Do you ever wonder what a custom keyboard that doesn’t hold back anywhere would look like? So did we. And then we met other people with the same dream.
$499. Free shipping. Made in EU.
We’ve all dreamt it. A keyboard that doesn’t cut corners. If making a part needs 30 attemps, so be it. If it weighs a lot, we’ll figure out shipping. If the perfect PCB can’t be made this year, next year is fine.
We didn’t need to use one of the best CNC machines in the world with 5-micron accuracy to mill the block of aluminum. But we did, and you won’t find imperfections or milling marks anywhere.
We worked with master craftsmen who work on supercar exhausts and hypercar cabin trim to make sure the plate does its job for years without any degradation but still looks good doing it.
The keyboard is driven by open source QMK firmware, which is constantly being developed, bugfixed, and evolved by a large number of enthusiast developers.
The plate sits between your PCB and your switches, but in a gasket mount configuration, it defines how much your keyboard gives under typing pressure. The PCB and keys aren’t attached to the housing, they “hang” on the plate.
Only 100 signature edition plates will ever be made. The plate is sand blasted, anodized for that perfect mirror shine, and then coated with a protected film to prevent oxidation.
How do you maintain the acoustic signature of high quality PCBs? By creating a plate from the same FR4 material. The tab cutout design provides just the right touch of flex. Gold plated details, because why not?
The Brain
The PCB is more than a board sending keypress signals. It plays a role in how the gasket mount feels, how the keyboard sounds, and it houses the brain of the device, the best in class AT90USB1286 MCU.
Milled aluminum block body
Aluminum is tricky. If it's too hard, it's difficult to anodize. If it's too soft, milling begins to slip in accuracy. It took us more testing than we'd like to admit to find designation 5083, which is the perfect middle ground to support perfect anodizing of flawlessly milled blocks.
The only way to perfectly hide every screw (located under the plate and accessible under the keycaps), we had to design the housing out of 3 parts of solid aluminum.
Other locations for the daughterboard would be easier and cheaper to execute, but then it wouldn't look right. Or feel right.
Of course, we think our logo is great, but this keyboard isn't about us. It's about you and your keyboard. So we hid the branding on the bottom side. If you want so look at it, you can. But you don't have to.
Bits and pieces
Usually, the key components get all the love and attention. We think the little details matter just as much.
Open source
Mono is driven by open source QMK firmware, which is constantly being developed, bugfixed, and evolved by a large number of enthusiast developers..
We ship to any country we're allowed to without breaching embargos. We'll ship it in two working days, every keyboard deserves a loving home.
You'll probably leave this keyboard to your kids in your will. But we had to draw the line somewhere, so we picked a round number.
We always love a good talk with fellow keyboard enthusiasts. We can't wait to hear from you. Go ahead, reach out.
Look, we've sort of said it all. We could talk about this project of passion for days on end, but you get the point. It's the best keyboard in the world today.
Every little detail was obsessively polished until we could polish no more.
So if you'd like to be part of this effort, you should probably buy one. Click below.