Project Updates - May 2022

We have experienced more delays due to continued disruptions to the supply chain spanning across all industries. In particular with our manufacturers and material suppliers inundated with lockdowns. We are now working hard with our partners to ascertain how we can catch up on progress and appreciate your patience during this time. Here are some project updates:

DUCK Switches: 

Prototypes of DUCK have landed and we are very happy with the results. We have fine tuned some minor details and the final samples are en-route. Excited to see how these switches will be applied during beta testing and general release. DUCK switches will be dropped in packs of 10 / 70 / 90 and can be added to pre-existing orders to save on shipping.

XO Team Caps:

We have received samples of the new generation XO Team Cap constructed with our own custom-made fabric. Some adjustments have been made to the shape and design elements (removing eyelets). These are already in production and will be available in-stock next month.

XO Saber:

Our May the 4th post generated a lot of traction for the RAMA WORKS Edition Saber. We are planning on introducing this as a contemporary art piece. The initial sample has been 3D printed with a metal prototype soon to follow once some modifications are made. We are thrilled to be adding more novelty / collectible items such as these to our catalog.

Doubleshot Keycaps:

The latest round of fine tuning has taken longer than expected as both our manufacturing partners and ourselves have been unhappy with the legends. These are very minor (and barely noticeable) inconsistencies between different injection molds on the production line. That being said, we wanted these to be exactly what we envisioned before mass production.

KARA SEQ 2:

The second iteration of the PCB has been completed and we’re waiting for them to arrive at our offices for final testing. Samples are on-track to ship at the end of the week.

Chess Set:

The packaging design has been finalized and we are expecting to receive a sample of this by the end of the month - we will update with photos when everything lands.

JARS: 

Injection molding of the JARS has been completed.The gasket/seal that sits under the lid wasn't functioning as expected so these have had to be reworked. We are expecting the shipment to arrive at our warehouse in Melbourne next week and will be distributed to you guys shortly after.

M6-C / GRID Caps:

Dandy has been shipped to all of our distribution partners. Metropolis enclosures are complete and are currently being assembled. The GRID caps and other components for these are already packed and waiting. As soon as METROPOLIS arrives to our warehouse they will be quickly packed and sent to our distributors for shipment!

By popular demand, we have also released Grid Set C Keycaps in MUSK (pink), MOMO (Light Orange), and MINT (Minty Green), with the Group Buy ending May 31st. Pre-order here:

ramaworks.store/products/grid-set-c-keycaps

Select versions of the GRID SET A and GRID SET B are also available.

MATS: Pre-order open (IN PRODUCTION)

We are excited to introduce our new MATS, available exclusively through RAMA WORKS®. This improved desk mat comes in four different colourways, perfect for matching any keyboard and desk setup combination. Production has already begun and the estimated date for fulfillment will be 1-2 months after the group buy end date (31/May).

Pre-order here: ramaworks.store/products/mats

If you encounter any issues with the shipping options please contact support@rama.works and our team will be happy to assist as best we can.

We have all been through a lot in the past few years. That is why the team at RAMA WORKS has decided to support Beyond Blue and donate all proceedings from the LOVE Edition to the cause. Beyond Blue is Australia’s most well-known and visited mental health organization, dedicated to supporting people affected by anxiety, depression and other related mental illnesses.

PENS: 

The housings for PEN have been completed and the ink cartridges have cleared customs from Hong Kong to our manufacturing partners. These are now being assembled by hand to test the fitment of each individual unit. We are stoked to see this product come to fruition and look forward to getting these into your hands.

Updated THERMAL packaging with ROSE GOLD foiling

THERMAL SEQ2 / THERMAL+:

THERMAL enclosures are finished and are currently being assembled and packaged by our manufacturer. The PCB manufacturer has received the components (ATMEGA Chips / JST Cables etc) from our suppliers and will commence production when the units are sea freighted to our warehouse for Q.C.

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THINGS TO COME:

There was an overwhelming response surrounding our April Fools post. Therefore we have begun initial ideation for the Planter and will be bringing this product to life 🍀

PRODUCT PREVIEWS:

BAT

DUCK SWITCHES

We also have a lot going in the background that we cannot wait to reveal!!

Project Updates - April 2022

RAMA WORKS has invested our time and resources to continuously improve and bring the best quality products to our customers. Although we have constantly been trying our best to push all the products out on our end, we are unfortunately stuck with limitations. The Global Covid Pandemic has caused more delays this year, with businesses and logistics being completely shut, then reopening with reduced capacity causing a backlog. Understandably we know this is frustrating. However, we will continue to do our best and keep everything moving and work out ways to avoid this in the future.

