsa.io/faq/

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Thanks @foxtrottwist, not as straightforward as I’d have hoped :confused: do you think we might see ‘packs’ becoming available? Bit like those being sold by KBDfans?

I think it’s very possible. When I was looking through reddit for Moonlander reviews a few month ago, a poster was saying they would support it in an upcoming keycap set they were designing. Their post in contained in the first thread linked.

However, it really is the case that any Cherry compatible keycap will work. It will just mean a change from the current profile. Here’s a few threads discussing different possible options. So the sets you posted could work.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ergodox/comments/i849mu/keycaps_for_moonlander/
https://www.reddit.com/r/ergodox/comments/jgu6zo/moonlander_with_pom_jelly_keycaps/

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Ah thanks FTT :smiley:

The reply they got from ZSA is worth repeating here:

You can use standard Cherry MX-compatible keycaps. The ones that come with the Moonlander are all OEM Row 3; the material is PBT, and they’re made by Tai-Hao. All the keycaps in the main sections are 1u in size, the “piano keys” are 1.5u, and the large red keys can be replaced by 2u keycaps.

Those Jelly keycaps look nice too! Tho I reckon they’d look better on the white version :nerd_face:

Which colour did you order btw? I went for the white…

I purchased white as well. I’ve seen several keycap sets I like but not many that still allow the LEDs to shine through. I didn’t quite like the look of the Jellies, but I hadn’t considered the fact that it could be nicer on the white :thinking:

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I think you picked the right colour :laughing:

Now if it would just ship :pleading_face:. It should be any day now.

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I did get one custom keycap for the MoonLander.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/852191021/moon-landing-keycap-for-cherry-mx-keycap?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=keycap&ref=sr_gallery-1-16&bes=1

It was a gift actually :slight_smile: because the MoonLander is all I’ve been talking about.

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That looks awesome FTT! Where will you put it? Escape key?

I quite like the idea of a kill-switch keycap so that I can map it to putting my Mac to sleep, with a long press to shut-down (meaning it would require a password to get back in to) :nerd:

Seriously though. $34 for one button? How do I get in on this? How does one produce key caps out of resin?

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I was thinking the same Ohm! :laughing:

Wonder what we could come up with a 3D printer :joy:

Mechanical keyboards look like serious business tho - many sell for $500+ with min runs of 1,500. That’s a turnover of $750,000 per single run of keyboard! :upside_down_face:

I think it will go in the typical escape location, though on my layout it’s a layer shift key.

I know right! And that’s middle of the road price :flushed:

Yeah, then you buy a keyset, special artisanal keycap for your escape key and don’t forget about a custom usb c coiled cable. :wink:

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Don’t forget to make sure they include XLR connectors :rofl:

Or you could always make your own…

Could be a nice little side-earner :joy: