Given that a third of the global population is on lockdown, it's fair to say that it has been a very strange last few weeks for all of us. We’re doing our best to cope with the situation as we’re sure y'all are doing the same.
As we mentioned in our last update, we are all okay, in high spirits and have continued working from home.
Our warehouse in Spain has been open only a few days during the week to send out the last batch of keyboards to the remaining people who ordered a Raise.
Now we are back with pre-orders for the second batch of Raise keyboards which will be available in June.
What else is new?
Bazecor Updates
Unfortunately, our software developer, Gergely, was out sick for the last month. As a result, we had to put some Bazecor work on hold.
Thankfully, Gergely is now feeling better. He will slowly be getting back to work and will continue improving Bazecor.
On the other hand, in the last few weeks, we’ve been working with another developer for a new feature inside Bazecor - a Layer Sharing System.
This new feature will allow users to have a backup for their layers, share them and find layers of other users. The layers will be stored in the cloud and searched through a tag system.
We will give you much more information in the next update 😉
The full story on the Limited Deilor Edition Keyboards
While some of you have already been using your Raise for the last 3 months, there are still a few backers who haven’t received theirs 😟 They are those who pledged for the Limited Deilor Edition keyboards.
We sincerely apologize for this delay guys!
The events that have unfolded this year made certain processes complicated and took longer than expected.
Let’s start from the beginning.
We had the top metal panels made in China. We received them in early January and had them lasered here in our workshop in Spain.
We shared these photos with you in our last update in February.
But there was a problem. Our suppliers assembled the Limited Deilor Edition (LDE) last, and we didn't have enough mylar stickers. How was that possible?
We manufactured more than we needed but we had more problems than anticipated, so when it was time to assemble the Limited Edition, we had a few without mylar stickers.
Have in mind that the Chinese New Year was followed by the COVID-19 lockdown, so we couldn't just ask the factories to send us more mylars. Everything was closed there.
The first thing we thought was to replace the whole bottom panel by disassembling other keyboards. The problem with this was that the joint metal component of the special keyboards matched the color of the top panel. If we had disassembled the other keyboards, then the LDE keyboards wouldn’t have a matching joint.
This solution didn't feel right. These customers paid extra to have a special product. So we discarded it.
The second thing we tried was un-sticking the mylar stickers from other keyboards, but in the process, they got damaged. This was not possible.
The third option was to create new mylar stickers for every LDE keyboard. We thought this was the best option because we could even personalize the artwork to thank our backers for being so awesome.
We had to do it in Spain because China was closed due to the coronavirus lockdown. We found 3 suppliers who had done similar things in the past. They told us that they could manufacture what we needed.
We did many samples. We printed over different plastics and even did mirror printing. But in the end, they were all not good enough.
Some samples had a bad resolution of the artwork.
We even tried UV printing over a Raise bottom panel. The thickness, transparency, and resistance were ok, but the resolution was terrible.
Some were not opaque enough, and overall, we couldn’t accept them.
It was really a waste of time and money. And we couldn’t really know it until we had gone through the entire process 😞
By early March, China was getting fewer cases of coronavirus. Some of our factories reopened and started operations. Life there began to slowly get back to normal.
We asked our Chinese suppliers to create the colored mylars using the special ink they had in their factories. But again, the resolution of the artwork was bad. It wasn’t the best solution.
So we had another idea, which was to have our factories in China create transparent mylars.
Separately, we hired a printing company here in Spain to print a high-resolution sticker with the artwork.
It was then that Spain just had more than 5000 cases of coronavirus and the country was placed in total lockdown. Everything was closed! A hefty fine was given to people who didn’t have a valid reason to be out. And going to a printing place to have stickers made was not a valid reason.
Despite the lockdown, we were able to execute our final idea.
We had the transparent mylars brought here from China and had the high-resolution stickers made. We realized it was very difficult to stick the sticker onto the mylar by hand. We hired another company to professionally stick the sticker onto the transparent mylar.
We made one sample and it was the best one so far.
However, we still had opacity problems with the sample.
So we added a special base on the sticker to avoid that.
Our plan is to put an aluminum sheet inside the base to make sure that the LED doesn’t shine through.
Thanks to Google Meet for allowing us to do video calls with suppliers and DHL for still operating, we were able to get things done albeit rather slowly.
We are now waiting for all the transparent mylars fixed with the artwork stickers. We expect to receive them on Tuesday.
We’ll update you next week with how it goes!
Tenting Solution Updates
We have already finished the industrial design of our tenting solution.
Initially, we planned to have it manufactured here in Spain. A quote was given to us by a supplier but before we were able to get everything rolling, Spain went into a nationwide lockdown. Now everything is closed.
If we want this component to be made now, then we have to make it somewhere else.
We asked our Chinese partners if they could do it. Undoubtedly, they could. But given that the factories there work differently, they wanted some modifications to our design.
In China, the possibilities for manufacturing are endless. For example, our tenting solution requires a hinge. If we had it made here in Spain, then we would need to find another supplier who could provide us with the hinge that we wanted. But in China, we can simply have a mold made and make the hinge ourselves with our specifications.
The tenting will have an angle between 0 to 20 degrees.
We also found a solution where users wouldn’t need to screw the tenting to the base of the Raise. We realised that the act of screwing and unscrewing the tenting might not give the best user-experience. So, by just using the rubber feet of the Raise, you can insert it to the tenting component. There will also be an antislip material to keep it more secured.
Of course, if you want to screw the tenting to the base to make it more secure, you can do that as well.
Youtube Influencers
We have started sending out the Raise to some Youtube influencers! We’re quite excited to see them do their professional reviews on our baby 🤩
One influencer who already received his, Brian from BadSeed Tech, recently posted on Instagram some photos of his Raise.
We expect to see a few Youtube reviews by June, which will be just in time for our second batch of deliveries.
Dygma Raise Sound Test Videos
Besides Youtube influencers, we’ve also been seeing videos of users sound testing their Raise keyboards with different switches.
One video is of the Raise with lubed Kailh Bronze switches.
Another one is with Kailh Copper switches.
Are there any more sound testing videos of the Raise that you’ve seen on Youtube? We’d love to see them!
A new story from one of our Dygmates
Early this year, we published an article about one of our backers, Riccardo “Washout” Beccaria, who is a Professional PUBG Player for eSuba and Italy’s Team Captain. We talked about his experiences using the Raise and how it has benefited him in his gaming career.
You can read it here: From Console player to PC champion
Now we have recently published a new user story about one of our beloved backers, Paul. Paul sent us a message on Facebook expressing his gratitude for the Dygma Raise.
“I haven't been able to use a keyboard without pain now for over a year, thanks to the Dygma I can use a pc again! If anyone suffers with carpal/cubital tunnel syndrome this keyboard is great!”
We were touched and intrigued by his message and thought of asking him a few questions on how the Raise actually helped him with his issues. After an exchange of emails, we decided to write this article about him.
Preventing Wrist Pain with the Raise
(Snippet)
Paul used to love off-road biking, practicing Martial Arts, and what today is called, “free-running”. He never broke a bone nor had an injury from doing sports. However, in 2001, a freak accident happened.
One night while he was sleeping, Paul’s arm got trapped between the wall and the bed and he somehow managed to tear his rotator cuff.
For those of you who are not familiar with anatomy, injuring your rotator cuff will result in weak shoulders. If left untreated, the pain will make performing basic activities like typing on a keyboard, harder and harder over time.
Don’t forget we have a subreddit!
Join our official subreddit r/DygmaLab.
There, you can talk about your layouts, post photos of your Raise, ask questions and get in direct contact with the Dygma Team.
Photo by: u/j_kobrah
The black Raise with white keycaps and the silver Raise with black keycaps. Which one do you prefer?
Black Raise: u/j_kobrah | Silver Raise: Dominique from Dygma
Photo by: u/YMwoo
The photo below is the Raise with Canvas keycaps, Ram version (the Viking runes).
Photo by: u/Logeirs
