Hi there, and welcome to this monthly UHK status update!
We keep catching up with pending orders as quickly as possible, and we plan to take it up a notch by adding a new busy elf to our assembly team of athletic Hungarian elves.
We’re working on some major Agent and firmware features that will allow configuring the speed and behavior of modules and so much more. There’s no ETA yet, and we’ll share more details when the time comes.
New orders are expected to ship in May, and we’ll update the delivery status page every weekend.
We still only have black cases. If you have a pending order containing a UHK 60 v2 with a non-black case or an extra non-black case, we won’t send your pending orders to production until we have non-black cases in stock unless you ask us to switch the case colors of your order to black by filling out this form.
As soon as we get non-black cases, we’ll publish an exclusive newsletter with a form with which you’ll be able to switch (back) to your desired case color.
Meanwhile, on Twitter, the companionship of ultimate hackers never ceases to amaze us:
Thanks for reading this update! We’ll be keeping you updated on all things UHK and plan to publish the next update at the end of February.
Thanks for the update. When do you expect to get non black cases? (Considering switching to black or not)
Hi there! Probably in February or March.
How is this so delayed? Honestly it feels like you're just saying it's always "next" month.
Please elaborate why this is taking time. Is the supplier not giving you an ETA at all? Are they pending production? What's happening?
Sincerely,
Still a happy customer
Hi there! The April ETA hasn't changed for two months, so we're not always saying "next month". Even if the ETA of new orders always changed a month, we'd still make progress at the same pace as new orders come in.
The injection molding factory is very busy, and it's hard to get UHK production scheduled. If you switch your case color to black, we'll ship your order in days.
Thanks for your patience!
Emphasis on that it "feels" like it. Your are doing great work.
> The injection molding factory is very busy, and it's hard to get UHK production scheduled.
This was basically the information I wanted. Just so understand what's happening behind the scenes. Warrost's explanation was also insightful.
I'm not in any ways associated with Ultimate Hacking Keyboard, but I think it's highly realistic that they aren't producing all parts themselves.
For example, injection molding (which I assume most plastic parts of the keyboard are produced with) is very cost intensive to get even a basic machine, additionally tools and other necessary steps.
So most smaller companys hire other companies, which are specialized in producing custom parts.
What I assume, again I have no inside on what's actually happening right now, is that the hired company is currently at their max producing capabilities, and a 'smaller' and more niche company like UHK has simply to wait.
Sucks, but at least for me, I'd rather wait and get a high quality product instead of rushing to another method just for the sake of fulfilling orders.
We have dozens of suppliers, and we heavily depend on them, indeed. Thanks for your understanding and patience!
Ordered 31 august, had expectancy of january 2022, but it seems you can produce about 100 keyboards a week, so late March I guess is the new estimate for my order then.
Sorry for the later than anticipated progress! We're well past the assumed 100 keyboards per week mark, but we'll push production harder. Thanks for your patience!
You have an approximate number on how much keyboards you're currently producing a week right now?
I totally understand if you want to keep it secret though lol.
The number is in the hundreds.
Hi there! I was thinking of making my own palm rest. In the previous blog post, there was a comment where you mentioned that you plan to make a cheaper palm rest. So I was thinking whether it would be possible to sell the mounting metal plate separately for that purpose.
Hi Peter! I'm sorry, but we don't sell the mounting plates of the palm rest separately. We'll announce the new palm rest version on the UHK newsletter when the time comes.
Finally got my UHK! It works really nice.
There is one problem: The feet are sort of fragile. One of the feet just broke when I tried to push and twist it in. The other feet went fine into postion, but after that it's also really hard to get them out in one piece.
I think the concept of hotswapping feet is great, but the quality of the feet will need improvement to get there.
Hi Junde, thanks for your kind words, and sorry to hear about this issue! It's not a matter of quality, but tolerances. We're still making very minor adjustments to the tooling to get this mechanism perfect. Please shoot an email to support at ultimatehackingkeyboard.com and we'll send you spare feet.
Hi Lazlo just wanted to ask for the feet are there plans for higher tenting angles? Currently the tenting angles might be abit low for some. Thank you.
Hi Habib! Yes, we plan to implement higher tenting angles. We don't have an ETA yet, but we'll announce such an accessory when the time comes.
Are you going to publish STL files for some of these basic parts for those of us that want to 3D print our own/replacement bits?
According to this knowledgebase query, we only publish the STL files of obsoleted parts that are neither produced nor stocked anymore. We'd make an exception in this case; however, even high-end industrial 3D printers cannot print the small hooks of the feet with sufficient strength, so injection-molded feet are the only viable option.
Ah, yeah, the feet hooks, got it. Makes sense.
I was just thinking if there's a small part like this it may be quicker/easier for some of us to just print off a replacement, rather than wait for shipping. Also relieve you of some additional logistics pressures.
Got my UHK as well (love it!) and the same thing happened to me. Kudos to László and the team for getting replacements out in a matter of *days!*
Thank you for a fantastic product. Definitely worth the wait!
Thanks for the kind words! So glad to see you're satisfied!
Could you weekly update the order number you had finished?
Hi there! Already did it over the weekend.
Got the UHK a month or so ago with key cluster and track ball.
Really impressed with the design and build quality. Very happy with the purchase.
Thank you so much! We're happy for you.