Specifications
Named after Red Velvet
60% WKL Wedge
7° typing angle
~16.5 mm front height at the lip
Dual O-Ring Mount (directly inspired by the Noxary Vulcan Pro keyboard)
Custom PCB
Seamless and Internally Fastened
Unified Daughterboard
Typing Sounds (Prototype)
Plate: Aluminum
Switches: Broken-in Retooled Cherry MX Black lubed with Carbon GS2 (Black 0.15mm TX Films)
Springs: 57g TX Long lubed with Krytox 106
Stabilizers: TX AP 1.2mm (housings lubed with Krytox 205g0 and wires lubed with Carbon GS3)
Keycaps: GMK Retro Zhuyin
“The premise of this project was my unwillingness to pay aftermarket prices to try a Noxary Vulcan Pro. A friendly disclaimer that I have never touched a Vulcan Pro, therefore, this is “not” 1-to-1. To be brutally honest, there are a lot of standard measurements in keyboard design (i.e. minimum wall thickness, gaps between parts, internal fastening specifications) so it really doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out, though I am not encouraging you to catch flack for cloning another board's internals!
This was modeled from the ground up off of pictures and videos. I eyeballed the whole thing and had to wing compression along with o-ring diameters. I had help with a custom 1.2mm PCB (from which I removed flex cuts). Other changes from the original include decreasing the angle from 8 to 7 degrees, moving case mounting points around (centered the USB port), mounting the DB bottom up to save space given it is a lower front height board with little material to work with (highway robbery from Martingale), Monokei feet (because they look nice), and an internal Red Velvet engraving (see pictures!).”
Velvet Pro Typing Sounds
Board Development
This project has taken off in ways beyond the bounds of my imagination.
A lot of thought and time went into this keyboard. The last thing I wanted to do was to fabricate the board before I was 99% positive I had the correct internals. Every possible measurement beyond standard ones were deliberate and reviewed. I learned shortly after that I correctly estimated the sizes of the O-Rings and much of the plate.
I spent several months from conception to reach a prototype. I have changed the design slightly (full backspace support on the PCB and the case) for the benefit of quality of life. Otherwise, the board is as it was at the end of fourth months of modeling. There are now 12 boards in circulation via commissions and ~16 boards due to be completed in two months via a small group-buy. What was initially a very selfish endeavor, has transformed into an effort to get this board into the hands of the masses at a close to manufacturing-cost expense. I took a quick dive into the deep end of the pool with my first commission for a client soon after my unit and all the attention the effort garnered. Countless hours later, I have managed to fabricate a small village of keyboards for those who have approached me. I am so grateful for the opportunity to do this for complete strangers, many of which have become friends to share the experience of keyboards and design with.
A sincere thank you to all the supporters of the project thus far. The constant positive affirmations have been extremely encouraging. I look forward to getting these to more people! At the end of the day, I am just a guy who found lucky circumstances (TL;DR: Original, reputable, and well-known designer ran with over half a million dollars and didn’t deliver on any products customers ordered.) with an unending desire to try one of the best boards ever developed.