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aemerson_on Show HN: I spent 2 years designing a mechanical Magic Keyboard

Unfortunately not possible, at least not securely, and not in a way that users would expect. I really tried.

We could include _a_ fingerprint sensor, and even include a special secure/tamper-proof chip, but it would never be able to work with things like Apple Pay. It would probably be able to do some things like log you in to your Mac by spoofing itself as a card reader or secure key. But because we can’t communicate with Apple’s Secure Enclave it would never be a seamless experience.

Maybe someday Apple could open up Touch ID like they do with Find My. But for now it’s pretty much a non-starter.

aemerson_on Show HN: I spent 2 years designing a mechanical Magic Keyboard

Thank you so much! Really appreciate it. Glad you like the website too, I put a lot of effort into it.

If you have any questions I'd be very happy to answer them.

aemerson_on Lessons learned shipping 500 units of my first hardware product

Well done on shipping. Reading this gave me PTSD of shipping our first hardware product at a similar scale. It was a tough experience but you'll have learned a huge amount and be much better equipped for the second time (if you choose to keep going). I found the biggest takeaway is planning for things to go wrong in advance and building enough slack into the process so that you can accommodate some setbacks.

aemerson_on Show HN: Altar I, the minimal keyboard launched on HN, is open for pre-orders

Link to previous post + discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32507172

aemerson_on I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

It was indeed KiCAD.

aemerson_on I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

Still TBC, but it should be around 3 months between charges with normal use. More accurate numbers to come later.

aemerson_on I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

Interesting point on the arrow keys. On Altar I you can "feel" the arrow area since the arrows are dished but the keys around it are raised.

aemerson_on I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

GT Flexa was super fun to work with. The numerals on Altar I are, as you can imagine, the widest and thinnest that Flexa would go! I also added a custom Egyptian "I", rather than the default "I" since it reads less like a lowercase "L".

aemerson_on I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

As @yeutterg says below it is possible to self certify CE.

For prototyping the body, I initially 3d printed it, then moved to 1 off cnc milling. For this I mostly used Geomiq (geomiq.com), which farms it out to various countries (mostly china from what I can tell), then they make it and send it to you. I plan to have the case manufactured in the UK — I found contacts for this because I happen to work in the automotive industry in the UK currently. The most difficult part of the case will be anodising which will require a lot of trial and error.

For the plastics, they are all 3d printed for prototyping, and will be injection moulded in the UK for production.

PCBs are printed in China for prototyping. Not sure where the production PCBs will come from yet.

I can give you more detailed info if you'd like.

aemerson_on I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

Thanks @dang! Sorry about the confusion, I had not read the show hn rules in detail.

aemerson_on I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

In theory the board works with Linux, but it has not actually been tested. If it is tested with Linux and is confirmed working, I will specify that in the specs.

aemerson_on I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

Agreed, acoustics are SO important. Once I am happy with how the prototype sounds I will update the website with a typing text.

aemerson_on I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

Thanks, I'm so happy you — and lots of others — like what I've been working on. It means a lot, it's very fulfilling.

I don't find the criticism demoralising. Quite the opposite, it means people are engaged, which I love. I tried to create a product with a strong design and as a result it's quite divisive. That's okay. Good, even.

I put this thing up on the internet and asked for peoples opinions... and that's what I got. Lots of opinions! Many of which are valid, and I will take back and work on.

At the end of the day the site got a lot of traffic, lots of people expressed interest in the product and I got lots of feedback. It's a win-win and I am very happy.

aemerson_on I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

The 3d renderings are all created in Keyshot. The model was created in Fusion 360.

I am fairly new to both and found them both reasonably intuitive.

aemerson_on I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

No prototype photographs yet... but soon!

aemerson_on I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

Oops, I'll fix that shortly.

aemerson_on I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

Thank you!

aemerson_on I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

Thanks for the heads up.

As for the pornographic comment, that's the best compliment I've got all day!

aemerson_on I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

I have not tested the Kailh sunset switches but I'll check them out.

aemerson_on I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

Yes you are right, it is hard to get a sense of the materials from these CGI renders. Getting hold of recycled aluminium in small quantities is proving difficult so hence the hedge to say recyclable* not recycled* on the website. I will try hard to make it some % recycled aluminium though.

The grain on the videos is poor and I'll work on that.

The finish of the materials is not finalised but to give you an idea, the case will be a semi-satin anodised aluminium. It will likely be more matte than, say, a Macbook. The plastic will be a matte PBT type hard plastic.

aemerson_on I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

Thank you, I am a huge Teenage Engineering fan so that is a big complement!

Perhaps a larger board or separate numpad could come down the line if there is enough interest.

aemerson_on I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

In all seriousness though I don't mind people complaining. I asked for feedback, after all.

aemerson_on I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

Thank you for the kind words.

For now it is just linear switches but it may be possible to offer a choice of switches down the line. I'll look into it.

aemerson_on I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

Haha thank you for the feedback, and noted! I will look to add some static shots of the board.

aemerson_on I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

I have mainly been using the rotary encoder for volume, yes. I have to say it does _feel_ very nice though, much more satisfying than changing volume with vol up/down media keys.

I tested out using the encoder for other things like zoom in/out but I haven't found anything where it felt more useful than volume.

In regards to the case, the aluminium case gives the device a reassuring heft. My preference would be to make it out of some % of recycled aluminium but this is proving hard to source in low volumes.

aemerson_on I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

I hadn't considered that but you raise a good point. I'll look into it.

aemerson_on I spent a year designing a low profile, minimal mechanical keyboard

You are correct! There was not enough space below the keys due to the device's low profile. So the right hand area houses the MCU, USB C port, battery, as well as the 2 slide switches and button that poke out the side of the case.

aemerson_on Clothing, How Did They Make It? Part IVa: Dyed in the Wool

Reading this actually makes me think the opposite: That we basically do the exact same processes but with the production obfuscated away and at a larger scale.

When you peel back the layers of garment manufacture today it's basically the same processes and materials as this series lays out.

aemerson_on Ask HN: What are you working on?

Working on a clothing basics review/comparison site at https://www.typicalcontents.com/

Too much choice when it comes to basics like underwear, socks, t-shirts, shirts. So I research the best ones online and pick up a bunch to find the best. I probably would have done something like it anyway, but myself and a couple of friends started publishing our reviews in the hopes others would find it useful.