For Sale A600 and A1200 mechanical keyboards, new versions
- Thread starter Aeberbach
- Start date
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Several years ago I ordered a version of each, A600 and A1200 mechanical keyboards, from Aeberbach and I can confirm they are a very fine piece of work.
I hope people purchasing them enjoy the pieces as much as me
I hope people purchasing them enjoy the pieces as much as me
It's time to pause the order process - I have more than enough keyboards to make and don't want to get too far behind.
If I have asked you to pay an amount you can do so, you have ordered already. If you have not you can still express interest here, I'll record names and when I get through making all the orders so far I will contact you.
Finally I have remaining:
(1) A1200 white/gray keycap set + Amiga keys set US$160
(2) A600 white/gray keycap set + Amiga keys set US$130
(3) A600 white/gray keycap set + Amiga keys set US$130
If you have ordered a keyboard and want to add one of these on just let me know.
If I have asked you to pay an amount you can do so, you have ordered already. If you have not you can still express interest here, I'll record names and when I get through making all the orders so far I will contact you.
Finally I have remaining:
(1) A1200 white/gray keycap set + Amiga keys set US$160
(2) A600 white/gray keycap set + Amiga keys set US$130
(3) A600 white/gray keycap set + Amiga keys set US$130
If you have ordered a keyboard and want to add one of these on just let me know.
Weekly keyboard assembly update
I sent out the first two packages this week and that is all the keyboards I could make from parts on hand.
For the rest, everything is well organised - check out my assembly rack, so professional! All of the keyboards have been started. I am waiting on LEDs (I ran out) to complete some of the boards but all of the inverters, capacitors, connectors and resistors are in place. The 3D printer has been running non-stop and I almost have enough mounting parts and plates for all the keyboards. Light pipe assemblies are all printed and each A1200 keyboard will go out with one unit for the A1200.net and one for the Commodore cases. The A600 is far simpler, I have just printed small translucent pieces that fill the LED holes and allow the light from the baord beneath to shine through.
I am still waiting for switches but the first large order has shipped so I expect that this week. As soon as that box arrives, more keyboards will ship - I am pretty sure everything will be sent out within a month.
This week I also made more of the aluminium bars that strengthen the keyboard. That means taking a 3m length of aluminium extrusion, cutting it to 450mm lengths on the mitre saw, fastening it to the PCB I am using for mechanical purposes, and centre-punching the required holes. Then it goes to the drill press and the holes are all drilled and then slightly chamfered with a larger bit to remove any swarf. Then a sharp chisel removes the swarf that is punched through on the inside of the angle where it would be hard to remove with a bit.
Then the notch for the keyboard connector is cut out of the flat part of the extrusion and everything is lightly filed to be sure no sharp edges remain. Making the holes is bad enough but the hardest part is removing that notch to clear the FFC connector. I do not have equipment to do this neatly and quickly, so I end up making two partial cuts with the mitre saw and then cutting between those two notches, then filing to make it neater. This is the most time consuming part of the keyboard but it ensures it is rigid when in the Amiga, and happily it is all done.
When talking about Amiga LEDs someone said to me the correct colours were green for power, red for IDE and orange for floppy. A little bit of research and I agree, so those are the colours I am making, with the green switching to blue for caps lock. Looks great I reckon!
If you have ordered a keyboard, you want keycaps and you do not want to pay any extra for postage I have available:
Two sets of gray/A600 keys + Amiga keys US$130 each
One set of A1200 keys + Amiga keys US$160 each
These are from Steveed and are the same keycaps he posted about, we figured someone would find it convenient to get the keyboard and caps at the same time. He also sent me an Escom case so that I could check the fit of everything I have been printing - thanks again!
I sent out the first two packages this week and that is all the keyboards I could make from parts on hand.
For the rest, everything is well organised - check out my assembly rack, so professional! All of the keyboards have been started. I am waiting on LEDs (I ran out) to complete some of the boards but all of the inverters, capacitors, connectors and resistors are in place. The 3D printer has been running non-stop and I almost have enough mounting parts and plates for all the keyboards. Light pipe assemblies are all printed and each A1200 keyboard will go out with one unit for the A1200.net and one for the Commodore cases. The A600 is far simpler, I have just printed small translucent pieces that fill the LED holes and allow the light from the baord beneath to shine through.
I am still waiting for switches but the first large order has shipped so I expect that this week. As soon as that box arrives, more keyboards will ship - I am pretty sure everything will be sent out within a month.
This week I also made more of the aluminium bars that strengthen the keyboard. That means taking a 3m length of aluminium extrusion, cutting it to 450mm lengths on the mitre saw, fastening it to the PCB I am using for mechanical purposes, and centre-punching the required holes. Then it goes to the drill press and the holes are all drilled and then slightly chamfered with a larger bit to remove any swarf. Then a sharp chisel removes the swarf that is punched through on the inside of the angle where it would be hard to remove with a bit.
Then the notch for the keyboard connector is cut out of the flat part of the extrusion and everything is lightly filed to be sure no sharp edges remain. Making the holes is bad enough but the hardest part is removing that notch to clear the FFC connector. I do not have equipment to do this neatly and quickly, so I end up making two partial cuts with the mitre saw and then cutting between those two notches, then filing to make it neater. This is the most time consuming part of the keyboard but it ensures it is rigid when in the Amiga, and happily it is all done.
When talking about Amiga LEDs someone said to me the correct colours were green for power, red for IDE and orange for floppy. A little bit of research and I agree, so those are the colours I am making, with the green switching to blue for caps lock. Looks great I reckon!
