KBDfans announced the next iteration of their KBD8X TKL:
https://kbdfans.cn/blogs/interest-checks/kbdfans-x-ai03-kbd8x-mkii-mechanical-keyboard-kit
comes with brass weight & plate, option for PC half plate, with or without WKL blockers …
looks sleek, but no info on pricing or ship date yet.
From the discord, sounds like there’ll be a PC bottom option as well
looks gorgeous! i’m so glad they did away with the cheap looking fake gems for the indicator lights
hopefully when this comes out it will reduce the price of the original kbd8x. i’ve had my eyes on it for a long time, but its a bit out of my price range since i mostly mess with budget boards.
8x with the gems had gone down about $25, $225 atm, not many left though @bruek
I too was a fan of the 8x, but not the gems and seam. Very curious to see how “accessible” (as mentioned on the site) the price is on this redesign, looks real nice, not much a fan of the lettering on the weight. Would be nice to have options without. And plate options like black alu would have been nice.
One heck of a rework.
I’m actually supprised how fast this came out. I bought one of the mkI 8x and asked about the next gen which they replied with “the next version of the 8x has not been designed yet but it will not have gems” and this was barely 2 weeks ago so good on them for working fast.
I think the design is nice but it would look nicer with a raw brass weight instead 
(I meant no logo).
Or maybe just a K like their website’s favicon.
Oh! I didn’t see it. Is it cool?
Not particularly cool, no. It’s just a “K” in a square, but that would look better to me on the weight than the full model name. To be honest, if the board is priced the same as the current kdb8x, they could mill anything into the weight and I would still want to pick one up.
At least it’s not in Comic Sans
These are so nice, I’ve been eying the MF87 for some time (sold out everywhere) but this just seems so…awesome. I’m not sure about the model inscription on the bottom, but I won’t see the bottom very often either so wth…
I’m sure it will easily be double the price of the MF87 (especially with the added brass) and that’s before providing your own switches and keycaps, however you do get QMK for all your deliciously twisted layout ideas. That being said you can pick up a Hasu USB to USB Converter (or make one) for the MF87 and get the same QMK functionality. Since I have yet to aquire one of these converters, my MF87 just sits in it’s box like a sad boy.
I’ve just had a look at that USB to USB converter, and it seems pretty straight forward to put together. Still not sure if I could deal with not having QMK on the MF87 - and I’ve tried to see if there are any aftermarket PCBs (like for my old Magicforce) but this is really a niche need. Using something half-done, like hard wire switches and a microcontroller, with (what seems to be) a high quality stock keyboard just seems so…stupid.
To stop derailing this thread, I’ll just keep eying this thread until we know something regarding the pricing here.
This looks really nice. I was turned off by the gems on the previous version so I’m happy to see they got rid of them. And the design looks even better now. I’m sold.
Hopefully the Hiney 87 PCB will work in this…
A slight update for anyone that joined the GB - shipping should start on September 30th 2020, but it was semi-confirmed by Adam (just talked to him on KBDFans Discord) that it’s scheduled to begin on October 15th 2020.
So I’m keeping my fingers crossed I’ll get mine by the end of November 
Consider this an update and somewhat of a follow up question to the Mk II (PCB):
I received my e-white with added numpad from in-stock in a bit over a week after ordering from KBDfans. Having heard many troubling stories about QC issues / scratches / coating flaws I am positively impressed with the quality I received.
Now about my follow up question regarding the PCB:
KEY-DOWN - QMK: KC_NUHS Event key: # Code: Backslash KeyCode: 191
KEY-UP - QMK: KC_NUHS Event key: # Code: Backslash KeyCode: 191 in 821.080ms
KEY-DOWN - QMK: KC_NUHS Event key: # Code: Backslash KeyCode: 191
KEY-UP - QMK: KC_NUHS Event key: # Code: Backslash KeyCode: 191 in 320.305ms
KEY-DOWN - QMK: KC_NUHS Event key: # Code: Backslash KeyCode: 191
KEY-UP - QMK: KC_NUHS Event key: # Code: Backslash KeyCode: 191 in 1200.450ms
KEY-DOWN - QMK: KC_NUHS Event key: # Code: Backslash KeyCode: 191
KEY-UP - QMK: KC_NUHS Event key: # Code: Backslash KeyCode: 191 in 469.465ms
KEY-DOWN - QMK: KC_NUHS Event key: # Code: Backslash KeyCode: 191
KEY-UP - QMK: KC_NUHS Event key: # Code: Backslash KeyCode: 191 in 62.915ms
KEY-DOWN - QMK: KC_NUHS Event key: # Code: Backslash KeyCode: 191
KEY-UP - QMK: KC_NUHS Event key: # Code: Backslash KeyCode: 191 in 120.840ms
KEY-DOWN - QMK: KC_NUHS Event key: # Code: Backslash KeyCode: 191
KEY-UP - QMK: KC_NUHS Event key: # Code: Backslash KeyCode: 191 in 999.890ms
The G keys are never used at the same time afaik but G_homerow and C are both used in standard ISO layout. After flashing VIA to the board the buttons do register as different keys on the VIA tester with Test Matrix enabled but the key still outputs the same key as G_homerow in word. What do I have to yet it to in VIA so it outputs <>| ?
Also, the print connections above the arrow cluster didn’t register with the qmk tester and only produce this code:
KEY-UP - QMK: Event key: PrintScreen Code: PrintScreen KeyCode: 44 in NaNms
Howerver, it did register with Switch Hitter and the VIA tester. I assume this has something to do with the flashed firmware, since MechMerlin had a similar issue with the adjacent scroll and pause keys before flashing VIA.
