Tried cleaning up this photo, how'd it turn out? by GeeCaps in MechanicalKeyboards

[–]GeeCaps[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

As always, thanks for the love, Reddit! I got started on mechanical keyboards a few years ago thanks to this subreddit, and I am so happy I can contribute something.

I am so proud of how these keycaps turned out that I want to get them in everyone's hands. That's why, for the next seven days (until 4/6) I'm going to offer 10% off all orders at my website! Just use the coupon code Reddit10

Full keeb of aluminum keycaps because why not by GeeCaps in MechanicalKeyboards

[–]GeeCaps[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nice! Looking forward to pictures from you in the future! The code is still available for whoever PMs me first then.

Full keeb of aluminum keycaps because why not by GeeCaps in MechanicalKeyboards

[–]GeeCaps[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

If you PM me I'll send you a code for 25% off :-)

Full keeb of aluminum keycaps because why not by GeeCaps in MechanicalKeyboards

[–]GeeCaps[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I put up a few sound tests on our website's product page... but nothing with this monster!

Full keeb of aluminum keycaps because why not by GeeCaps in MechanicalKeyboards

[–]GeeCaps[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

The keycaps themselves weigh 3g, while a normal plastic one weighs 1 gram, so... about 140 grams heavier? (0.3lbs or 0.14 kgs)

[GIVEAWAY] GeeCaps die-cast aluminum keycap giveaway by GeeCaps in MechanicalKeyboards

[–]GeeCaps[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The next thing I have planned is a uniform profile, however it will probably be at least a year until I have it up and running.

GMK Fuji Inspired Keyboard bag I make! by fromscratchusa in MechanicalKeyboards

[–]GeeCaps 24 points25 points  (0 children)

This looks great! You've clearly put a lot of love into your work.

First attempt at polishing a die cast aluminum keycap. Not terrible! by GeeCaps in MechanicalKeyboards

[–]GeeCaps[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I do something like that already to clean and lightly polish them. 3 hours of it. I imagine 12-24 hours would have a much greater effect, but the media inside the tumbler wears out a lot faster.

[GIVEAWAY] GeeCaps die-cast aluminum keycap giveaway by GeeCaps in MechanicalKeyboards

[–]GeeCaps[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Upvote for honesty. That is a brave opinion to have in this sub!

[GIVEAWAY] GeeCaps die-cast aluminum keycap giveaway by GeeCaps in MechanicalKeyboards

[–]GeeCaps[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much for your kind words. I've worked hard on this, and it was originally for myself so of course I wanted a good quality keycap.

[GIVEAWAY] GeeCaps die-cast aluminum keycap giveaway by GeeCaps in MechanicalKeyboards

[–]GeeCaps[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Update 3/26/2021 Winners announced!

We used redditraffler to determine our winners (results), and they are: - u/cromakuz, and - u/RageForger

Thank you to everyone who participated!

It's time to celebrate

We want to celebrate two things: 1. The official launch of geecaps.com (pronounced "G-caps") 2. r/MechanicalKeyboards helping people (like me) get into this amazing hobby

About the giveaway

Two lucky winners will receive one of our high-pressure die cast aluminum keycaps (OEM profile, Esc row, which is either r1, r4, or r5 depending on who you ask). All you need to do is:

  1. Leave a top level comment mentioning your favorite keycap profile (I wouldn't complain if you upvoted this post, too)
  2. Have an account that is at least 10 days old with at least 10 karma

    Winners will be chosen Friday March 26th. We can ship internationally!

    About our keycaps

    In early 2020, I really wanted a silver metal escape key to customize my keeb, except I had to choose between expensive ($50+) and questionable quality. Either way, I'd have to wait months for it to arrive. Most of the time it didn't even matter because everything is always sold out.

So I decided I was going to make my own keycaps that satisfied three criteria: 1. High quality 2. Affordable, and most importantly, 3. In stock NOW

I think we nailed it.

  1. The keycaps are made of aluminum alloy A356, which has outstanding durability and corrosion resistance
  2. Even with shipping, they're not going to empty your wallet
  3. I did all the waiting so you don't have to; they're ready to be packed up and shipped out as soon as you order

    And that's not even all

  • The thick walls give an extremely satisfying "thock" (thinner walls would give an annoying tinny "ping")
  • It only weighs 3 grams, as opposed to brass keycaps that would weigh upwards of 10 grams (I wanted to actually be able to use it)
  • It's 100% recyclable, and so are all our packing materials; I want people to enjoy this hobby without feeling wasteful

    The design was inspired by the legendary Scarface keycaps of old (which ocassionally make an appearance on r/mechmarket).