Our team has been working on new and exciting ideas, which we want to source and produce locally to avoid any further halts to production due to the pandemic while supporting local businesses. So stay tuned to the magic our team has been working on!

Doubleshot Keycaps:
After receiving the last batch of samples a few weeks ago, we were not 100% happy with the quality. We made some adjustments to the doubleshot tooling, which is more involved due to the material shrinkage and material flow between the legends. The samples with the new adjustments will arrive soon, and we are confident they will meet our high-quality standards and proceed with production.

We’re also adjusting the case to have an extended internal hinge - we’ve received the updated sample of this and are happy with it, and it is what will be utilised for the end product.

Jar: Production nearly completed
After adjusting the top lid mould to increase the draft angle by 2 degrees to apply a heavier texture finish to improve the grip, we have also opted for a translucent finish for better wear, which would hide any visible scratches over time. Hopefully, if there are no further logistical delays due to covid restrictions with the supply chain, we should be on track to get these out in the next month as they are currently being all moulded.

For any further clarifications on your JARS order, please do not hesitate to get in contact with us at support@rama.work

Here’s how the finish is changing:

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M6-C:

The M6-C PCB’s have finally arrived at our warehouse and are going through a rigourous quality check. We have the M6-C Dandy enclosures and GRID caps in our Melbourne Warehouse and will be ready to ship these shortly. We expect the remainder of the M6-C enclosures to be completed in 1-3 months. We’ll also make available in stock the new GRID colours we made for these.

RW KEYBOARD BUILD - SNAP AND WIN A U80 ⌨️ 😍 📸

Have you built your own RAMA WORKS Keyboard and want to add a U80 to your collection?!  💛 ⌨️ 🎁  

All you need to do is take a creative photo of your own RAMA WORKS Keyboard Build and share it on either Instagram, Facebook or Twitter & tag @ramaworks  including the hashtag #RWxMyKeyboardBuild. 

 The winning photo will be re-shared on all our social platforms 🥳

Our support team will get in contact with the winners via the information provided to organise your prize - we will do our best to provide the preferred colour keyboard to the winners - subject to availability ⌨️💛

👇Enter👇
Photo Competition Entry

Things to come:

👀

Global Updates:

Our manufacturing partners in Shenzhen / Shanghai have been placed under strict lockdown to curb the current COVID outbreak. This means that the global supply chain across all sectors will be disrupted for the foreseeable future. We are closely monitoring the situation and will continue to do our best under circumstances out of control. Thank you to all our loyal ongoing clients for their patients during these difficult times. We understand the delays can be frustrating, and in the ideal setting with no supply chain issues, we would be able to get the products to you in a timely manner. The past year has shown us how quickly things can change, so we are also adapting our Business by looking at new products we can source locally to avoid these issues and continue providing high-quality products.

Other Updates:

Timelines from the previous March update on our other products are still valid.

Project Updates - March 2022

We at RAMA WORKS place quality and care at our highest priority; we want to deliver a product we’re proud of.

Doubleshot Keycaps:
Two weeks ago, we received the latest batch of sample caps from the mould, and we’re still not completely satisfied with the legends on the modifier caps - we’ve outlined the changes we require and expect the next round of samples to arrive in 2-3 weeks or so. Again, Injection Molding is an iterative process - tooling after tooling changes until the end result is what’s expected. Doubleshot tooling is a bit more involved as the material shrinkage, and material flow between the legend and the casing needs to be accounted for. We’re confident that the keycaps will be completed relatively quickly once we receive samples we’re happy with. Of course, this is taking longer than expected, but we want what will be received by our customers to be what we expect.

We’re also adjusting the case to have an extended internal hinge - we’ve received the updated sample of this and are happy with it, and it is what will be utilised for the end product.

Jar:
These are almost production-ready; the top lid mould is being adjusted to increase the draft angle by 2 degrees to apply a heavier texture finish. The current texture does not have enough grip.

Here’s how the profile’s changing:

We can expect the production to complete in around 1-2 months.

THERMAL SEQ2 / THERMAL+:

We are expecting these to arrive in 2-4 months. We will have a fair amount of extra units available for these.

Pen:

Enclosures are done, and the included pen ink has been secured - we’re finalising the packaging. We should receive these in 1-2 months. We’ll also have extra’s available when they arrive and the original orders are shipped.

M6-C:

The M6-C PCB’s will be arriving in a month. We have the M6-C Dandy enclosures and GRID caps in our Melbourne Warehouse and will be ready to ship once the PCBs arrive. We expect the remainder of the M6-C enclosures to be completed in 1-3 months. We’ll also make available in-stock the new GRID colours we made for these.

