21st Jun 2022
Live Oak Announcement
Hi friends,
Hope all is well! I'm excited to announce a new keyboard design, but first a little story time:
When I started designing keyboards in early 2019, one of my biggest inspirations was the HHKB Pro HG. It was the only premium HHKB case (at the time) and only available to long-time Fujitsu employees. It's such an incredible design- the holy grail of holy grails of the keyboard world (in my opinion). I came to terms with the fact that I'll never own a Pro HG, but decided I would design my own case for the HHKB.
By this time, I had finished the 512 design and was confident in my ability to design a case that I was proud of and enjoyed using, but I faced a new challenge with the HHKB design. I wanted my case to require only a single donor board. Since the plate is integrated into the case, I needed to recreate the plate from scratch. This undertaking ultimately took years of design, prototyping, and testing cycles. Some of the plate prototypes I accumulated during this process.
Over 300 design revisions, thousands of dollars, and many lost brain cells later, I've arrived at a plate I'm happy to share. I've paired it with a case in my current design aesthetic and another amazing logo design from @alliesilvertongue to create the Live Oak. I chose the name because, like Austin's Live Oaks, HHKBs are memorable, sturdy, and long-time pillars of the keyboard community.
The game plan for the Live Oak is similar to the Moontower V2. First, I'd like to gauge interest in the form below. If there are enough people interested in the design, I'll order some kits and sell them via in-stock raffles. The raffles will be for different case materials and colorways, but all of the plates will be cnc'd POM (it's the material I've found works best for the plate design). I've also designed a plate for folks who would like to use Realforce (or other manu) slider housings in addition to your HHKB donor. This alternative plate won't be included in the kit, but I'll open source its file to buyers and eventually publicly.
An album of prototype pics is listed in the interest check form. If you haven't already joined my Discord or followed my instagram, please do. I'll keep y'all posted on progress/upcoming raffles/restocks/etc., but will not be disclosing quantities.
Thanks for your support and I hope y'all like this one!
Edit:
There's been enough interest shown for me to move forward with the design! Thanks again for the support and I'll be providing updates via Discord and Instagram moving forward.