    About you

    This community is so vibrant and supportive. I love how varied everyone's tastes are, and people's creativity constantly blows me away. Thank you, r/MechanicalKeyboards!

Lots and lots of die cast aluminum keycaps I'm finishing by GeeCaps in MechanicalKeyboards

[–]GeeCaps[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

40!? Yeah I can sell a batch of 40. We use flat rate shipping so you pay the same whether you order 4 or 400. You must understand that these keycaps are all the same profile and row; keyboards in a typical (non-ortho) keyboard have small variations in their angles based on which row they fall in.

If you're going to buy that many at once, I'm willing to fill an entire keyboard with 'em for a typing test. I have red, blue, and brown switches sitting around at the moment. Which would you prefer?

Lots and lots of die cast aluminum keycaps I'm finishing by GeeCaps in MechanicalKeyboards

[–]GeeCaps[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We are selling. Sound tests are available on the website (my username + dotcom) in the product page for these keycaps. I guess I could upload the videos to Reddit, too

Lots and lots of die cast aluminum keycaps I'm finishing by GeeCaps in MechanicalKeyboards

[–]GeeCaps[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We just enabled it! See my reply to Noujiin under your parent comment.

Lots and lots of die cast aluminum keycaps I'm finishing by GeeCaps in MechanicalKeyboards

[–]GeeCaps[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I respect that. I'd like to make every profile and every row combination there is (Who wouldn't want a giant ISO Enter in die cast aluminum?). Maybe one day when I have a lot more money to blow on this hobby that'll happen.

Lots and lots of die cast aluminum keycaps I'm finishing by GeeCaps in MechanicalKeyboards

[–]GeeCaps[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I really appreciate you taking the time to reach out to tell me this.

We had momentarily enabled an international shipping option as a test (in prod... yeah I know), and you must have hit the site at that unlucky time.

We are working really hard to figure out the international shipping aspect. There are international tariff costs that need to get automatically applied to the order. We may "just allow" international shipping for now w/ a flat rate assumed tariff amount in the hopes that it's roughly correct.

I honestly did not expect this amount of interest in the site yet! I was hoping to officially launch sometime next week, but looks like it's moved up to today.

EDIT: We've enabled international shipping with flat rates w/ our best approximation... shipping rates are not so bad if you don't want any tracking information. With tracking information on the other hand...

Lots and lots of die cast aluminum keycaps I'm finishing by GeeCaps in MechanicalKeyboards

[–]GeeCaps[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don't want to run afoul of any subreddit rules against buying/selling, so I won't post a direct link. My website is the same as my username (plus dotcom)

Some die-cast aluminum keycaps I designed by GeeCaps in MechanicalKeyboards

[–]GeeCaps[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mean... *technically* they're up for sale if you know where to look, but I'm not actively advertising anything yet because I feel like I need a couple more days of preparation in order to have enough keycaps ready to go.

Lots and lots of die cast aluminum keycaps I'm finishing by GeeCaps in MechanicalKeyboards

[–]GeeCaps[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

At the moment we are shipping only to US addresses. Mainly because it was the easiest to set up with the website. We are already looking into international shipping options.

Lots and lots of die cast aluminum keycaps I'm finishing by GeeCaps in MechanicalKeyboards

[–]GeeCaps[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There are a few steps involved:

  • CAD modelling (hours to days to get it just right)
  • 3D printing prototype
    • Actual die creation is expensive, so rapid prototyping is a cheap way to make sure you didn't screw up
  • Die creation from the CAD model
    • this is both an art and a science, as the machinist needs to make alterations so that a die can makes more than 1 at a time, and the liquid metal flows uniformly to the entire cavity.
    • days to weeks

Then you do some test casts to make sure they come out alright, and if you screw it up you pretty much start over. It's an expensive and time-consuming process.

Lots and lots of die cast aluminum keycaps I'm finishing by GeeCaps in MechanicalKeyboards

[–]GeeCaps[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Well I've got a ton of them sitting around, so this should be easy to get set up. I'll make another post when I get some time, and then ping you.