Chess Set:

2-4 months until complete

KARA / M60-B / M65-C:

We’ve received the samples of the updated PCBs and are currently testing them before putting them into production. We’ve tested them in the KARA and M65 with ICED plates, and they feel really great; it provides a lot more dampening/give with the typing experience.

Metal Keycaps:

We are aiming to complete all outstanding keycaps within 1-4 months.

U80-A SEQ 2 Extras / Trays:
Being packed and going out ASAP!

Things to come:

BAT:

The moulded BATs are production-ready. We can’t wait for people to feel the quality and weight of these!

Jumpsuit:

These are production-ready and will launching alongside the BAT at a later date

Global Updates:

Our manufacturing partners in Shenzhen / Shanghai have been placed under strict lockdown in a bid to curb the current COVID outbreak. This means that the global supply chain across all sectors will be disrupted for the foreseeable future. We are closely monitoring the situation and the current advice is that the lockdown should lift by next Monday, 21 March.

Project Updates - Late January 2021

THERMAL

Thanks to the hard work of our fulfilment team over last week (with multiple 30°C+ (86°F) days!), we have now finalised the majority of THERMAL orders. The remainder (<50) will be going out this upcoming week.

We have a full build video up here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_4-0AurV2I

M65-B

The M65-B orders will also begin shipping later this week. 

The ICED units have finished and are in QC and being packed at our manufacturer as we speak.

The container for this shipment is being arranged currently. We’ll update again once we have a scheduled docking date!

M60-A OLIVIA/LNY20

The M60-A OLIVIA and LNY20 editions have completed QC and are being packed currently. They will be shipped alongside the M65-B ICED units.

M50-A

The M50-A units have completed QC and will begin being packed once the packaging boxes arrive from our other supplier.

JULES

JULES is currently still in anodising and QC. 

NEMO DECOMMISSION 2

NEMO is in surface treatment at the moment. We want to make sure NEMO’s face and body is nice and protected!

KARA

KARA has completed moulding and is now progressing into the assembly stage.

Some components are in short-supply at the moment, so we are waiting on the PCBs to complete.

KATE KEYCAPS

The tooling for the KATE keycaps is currently underway. We do expect this to take some time with Lunar New Year on the horizon.

IN-STOCK AND REPLACEMENT ITEMS

As we settle into the new warehouse and are able to physically access stock again, customers that have purchased in-stock items and/or have orders for replacement items can expect them to begin shipping later this week!

We appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding with the move 💛

Project Updates - December 2020

KARA

The KARA review units have now been sent out and should make their way into your favourite reviewers’ hands as soon as possible!

You can check out the build video here: rama.link/karabuild

KATE Keycaps

We’re anticipating to have KATE keycap prototypes towards the start of next year. We really look forward to sending these out to reviewers and are hoping they love them as much as we do 🥰

THERMAL + M65-B

The container of the remaining THERMAL and M65-B units is scheduled to be docking in the next few days! Our fingers are crossed for a fast customs clearance process 🤞

However, given the busy time of the year and the continual delays at all ports in Australia this year due to the pandemic, we are expecting it to take some time.

The M65-B ICED units are taking some extra time as the process for the frosted finish requires additional processing — they will be shipped as soon as they’re finished!

If you have an order for an outstanding THERMAL or an M65-B, please make sure your address is up to date! You can view your orders by logging in on our store. If you need to update your address, please: reply to you order confirmation, email us at support@rama.works, or submit a ticket at our support portal to change it (remember to quote your order number!).

The cut-off for this is the 18th of December.

M50-A

The M50-A units are currently progressing through QC and inspection. Once cleared, they’ll be next up for shipping to our warehouse.

M60-A OLIVIA/LNY2020

The M60-A OLIVIA and LNY20 EDITIONS are also progressing through QC and inspection, with some units still anodising. We’re expecting to be able to get them shipped together with M50-A.

Jules

Jules is very close behind with anodising well underway and moving onto QC and inspection as well.

Zenith

Zenith is well into the machining stage currently!

Canvas 2

Almost all of the Canvas 2 deskmat orders that are shippable (i.e. ordered by themselves or with in-stock items) have been shipped now! If your order hasn’t shipped, please get in contact with us.

We will be looking to offer extras as in-stock once we stock take them :)

TRAY

The TRAYs have just arrived and will be processed in the next couple of weeks for shipping!

GRID KEYCAPS

The NOCT GRID keycaps stock has been exhausted and they are currently on backorder. Extras have also been ordered!

U80-A Replacement ROSE bottom weights

For the people affected by the U80-A ROSE Bottom Weight issue, almost all of the replacements have been made now and are being shipped over to our warehouse in small batches currently. Once your replacement ships, you will receive a shipping confirmation.

