lol yeah it’s not small

Yeah, the arrow keys don’t really need to be “exploded” on this board. They’re already right there in the corner and east to locate by touch without needing to offset them like that. And if they were flush then you wouldn’t need the dead space… no perfect board tho.

Yeah it is steel. Most of the Q series have different plate materials available but not the 12 as yet. However the CAD file is on their website. I’m looking into getting a pc plate cut from the file at a local place but need to work out some details around where there should be holes drilled and so forth. https://www.keychron.com/pages/keychron-q12-keyboard-plate-file

Yup!

• Barebones Silver Q12
• Gateron North Pole
• Monokei Series 1 White on Black

Yet to arrive/do:

• Switch pads
• Lubed Durock stabilisers
• Blue Tack under space bar, enter key etc

I may yet installed Gateron CJs as I’ve used them in a previous Q series build and liked the sound and feel of them a lot when combined with some damping and nice thick keycaps.

Interestingly the Q12 has arrived with a “tape mod” pre-applied by the factory in the form of some thick card/paper adhered to the back of the PCB.

• Gateron North Pole Switches
• Monokei Series 1 White on Black

No mods as yet, there’s self-adhesive paper backing the PCB, and force break between the two case halves, from the factory. Combined with the North Pole switches it is very quiet and clean sounding.

The layout will take some getting used to but it’s lovely to type on so far.

Also sorry. I didn’t mean to imply you should give up on making yours!

It’s in their Discord

Nice! Been looking for just this layout.

Keep an eye out for the Keychron Q12 in coming months. No fingerprint sensor but otherwise very similar.