5 ms·

The actual numbers would definitely be a guess out of thin air, but the mechanical keyboard community is pretty massive and spends a bunch of money on this stuf

The actual numbers would definitely be a guess out of thin air, but the mechanical keyboard community is pretty massive and spends a bunch of money on this stuff. Here's a drop that is currently at 88k revenue for massdrop: https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-x-redsuns-gmk-red-samurai-keycap-set https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-x-redsuns-gmk-red-samu... 638 purchases @ 139.99/set Somebody has dropped 1k on a single custom made key on the secondary market. https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/wiki/keyboard_trivia#wiki_world.27s_most_expensive https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/wiki/keyboard_t... The gaming market has produced all sorts of hobbyist businesses, and that's a market actually big enough to see a few potentially billion dollar businesses. I'm not entirely sure whether something like DXRacer[0] would fall into line of a hobbyist/enthusiast business but it feels like it should to me (and I'm mentioning it because it feels like a larger sort of hobbyist business). It's definitely in that realm in terms of having a pretty specific target market and a relatively higher price point. [0] https://www.dxracer.com/ https://www.dxracer.com/

zachruss92 9y ago
I'm one of those people who admittedly spend way too much money on keyboards :) I don't have any artesian keycaps, but I have bough aftermarket (?) keycaps that uses plastic of a higher quality. You can tell the difference. There are also people in the DIY mechanical keyboard market selling circuit boards, plates, cases, etc... Again, it's a really niche market, but people are willing to spend a lot more money at a hobbyist/enthusiast level.
- coldtea 9y ago
  >I don't have any artesian keycaps Artisanal. Artesian means related to a special type of water wells :-)
  - karlshea 9y ago
    ‘Artisan’ in the MK community.
  - zamber 9y ago
    `Bespoke` in the marketing community.
- Klathmon 9y ago
  I'm there too, I have 4 $100+ keyboards now, and 1 of them is an "ortholinear" style (keys are in a perfect grid) that I built from a kit and had custom keycaps printed with names of programs on them. With some semi-custom software I use it like a physical "whole computer" shortcut pad. I now have a button that can launch a terminal window, a button that launches HN, one that does a git pull on all my current projects, etc... Like you said, it's a niche market, but it's one where most people are happy to pay the higher prices for something more tailored to their needs, and it's a rare "physical" area where a guy in his garage can compete with big companies. I just recently got a new 3d printer, and I think after I get it more tuned I will be able to print fairly good quality keycaps. If they are good enough, I might try selling custom made-to-order keycaps if there is any interest.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - roel_v 9y ago
    Where can you get custom printing on keycaps? I have an Ergodox but what I really can't get used to (even after 2 years of full time use) is the lack of labeling for the special keys. I've looked for years for ways to do custom printing or labeling but all methods I found suck.
    - Klathmon 9y ago
      WASDkeyboards offers printed singles in multiple ways. They aren't the best quality (they are UV coated ABS, I used their keycaps on another keyboard and the coating started to wear through after about a year of daily use, the text is still fine though), but they are the king of custom printing right now in my opinion. You can go to [0] to get just text on a keycap with a fairly easy web-ui to describe the text, position, and size you want it. Or you can take it entirely into your own hands and go to [1] to give them a vector file that they will custom print on to the keys. They also offer that service in a "full keyboard set" option [2], so you don't need to do a ton of keys individually if you want to do the whole keyboard (although the full sets most likely won't fit your profile, but they do fit a good number of more standard keyboard layouts) Again, they aren't the best quality, but they do a good job, and they take care of their customers. Plus the amount of customization you can do is pretty fucking insane. [3] is always my go-to example for just how customizable they are. Not only full color printing, but also individual key plastic color selection. [0] http://www.wasdkeyboards.com/index.php/products/printed-keycap-singles/custom-text-cherry-mx-keycaps.html http://www.wasdkeyboards.com/index.php/products/printed-keyc... [1] http://www.wasdkeyboards.com/index.php/products/printed-keycap-singles/custom-art-cherry-mx-keycaps.html http://www.wasdkeyboards.com/index.php/products/printed-keyc... [2] http://www.wasdkeyboards.com/index.php/products/keycap-set/104-key-cherry-mx-keycap-set.html http://www.wasdkeyboards.com/index.php/products/keycap-set/1... [3] https://www.flickr.com/photos/wasdkeyboards/28965975050/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/wasdkeyboards/28965975050/
diabeetusman 9y ago
That set is actually produced by GMK, a large-ish German company [0]. There is a designer who gets a cut (I'm not sure the percentage off the top of my head), but it's almost definitely not enough to live off of. [0] https://www.gmk-electronic-design.de/en.html https://www.gmk-electronic-design.de/en.html

