MONOKEI x Hand Engineering - Kage
“Friendship ... is born at the moment when one man says to another "What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . .”
- C.S. Lewis
Friendship sometimes begins like a good dream, you never quite know how you got there, and you'd love for it to never end. On rare occasions, one finds like-minded friends across oceans.
We've worked closely with Lewis of Hand Engineering over the past year and a half, from releases such as the Bauhaus inspired Haus to a multi-coloured veneration of British racing history. The Kage is a distillation of MONOKEI and Hand Engineering's visions of mechanical keyboard design.
The Kage is a top mount TKL with an optional o ring mounting style available as well.
1. Sale Format:
This sale is an unlimited group buy with the caveat of The Human Limit as always. We're confident of expanding that definition with the addition of regional vendors and have paid for production slots with the manufacturers for this design.
- The sale will run from the 8th of October 2021 till 11pm (GMT+8), 29th October 2021.
- A helpful timer for the duration of the sale is available here.
- ETA: Q4 2022
The launch time may differ according to region, so keep an eye out on Discord and other social media platforms for more information for your respective regions.
2. Combinations:
Kage Standard Kit
The available colours (aluminium top and bottom pieces) for the group buy are:
- Blush Pink
- Olive Green
- Royal Purple
- Suave Blue
- Titan Grey
- Silver
Each board also comes with:
- Hotswap or solder PCB
- Polycarbonate (frosted) full plate
- Sandblasted brass weight
- O ring
- Rubber feet
- Misc screws etc
Kage SE Kit
(Both variants available from all vendors)
Kit Colour | Plate | Weight |
Polycarbonate Top & Bottom (Frosted White) | Polycarbonate plate (Frosted White) | Copper (Sandblasted) |
Polycarbonate Top & Bottom (Titan Grey) | Polycarbonate plate (Titan Grey) | Copper (Sandblasted) |
3. Prices:
(Pricing for each vendor will be updated before the group buy starts)
Kit | MONOKEI | Mekibo (USD) | Apex | myKeyboard | Prototypist | DailyClack | Acid&Co | Thic Thock (USD) |
Kage Standard Kit (Solder) | S$660 | $504.99 | CAD630 | €529 | £460 Inc VAT / £383.33 Ex VAT | A$732.50 | TBC | $504.99 |
Kage Standard Kit (Hotswap) | S$675 | $514.99 | CAD640 | €539 | £470 Inc VAT / £391.67 Ex VAT | A$732.50 | TBC | $514.99 |
Kage SE Kit (Solder, both variants) | S$750 |
$569.99
|
CAD720 |
TBC | £525 Inc VAT / £437.5 Ex VAT | A$833.70 | TBC | $569.99 |
Kage SE Kit (Hotswap, both variants) | S$765 | $579.99 | CAD730 | TBC | £535 INC VAT / £445.83 Ex VAT | A$850.40 | TBC | $579.99 |
4. Layout:
5. Addons:
We're offering the following items as addons:
- Frosted Polycarbonate plate
- Aluminium plate (silver)
- Hotswap / Solder PCBs
- Kaban upgrade
6. Shipping & Taxes:
Please check with your respective vendors for further information. For Singapore residents, GST will be absorbed by MONOKEI.
7. Quality Expectations:
While we strive to provide a perfect experience, no kit can be 100% flawless at our scale of production, as such the caveats are as follows:
- No scratches on exposed / user facing parts of the keyboard (after installation of plate & PCB).
- Possible machining marks / scratches on the inside of the kit / pieces not exposed to the user. This includes scratches arising from anodisation hooks.
- Screw holes are NOT anodised.
- Slight anodisation variation between top and bottom pieces. Aluminium pieces are anodised in batches, and thus slight variation in tone and shade may occur.
- Brass / copper weight patina: brass and copper are materials that tarnish over time, you can clean it but note that it's a form of oxidation that we cannot control.