What is SpaceFN and why you should give it a try
The SpaceFN concept - setting up your space key as a layer switch when held - is probably one of the most useful tweaks in the keyboard hobby. Let me explain how it works. My SpaceFN article on kbd.news made some rounds recently - quite surprisingly given the age of this concept. This piece you're reading is a condensed version of the full post. If you're left with unanswered questions, you'll most likely find the info you're looking for in the original write-up. On my imaginary top list of the most useful keyboard features, tweaks and hacks, SpaceFN would deserve a podium finish for sure. But what makes it so special? In short: SpaceFN is easy to implement, easy to learn, costs nothing, can be used with any keyboard, and can improve your productivity instantly. I will list its benefits below, but can state right at this point that the SpaceFN concept, setting up your space key as a layer switch when held, is clearly one of the most useful tweaks in the keyboard hobby....
Apr 30, 2024
The bottoms are milled, sand-blasted (new for this revision), then anodized - often times there can be some artifacts from one of these processes that don't get removed. The previous revision of cases had a lot of milling marks showing, and we were hoping that the sand-blasting removed these, and it looks like it has. Some people have been referring to them as "scratches," but that's not really accurate - they're just artifacts from the milling. They're not 100% perfect yet, but we're definitely heading in the right direction. If you feel like yours is extra bad/bad at all, please reach out to support with pictures and we can take a look at it, but a lot of the photos I've seen so far have been just what we're dealing with in terms of quality of the finish.
Sometimes there's a bit of white crud left on the support pillars of the milled bottom - I believe this happens when one of the rubber stops (to prevent the anodisation of the inside of the threads) gets stuck at some point in the process. I've cleaned several of these out for the ones I gotten for the store with some sort of sharp utensil (knife, pick, fork, etc), with a large amount of luck. It's a bit annoying, but it comes out of the thread fairly easily.
The biggest concern I have right now is with the plates - this is a new design for the Planck plates, but not new design for keyboard plates - this cutout was used on the Neutrino plates produced a while back, and worked really well to house both MX-style switches and Matias ones. There is a small break-off nib that's allowed to at one of the four locations here:
- this was choosen because it shouldn't interfere with the MX or Matias switches. Unfortunately it seems some of the lines around that area a little out of tolerance. It most cases this won't really be a problem (it may take a little more force to get in), but it some situations with the Blue keyswitches, they seem to get stuck. I've seen/experienced this problem with previous plate designs that were too tight, and it's pretty frustrating, as it seems it affect the switches randomly.
If when you place your switches in your plate you experience this (please check before soldering), please reach out to support with pictures to get this taken care of - unfortunately it may be a little while before we get some sent out, because the ones I have in stock are from the same batch, and we don't wanna risk having the same problem with the replacements.
The general jaggedness/sharpness is pretty common for the plates we've been making (you can see it, as well as the milling artifacts here: https://massdrop-s3.imgix.net/product-images/planck-mechanical-keyboard/MD-16981_20160325124540_145b5d51bd83e7e8.jpg?auto=format&fm=jpg&fit=crop&w=1023&dpr=1), but it appears that they may be a little exaggerated on these plates. If it's something that really bothers you, feel free to reach out to support, but I can't guarantee replacements for these right now.
To the people complaining about the burn marks and scratches on the plate: please flip the plate over - that is the bottom, and there are no cosmetic requirements for the bottom. Obviously if these things are on both sides or otherwise scratched, please reach out to support with pictures and we'll get things taken care of.
Thanks for being patient with us, folks - please keep in mind OLKB is just me, so I'm not really able to handle these sort of requests myself - Massdrop has the infrastructure needed for this level of support, so it'll be much better to reach out to them through the official channel (Transactions in the menu at the top -> Contact Support).
EDIT: The specific issue for me I believe was that these little ledges or corners where somewhat hooked towards the switch, filing them flat was my solution.
While I appreciate you commenting to address some of the issues that have come up, I'll admit that I'm pretty disappointed with this statement. You just shipped 1000+ units. "We're almost there" doesn't do anything for those of us who received sub-par components. None of us paid to beta test new designs and manufacturing processes, and we certainly didn't pay beta test prices.
The Planck has been around long enough that it is (or was, prior to this drop) a known quantity. Why did you pick this particular moment to introduce new manufacturing/finishing methods for key components of the kit? Why was the switch to a sandblasted finish not mentioned in the drop's description? (Like the change to a white PCB was, for example.)
I understand you're a one-man operation, but I would have expected a little more prudence on a >$100k group buy.
"Unfortunately it seems some of the lines around that area a little out of tolerance. It most cases this won't really be a problem (it may take a little more force to get in), but it some situations with the Blue keyswitches, they seem to get stuck. I've seen/experienced this problem with previous plate designs that were too tight, and it's pretty frustrating, as it seems it affect the switches randomly."
No they aren't "a little out of tolerance" it's an actual nightmare to even use these things. It is honestly impossible to get the keyboard assembled without milling and metal work on almost 90% of the edges of my plate. Luckily, massdrop does have good customer service so they'll get this sorted out, but I've bought the ergo here and other things and people won't forget how crappy this drop was from a quality control perspective. It's a shame because I really, really like the final product.
"this is a new design for the Planck plates, but not new design for keyboard plates"
I've assembled other keyboard kits, from massdrop and other places, and this is the first time I see this design. It's a terrible design but maybe I'm just biased because it has screwed me over. I can't understand what benefits this type of design would bring as opposed to the standard plate design the ergos etc had aside from making the probability of missing tolerance standards skyrocket.
Anyway, the planck itself is a fantastic keyboard and product, but I won't be buying from you anymore nor recommending it.
This is not to say that there wasn't some pooch screwing with some of the top plates (haven't gotten mine yet, so I can't speak on personal experience), but that's not the fault of the design side
Typing on my Planck now, it's a strange keyboard to get used to, coming from a traditionally laid out Poker II, but it's very comfy, and I love the smaller spacebar and layout!