zachruss92 9y ago

I'm one of those people who admittedly spend way too much money on keyboards :) I don't have any artesian keycaps, but I have bough aftermarket (?) keycaps that uses plastic of a higher quality. You can tell the difference. There are also people in the DIY mechanical keyboard market selling circuit boards, plates, cases, etc... Again, it's a really niche market, but people are willing to spend a lot more money at a hobbyist/enthusiast level.

coldtea 9y ago
>I don't have any artesian keycaps Artisanal. Artesian means related to a special type of water wells :-)
- karlshea 9y ago
  ‘Artisan’ in the MK community.
- zamber 9y ago
  `Bespoke` in the marketing community.
Klathmon 9y ago
I'm there too, I have 4 $100+ keyboards now, and 1 of them is an "ortholinear" style (keys are in a perfect grid) that I built from a kit and had custom keycaps printed with names of programs on them. With some semi-custom software I use it like a physical "whole computer" shortcut pad. I now have a button that can launch a terminal window, a button that launches HN, one that does a git pull on all my current projects, etc... Like you said, it's a niche market, but it's one where most people are happy to pay the higher prices for something more tailored to their needs, and it's a rare "physical" area where a guy in his garage can compete with big companies. I just recently got a new 3d printer, and I think after I get it more tuned I will be able to print fairly good quality keycaps. If they are good enough, I might try selling custom made-to-order keycaps if there is any interest.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- roel_v 9y ago
  Where can you get custom printing on keycaps? I have an Ergodox but what I really can't get used to (even after 2 years of full time use) is the lack of labeling for the special keys. I've looked for years for ways to do custom printing or labeling but all methods I found suck.
  - Klathmon 9y ago
    WASDkeyboards offers printed singles in multiple ways. They aren't the best quality (they are UV coated ABS, I used their keycaps on another keyboard and the coating started to wear through after about a year of daily use, the text is still fine though), but they are the king of custom printing right now in my opinion. You can go to [0] to get just text on a keycap with a fairly easy web-ui to describe the text, position, and size you want it. Or you can take it entirely into your own hands and go to [1] to give them a vector file that they will custom print on to the keys. They also offer that service in a "full keyboard set" option [2], so you don't need to do a ton of keys individually if you want to do the whole keyboard (although the full sets most likely won't fit your profile, but they do fit a good number of more standard keyboard layouts) Again, they aren't the best quality, but they do a good job, and they take care of their customers. Plus the amount of customization you can do is pretty fucking insane. [3] is always my go-to example for just how customizable they are. Not only full color printing, but also individual key plastic color selection. [0] http://www.wasdkeyboards.com/index.php/products/printed-keycap-singles/custom-text-cherry-mx-keycaps.html http://www.wasdkeyboards.com/index.php/products/printed-keyc... [1] http://www.wasdkeyboards.com/index.php/products/printed-keycap-singles/custom-art-cherry-mx-keycaps.html http://www.wasdkeyboards.com/index.php/products/printed-keyc... [2] http://www.wasdkeyboards.com/index.php/products/keycap-set/104-key-cherry-mx-keycap-set.html http://www.wasdkeyboards.com/index.php/products/keycap-set/1... [3] https://www.flickr.com/photos/wasdkeyboards/28965975050/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/wasdkeyboards/28965975050/

diabeetusman 9y ago

That set is actually produced by GMK, a large-ish German company [0]. There is a designer who gets a cut (I'm not sure the percentage off the top of my head), but it's almost definitely not enough to live off of. [0] https://www.gmk-electronic-design.de/en.html https://www.gmk-electronic-design.de/en.html