Beyond the stars, into the uncharted.
Introducing Event Horizon, a unique keyboard inspired by humanity's longing to explore the unexplored.
Design Philosophy
Event Horizon is all about contrast. Dark versus light, textured versus smooth, raw versus coated.
Inspiration comes from my passion for science fiction, and humanity's urge to explore the uncharted.
Its mark is a stylized representation of a black hole, and the bottom features and illustration of the voyage ahead. As for the name: an event horizon is defined as "a boundary beyond which events cannot affect an observer", which felt pretty fitting.
Specifications
Dimensions
- Width
- 348.8 mm (13.73 in.)
- Depth
- 129.6 mm (5.1 in.)
- Height
- 35.7 mm (1.41 in.)
- Front Height
- 17 mm (0.67 in.)
Weight
- Event Horizon
- 2.6 kg (5.7 lb.) built
- Supermassive
- 5.4 kg (11.9 lb.) built*
Typing Angle
8 degrees.
Materials
- Event Horizon
- Aluminum top, stainless steel bottom, black wrinkle coat
- Supermassive
- Brass top, brass bottom, dark gold wrinkle coat
* Due to the weight, Supermassive might be more expensive to ship. It is legit heavy.
The Production Process
There's a total of 5 steps each board goes through during production. Event Horizon has a unique look and requires and orchestration of treatments never been done before, but thanks to the deep know-how of everyone involved we figured out a way to pull it off.
- Salvun clamps down a piece of stock aluminum (or brass) in the CNC machine to mill out the top part.
- After the top side is finished, the board is now flipped around (and held down with the help of a vacuum mechanism) to mill out the bottom part of the board.
- The raw board gets transported to Becoating, who powder coats the entire board, and bakes it to activate the wrinkle.
- After the coating has settled, the board is gently placed back into the CNC and the delicate process of clearing off the top ridge starts, revealing the signature 2-tone look and dotted "chin". At the same time a 0.25mm chamfer is applied to avoid sharp edges.**
- As a final step, we take the board back to Becoating to apply a clear protective layer so no raw materials are exposed to corrosion.
That concludes the production process, after which it gets QC'd (quality controlled), packaged, and sent off.
There will be some minor chipping among the edges of the top surface. This has been taken into consideration ever since I started working on the board, I consider it to be part of the design.
** The first prototype had edges so sharp I cut my thumb open while cleaning it with a piece of microfiber.
How To Purchase
Event Horizon will be available through a pre-order in the near future. To get notified, sign up for the newsletter, or join the MVKB Discord server.
The boards will be available at Protozoa in the United Kingdom and United States (ships from South Carolina), and Salvun in Europe (ships from Belgium). International shipping is available too.
Supermassive is limited to 50 units, the regular version is unlimited but we will close orders after a certain amount of orders to avoid long lead times.
This board will only run once, and there will be no extras.
Pricing***
- Event Horizon
- $[TBD]
- Supermassive
- $[TBD]
*** Prices exclude taxes, shipping, and potential import taxes. See what's included
Who's Involved
This board is proudly designed and produced in Belgium, with some help from friends in the UK and US.
Layout Options
Event Horizon features a 65% layout with a 4-key macro (XT) column on the left. There are 3 PCBs in total: The main PCB, the XT PCB and the daughter board, all designed by Yiancar. Event Horizon is supported by VIA and QMK.
The main PCB comes in 2 options:
Hot Swap PCB
- Regular backspace
- ANSI enter
- Non-stepped caps lock
- Regular left shift
- 7u spacebar
Solder PCB
- Regular and split backspace
- ANSI or ISO enter
- Non-stepped or stepped caps lock
- Regular and split left shift
- 7u spacebar
XT PCB
The XT PCB only comes as hot swap.
Mounting Styles
Event Horizon has a soft but firm typing feel. It is not flexible or bouncy by design.
2 mounting styles are supported and included with the board:
Dampened O-ring Mount
The o-ring mount is a classic mounting style where a large rubber band sits sandwiched between the plate and PCB, held in place by the switches. We re-evaluated this mounting style, and placed the plate standoffs so that the rubber band is evenly positioned all around (o-ring mounted boards so far only relied on the switches to position the rubber band resulting in less pressure in some of the corners).
Clip-in stabilizers are included with every board since screw-in stabilizers are not compatible with o-ring style mounting.
Dampened Bumper Mount
We've also included a silicone mat (which I'm naming the "bumper"). It's placed (sandwiched) between the plate and PCB. The feel is similar to the o-ring mount, but it gives the board a more muted sound signature.
Unique Detail
Both mounting styles rely on friction to keep the sandwich in place. While this is by no means a new mounting style, there's a small twist that makes it unique: There are relief gaps in the plate, which allow the sandwich to fully dampen vibrations (instead of having the o-ring or bumper bottom out against the plate).
In The Box
- Board top
- Board bottom
- Aluminum plate
-
PCBs
- Main PCB (hot swap or solder)
- XT PCB (hot swap only)
- Daughter board
- JST cables
- Clip-in stabilizers
- O-ring
- Silicone mat
- Plate stand-offs and screws
- Screws
- Tools
- Feet
- Microfiber cloth
- Traveling case
Optional
- Extra plates (aluminum or FR4)
-
Extra PCBs
- Main PCB (hot swap or solder)
- XT PCB (hot swap only)
- Daughter board
- Extra o-rings
- Extra silicone mats
Event Horizon will only run once. If you think you might need an extra plate or PCB in the future, it's best to add those to your order.
What You Still Need
While a lot is included when you purchase this keyboard, there are some components you still need to fully build and use it:
- USB type C cable
- Switches (70 for hot swap, more for solder depending on which layout you use)
- Keycaps
