Recently saw someone with a F62-PE IRL, CNC’d by ALF, and very bumped out that I didn’t get into this hobby sooner. Well, I got in touch with the guy behind ALF (Xuxian), and he told me he could make a batch of F62-PE, with an MOQ of 20, which would cost $390 + shipping for the whole kit.
Features
7° typing angle
QMK compatible Immersion Gold PCB
Aluminum plate
Titanium plated screw
Detachable Mini B. Cable not included.
Additional Details
These are from Xuxian himself. I can add more details if you have questions.
There were only three rounds of these keyboards, less than 50 of them in total
Top and bottom of case is equal in height, split in middle
The case itself weight a freaking 4KG
The keyboard can be shipped in 60 days.
If anyone is interested, I can work with a local Cerakoat vendor to get more colours than the grayscale. Won’t be cheap though.
To share your interest for this GB, please comment below
Who’s running this
I am a programmer, with two kids, situated in Hong Kong, and started using mechs for about 3 years now. Started to get serious this year and now settled on a 30g capacitative keyboard…for now. I realised that the coolest keyboards are all GBs and limited in quantity. So, I got in touch with some manufacturers and see if they can re-run some stuff. Anyways, if this run is successful I can probably do this part time and make pretty keyboards a bit more accessible. Cheers.
I’ve always liked this board. However, for those who love the style and can’t hack the premium price tag, there is always the Saver case from @keyboardbelle
Shameless plug for her here, since I love her products:
Apologies for thread hijack. Just an option for people w/o money to spare at the moment.
Could the daughterboard be rigged to work with any pcb even if extra steps are required? I don’t mind getting my hands dirty with soldering if need be.
Just FYI this IC has progressed into a GB on GH. Details are as follows:
I have paid the down payments for 20 keyboards, and production is started with a targeted shipment by the end of August. For most detail about the keyboard please refer to the last group buy link: 【GB】F62-PE Custom Keyboard 8.2 invoice sent.
Pre GB has filled up 6 spots so far. Please make sure you fill out the whole address. I got response that only has street address, and that is problematic.
The most detailed look of the case is here: BlueSpace: F62-PE 開箱 which is in Chinese, but those are easy words for Google Translate.
GB period opens NOW until the 20th of August, or when the 20 spots are filled.
Key differences between this and the last GB are:
There is only one plate option: a standard ISO/ANSI compatible aluminium plate due to the small order
There is no silver and titanium versions. Only black and white
Only the R2 of the board is on offer - meaning it has type-c daughter board in the middle.
Price:
390 USD
$30 of shipping and handling (this includes a box, packing and Stripe fee)
Extra PCB will cost $15 ea. Past GB owners of F62-PE can also purchase only the PCB. Please make sure yours is an R2 board as this won’t work with R1 F62.
Various shipping fees according to SF Express
Each form response can send up to two colour options. e.g. (black, white). So if black is sold out, you will get an invoice for a white one.
Cerakote is gonna be in a special arrangement. First, it will be shipped to Hong Kong in raw aluminium, then it will be cerakoated. If it’s a colour that the shop has on hand, it can be done within a week. If not, shipping of the cerakote material will take two weeks. Estimation of the cost is $200, but final cost will depend on the quote from the applier. You will get the first invoice for the keyboard to be shipped to HK, and then a second invoice before the cerakoting process starts.
Invoice will be issued as soon as the 20 spots are filled, and invoice not paid within a week will be nulled. Those on the 21st spots down will be sent an invoice if their preference match what’s in stock
One keyboards of each type, a black and white, is reserved for return and exchange. Once everyone checks out what they got is what they ordered, those two will be sold as A or B stock, depending if there are returns.
Please note that the price will be $390 for the kit, which includes the case, an ANSI/ISO compatible plate, a DC60 PCB, hardware, and a break out USB board. Please note that cable is not included. You will need to pay $30 for handling and processing, plus shipping which would be included in the invoice according to the address you input. It will be the exact same price as what’s listed on SF Express.
Should you want to order extra PCBs, they will cost $25 ea.
Would it be possible to have an HHKB/7U spacebar/split backspace layout?
No. It will only have one plate and PCB option as listed above.
What are the PCB options?
The kit will be equipped with a PCB same as the DC60, with a break out type-c USB board that you would have to solder onto the through-hole of the main PCB.
Will there be an R1 universal PCB option?
No, due to the small production number, I can’t bargain with the CNC manufacturer. However, if you are VERY skilled with soldering, you can technically solder the break out board to any other PCB with standard Poker screw points. I would not recommend it and cannot guarantee that there are enough space in the case to cater to the cable.
What shipping courier will you be using?
All shipments will be delivered through SF Express. If your country is not on the shipping calculator page, please DM me and we can work it out.
Have you seen any of the work in progress? Many people here have worries about ALF manufacturing. I see a lot of talk on Geekhack and Alf discord about people not getting keyboards or customer service.
I might have trust in you, but you aren’t the one making the boards. Plus, it would suck if you got burned for 20 keyboards by ALF
I don’t know about recently, especially post shady-shady business practices coming to light, but my experiences with the ALF X2 and X3 (I believe both from zfrontier tho) were pretty good. That being said, I don’t think I would go for another ALF-involved board.
Well, I have meet a stake holder with Alf. I have confidence with them. Production will be started this weekend, and I will have more pictures to share later. If nothing else, I think you will be hard pressed to find another company where the E-white is done better than Alf.
