I finally got the first batch of Susuwatari prototypes in my hands. Of all the sets I’ve designed this definitely has proven the most complicated. Injection molding is no joke, a lot of variables are at play and if you aim for perfection the road is long and tortuous.
Let me preface this post by saying that for being the first prototype ever created, they are darn good keycaps. Legend positioning, sharpness, size and consistency are already better than anything out of Signature Plastics or GMK. But…
… But they are still the first prototypes and more work will be needed. I told you that if everything was fine we could hope in an October delivery. Well, everything’s not fine and at this point I would feel incredibly lucky if Susuwatari was ready before year’s end.
I take full responsibility for some of the errors that have been made, but that’s what prototypes are for. It took way too long to get this first injection test and I can’t foresee all the issues especially when I’m mostly kept out of the loop. Anyway, it’s all part of the process and we’ll get you to the best double-shot set ever known to man.
Where we stand now?
The good:
- Legend alignment and consistency.
- Legend sharpness.
- Legend shape/size/dimensions are 99% fine
- Keycap thickness.
What needs fixing:
- Colors and more colors. The legend color you see above is not final, it will be a cream yellow. The green is still wrong. Some reds are wrong
- Texture needs to be smoother
- Legend contrast and readability
Readability is a very tricky topic. You want them sharp and well proportioned but still easy to read especially with low contrast colors. We are designing so that many other creators could use double-shot MT3 in the future and we have to make sure that legends work with lower contrast colors too.
Next step is to get another round of prototypes. I can’t see that happening before a couple of weeks, so it’s unlikely that production starts anywhere before November… Again if all goes smooth at second try.
Thanks for your patience so far, we are at the last mile. Stick with us!
Comments
Thank you for this update and your commitment to quality!!! Can’t wait :)
The legends on prototype pictures posted on Drop.com looks a lot more cream than your pics! Are they the same prototypes?
Thanks for the update!
no, those are earlier prototypes. we are still testing with the colors.
The green did look off on the photos at Drop… would you mind posting a few more pics of the better/worst caps from the set you received ?
Oh BTW… you have my full support for being as perfectionist as necessary… I still have to decide what keyboard to build, anyways :-D
they are still too early as prototypes, I’ll post better pics as soon as I get more refined samples!
My idea was really to show the prototypes as they are at this point of the process, pointing at what you’re working on, imperfections that need to be fixed, maybe variations in color samples or kerning problems in some legend… Get us some insight in the process (besides waiting in the dark for ‘drop updates and packages sent to the wrong address, that is ;-)
Isn’t that what I wrote about? Didn’t think people would be interested in the minutiae. Also, I’ve been already asked why the legends are white instead of yellow when it’s clearly written that that’s not the final color. So it’s always tricky to show early prototypes.
yeah I understand :-)
Thank you matt3o for your efforts! Looking forward to this keyset, if later means better then we’ll just
have to wait :)
Thanks for the update! The current round of prototypes look very promising. Keep on doing what you’re doing, and don’t worry about the delays. There is visible progress, and I like what I’m seeing!
I hope the texture will be close to shiny!
I am glad at least there are prototypes! a couple other gb keycaps are almost a year in with no prototypes…. Take as long as you need Matt3o, just keep us in the loop like you have been :) Good thing I bought 2 of these sets!
-Richard
Really sad I missed this GB
Excited about the progress. For some reason, that H key gets me excited :)
Let’s hope for a christmas miracle!
Stay firm! Quality > Time
Got it, still patiently waiting – I wish I can even add a kit or two for my order at MD at this point.
I missed out on the group buy. Do you have any say in opening up the buy for some more people. I have already made a request on drops page. Would love to have the first ABS MT3 set.
How to get in the drop? Is there still a way to order the ortho set? Cheers
next year we will run more!
Any approximation on when in 2020 we can expect them (q1, q2, etc.)? Any way to make sure we get notified when they’re up again (will they be posted under this drop https://drop.com/buy/massdrop-x-matt3o-mt3-susuwatari-custom-keycap-set)? Thanks.
we should run /dev/tty first in January and susuwatari soon after that!
When these are finally released, I feel I’m going to full on ugly cry. They sound like the perfect set. I wish I could order more.
Hey Matt! Just ordered a set of the /dev/tty’s off of drop for my CRTL keyboard with Zealios V2, cant wait for them to come through and see how they feel. I was also wondering if there’s a set to change the color of the modifiers if I decide to change from the grey. Thanks for any reply and hope to see something new soon!
In January we will run more /dev/tty and there will be some color kits
Unfortunately, it seems I learned about this set too late to get an order in on Drop, but I positively adore the scheme and the profile. Is there any conceivable way at all that I could get in on this batch, or will I need to stick out the wait until January to jump on board?
sorry you’ll have to wait… :(
It’s a pity that Susuwatari won’t have R5 bottom row :(
Somehow I haven’t seen this post until today! Glad to see the project is still alive. Here’s to hoping I can get my drop by Q1 2020!
I hope everything go well. MDrop said we can have it at the end of December. Can this be true?
I don’t see that happening
Thanks for your honesty, I am sure you are waiting for these as impatiently as we are ;)
Yanbo over on Drop said that the texture is not smooth now?? I hope you can still change this, I wanted a smooth surface since we were told in the beginning that it will be smooth.
the texture is smoother than /dev/tty but not completely smooth!
Maybe it doesn’t translate in the pics? The sept pics from Yanbo looked just like the render that was used as basis for purchasing. Nice and smooth. The new pics look like someone stippled them significantly. Can’t recall ever seeing key caps with tat much texture. Is it a trick of the light? Or did they do that on purpose. I’m Trying to decide whether to stick with this drop now that they no longer look even close to the render.
I’ll send some more pics in the coming days.
Thank you
From a quick look on my phone, they looked like SP DSA in terms of texture, which is pretty rough. But after looking at them on my computer, Yonbu’s pics look like they either have significant camera sensor noise from low ambient lighting or they’re really badly compressed. Maybe a combo of both. So it’s hard to really determine the actual surface texture from them. Haven’t tried /dev/tty, so no way for me to know exactly how they would feel, but a review said it’s a little more textured than ePBT which is about the same as GMK, maybe slightly rougher. Was hoping for something more like SA, which I think feel wonderful with the spherical tops, so it’s a bit disappointing, but GMK smooth is still pretty nice and might have been to compromise with those who like surface texture. Hopefully ABS MT3 will be successful enough that there’ll be a choice in the future.
Just checked Yonbu’s post, and looks like GMK texture is probably about right.
They are just slightly smoother than /dev/tty. Definitely not as rough as DSA. I’ll post something today.
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