[GB] the Heavy Grail, a Norbauer housing for the HHKB

Thank you, Ryan!
Order confirmed!

I’m super grateful and excited! :grin:

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Okay, I’ve had to hold a few “come to jesus” meetings with my conscience, but I beleive I’m getting veracity steel, pink plate, Pro 3 (blank black caps)

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I am torn between veracity steel and k2. Will, there be any sound/feel difference between them or will it just be a difference in aesthetics and weight?

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Was very excited to see the email this morning. Now just need to ponder K2 vs VHS vs Aperture for a couple of days. Hmmmm

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@norbauer, which caps did you use for the K2 pictures?

Stock caps from a white HHKB with legends

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I really wish that I actually had money right now, this is actually such an incredible feat of engineering.
This also means that it is “feasible” to have a fully custom made topre keyboard that is actually good.

also VHS has never looked as good as it does here, and the pink is absolutely mindblowing. I cannot believe this is something that exists and I love it.

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THX, any idea if/where I can buy seperatly? Mine came with blanks.

@norbauer any chance we could get a few more pics with some other angles? I’m trying to decide on a color and that would help so much. A front view (what you would normally see when sitting in front of the board) and a nice corner view of the whole board (like the close ups you have) would be perfect.

Love Velocity Steel (insanely sexy) but it’s a little to rich for my blood :pensive: so trying to decide between k2 and VHS :face_with_monocle:

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Congrats on getting this one to GB!

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I’ve been waiting for this for so long, thank you for taking the time to do this! I just have a few questions that i’m hoping could get answered.

what is the difference between the pro 2 and 3 cases - is it just the usb port cutout?
Would I be able to buy a pro 3 holy grail with the intention to swap my breakout board of my pro 2 to hasu’s usb breakout board and use that case? Thank you in advance!

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Thanks for offering this finish! One thing that might help inform my decision: The traditional hi pro colorways (at least those I’ve seen) tend to be between light and darker grays. And those, in my mind’s eye, might not suit the k2 so well.

But, say, hypothetically, some designer (praise be they) of playful yet refined taste were to release some topre-compatible hi pro keycaps sometime soon. I wonder how much they would consider novel hi-pro colorways that complement finishes of after market topre cases, such as the heavy grail. Experienced keyboard designer that you are, might you have any insights into this purely hypothetical situation?

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I am super torn on this one. I can’t decide between VHS with pink plate or Sunset Blvd with white plate. Sunset is probably not the most popular choice, but I really dig that color on this shape.

I’m not sure what it’s like to try and buy from Amazon japan but those are official. I’m also not sure why the aren’t available on the hhkb store or American amazon.

HHKB pro 3 has software keymapping so it doesn’t require or even have a Hasu controller yet, right?
I’m not sure I want to cannibalize my knockaround hhkb2 for this so will probably buy a(some) newer version(s).

It is really hard to decide between Sunset and Veracity. The new colors introduced each buy seize my attention first but then I think this magnum opus deserves the steel treatment.

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I feel like it is ‘safer’ to go with the Pro 3 model since we can buy replacements for the foreseeable future (assuming they don’t drop a Pro 4 randomly…).

Then again, there must be so many Pro 2 models floating around…

I hear ya. I finally decided that if I’m going to buy it, I want to make sure it looks good with any options that might spring up down the road. So that might include new Topre caps or even a remarkable desk mat (although I’m not that big into them). It would be a shame for some stunning keycaps to become available for the HHKB, but then they didn’t look right with my Sunset finish. I picked steel b/c it’s awesome and it will go with absolutely anything down the road.

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I’ve already secured my aperture but i keep coming back to oogle the veracity steel. the only thing holding me back is that I know I couldn’t deal with managing the finger prints. I tend to move my keyboard a lot AND I’m pretty fussy about that kind of thing. It is so good though.

That makes me think is it better to pick Pro3 for future proof.

@norbauer Apart from USB cutout and dip switch cutout, what’s the difference between Pro2 and Pro3 version? How does the main pcb mounted to the plate?

@norbauer curious if you ever consider doing a “redux” version of the Norbatouch with your newer design language? Would be interesting to see how you would revisit the original, considering all you’ve accomplished since then.

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