If you have ordered a keyboard, you want keycaps and you do not want to pay any extra for postage I have available:
Two sets of gray/A600 keys + Amiga keys US$130 each
One set of A1200 keys + Amiga keys US$160 each
These are from Steveed and are the same keycaps he posted about, we figured someone would find it convenient to get the keyboard and caps at the same time. He also sent me an Escom case so that I could check the fit of everything I have been printing - thanks again!
Puppetmaster
Active member
Declaring interest.
2 x Complete A600 keyboard with keycaps (banana)
1 x A1200 keyboard for the A1200.net case and without keycaps
(Marked as sold/completed by Aeberbach)
2 x Complete A600 keyboard with keycaps (banana)
1 x A1200 keyboard for the A1200.net case and without keycaps
(Marked as sold/completed by Aeberbach)
Last edited by a moderator:
Just to note again - I am not taking any more orders at this time. I am making better progress with the keyboards than I expected but I have not yet received the big order of switches. Until I do I'm not taking any more money or committing to more keyboards - I do expect Gateron will deliver exactly what I ordered but who knows, the package could be stuck in quarantine for a month or something, I have never done this before so I am waiting on it to arrive to be sure. Thanks for your interest and I will let you know when more orders can be made. When they are I will PM those declaring interest in the order they did.
Received a lot of keyswitches and stabilizers today! I have now PM'ed everyone that was waiting to be contacted, and I will be building and shipping as soon as I can. Orders are back on.
Sunday night update!
This has been one super busy week, my youngest son turns 18 this Friday - the pressure is really on with final exams and driving training, of course he wants his license as soon as possible. But still I have been making keyboards.
Right now I have about 6 A600 assembled and 3 A1200 assembled and I'm due a trip to the post office. I have storage bins full of light pipe and shroud sets for the A1200.net and Commodore variation, I'm including everything you need to switch from one to the other with every A1200 keyboard. The most time consuming thing now (now that all the aluminium braces are fabricated) is cleaning the flux off the keyboards once all the soldering is done - nobody likes a sticky PCB that hasn't been cleaned. I started doing it with a toothbrush and a bucket of isopropyl alcohol. I sped up the process a little bit with an electric toothbrush replacing the handheld but it still takes a while. Something else that has to be done is to tape over all the stabilizer holes so that a mix of alcohol and dissolved flux does not get into those parts of the keyboard that must move freely.
Also I had a new soldering iron arrive, which is why I didn't go out today waiting for the courier - it's going to be a lot better. The old Hakko iron was a good one but the handpiece had started unscrewing itself in the middle, I was tightening it up again after every 20 joints or so. Not ideal. I am looking forward to getting some use in on the new one (again a Hakko, the old one was very good value, 20 years service and still works well but they don't make the tips any more).
Postage again has surprised me. I am not going to put up the postage rates but on average postage costs up to $10 more than I ask you - if it turns out to be near the price you paid I feel lucky! Substantial variation in what Australia Post call "zones" with a country apparently. It makes it obvious why places like AliExpress run their own distribution and delivery systems...
I now have NO MORE keycaps available until further notice, I have asked Steveed if he will send some more over to include with keyboards and I will update here if some arrive.
This has been one super busy week, my youngest son turns 18 this Friday - the pressure is really on with final exams and driving training, of course he wants his license as soon as possible. But still I have been making keyboards.
Right now I have about 6 A600 assembled and 3 A1200 assembled and I'm due a trip to the post office. I have storage bins full of light pipe and shroud sets for the A1200.net and Commodore variation, I'm including everything you need to switch from one to the other with every A1200 keyboard. The most time consuming thing now (now that all the aluminium braces are fabricated) is cleaning the flux off the keyboards once all the soldering is done - nobody likes a sticky PCB that hasn't been cleaned. I started doing it with a toothbrush and a bucket of isopropyl alcohol. I sped up the process a little bit with an electric toothbrush replacing the handheld but it still takes a while. Something else that has to be done is to tape over all the stabilizer holes so that a mix of alcohol and dissolved flux does not get into those parts of the keyboard that must move freely.
Also I had a new soldering iron arrive, which is why I didn't go out today waiting for the courier - it's going to be a lot better. The old Hakko iron was a good one but the handpiece had started unscrewing itself in the middle, I was tightening it up again after every 20 joints or so. Not ideal. I am looking forward to getting some use in on the new one (again a Hakko, the old one was very good value, 20 years service and still works well but they don't make the tips any more).
Postage again has surprised me. I am not going to put up the postage rates but on average postage costs up to $10 more than I ask you - if it turns out to be near the price you paid I feel lucky! Substantial variation in what Australia Post call "zones" with a country apparently. It makes it obvious why places like AliExpress run their own distribution and delivery systems...
I now have NO MORE keycaps available until further notice, I have asked Steveed if he will send some more over to include with keyboards and I will update here if some arrive.
A marvelously looking A600 keyboard arrived at our local post office last week. Impressive work, @Aeberbach ! I think that the blue switches were the right choice for me. The typing experience is sooo much better than on the original keyboards.
Quick update - I am making keyboards! A lot of them. Today I fitted keys to 15 x A1200 keyboards, after dinner soldered 5. It's actually a lot more work than I remember. Anyway, I have a stack of papers on my desk now I am using as delivery checklists, everyone has a sheet with the items they should receive and I am checking them off and packing as I get through them.
I am still sending tracking numbers as soon as the package is sent. I'm about to send about 5...
I am still sending tracking numbers as soon as the package is sent. I'm about to send about 5...
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