We want to thank everyone for their understanding and patience regarding this issue! 💛

Heavy industry Spacebar

KBDfans/ePBT are currently producing remoulded spacebars that fix the sticking issue some Heavy Industry sets experience. If you are affected by this issue, please contact us if you haven’t done so already!

NEMO DECOMmission 2 + RW01 NIGHT EDITION

NEMO Decommission 2 and the RW01 NIGHT EDITION car are currently in machining and expected to complete by the end of this month. They’ll then move on to anodisation!

U80-A SEQ2

Pre-production for U80-A SEQ2 is well underway - We’re waiting on ordered material and will begin machining soon.

CHESS SET

We’re working on the latest revisions of our upcoming chess set. We’re super excited and can’t wait to show more ♟

Project Updates - September 2020

THERMAL

The THERMAL units have arrived at our warehouse. Preparation for shipping begins this Monday! There will be extras once all of the pre-orders are shipped.

U80-A SEQ1 EXTRAS

Fulfilment for SEQ1 is more or less complete! We’ll be performing a stock count on Monday to confirm the numbers. Expect to see the sale shortly after - date and time will be announced!

JULES

Jules is now heavily in the machining stage - they’re expected to complete by the end of October/early November currently.

M65-B

M65-B is currently being packaged at the factory - they’ll be shipped to our warehouse once complete. The PCBs are due to be complete at the end of the month and sent to us for early October arrival. The MUTE mounts have already arrived at our warehouse.

M60-A LNY/OLIVIA

Similar to Jules, these are heavily in machining, they’re expected to complete by the end of October/early November.

M50-A + GRID SET B Keycaps

The M50-A units are also in machining currently and are expected to complete by the end of October/early November. The GRID SET B Keycaps are in stock and ready to ship.
KEYCAPS STORE

ZENITH

Production has officially begun for Zenith and they’re currently in the early stages of machining.

CANVAS

The Canvas deskmats are scheduled to ship from our manufacturer to our box supplier at the end of the month for packing - then shipped to our warehouse for fulfilment. Expect another month for sea-freight.

TRAY

The TRAYs are currently in production. We’ll post a further update once we receive an ETA from our manufacturer. UPDATE: Expected to complete around the end of October/Early November.

KATE

The double-shot mould production for the KATE keycaps has begun! We've finalised the placement of the legends for the tooling and progress is being made! We're working on the packaging in the meantime and can't wait to show more.

KARA

The surface finish is now being added to the mould and the master colour batches are being mixed to our specified colours. We are expecting to receive these in the following weeks. Once these are inspected, tested and signed off - we can begin the pre-order! We were really hoping KARA would be ready by the end of this month but as we mentioned in previous updates, we want to get this product exactly right as it’s our favourite to date - we cannot wait for people to try these out for themselves! We’re working on a line of accessories for the KARA series as well.

NEMO Decommission 2

The pre-order for NEMO Decommission 2 closes on the 30th of September. Production will start immediately afterwards.
NEMO PRE-ORDER

COLLABORATION CAPS

We've added the new RWxNK WAVE SEQ2 cap to our store! This cap is machined from Stainless Steel and features a unique chromatic Blue/Purple PVD. This coating is tough to produce as it requires multiple PVD coatings to achieve the multi-colour finish.
KEYCAPS STORE

GRID SEQ2 Caps / M65-B / M60-A Olivia+LNY / M6-C YOLK + More

GRID SEQ2 Keycaps

We’ve received the colour samples for the SEQ2 release of the GRID caps, we’re happy with how the colour has come out and are continuing with the manufacturing run, we expect to ship the caps next month.

M65-B

M65-B are all in anodising (Aluminium Editions) and PVD coating now (TANK Edition) - we expect the units to be finished at the end of this month and the Polycarbonate units shortly after. These are all in the final stages, and we hope to have them packaged next month and sea-freighted off to our warehouse for final packing and shipping.

M60-A Olivia / LNY

Both M60 editions have finished machining and are currently being polished before the next stages of post-processing.

M6-C YOLK

The remainder of the M6-C YOLK editions will be finished by the middle of this month, and we can expect to receive them by the end of the month for shipping

U80-A Remaining units / THERMAL

The shipping container is ordered, and these are all being packed and will be off to Australia shortly.

ZENITH

Our most recent Foundry offering, ZENITH, has concluded pre-orders. Any extra allocated stock units will be available through our store until sold-out. We expect machining alone to take around 4-6 months.

Australian Warehouse - STAGE 4 Restrictions

As of last week, Melbourne was placed into Stage 4 lockdown, and only some businesses can operate under these newly introduced restrictions. RAMA WORKS is within the approved companies and will continue to operate and ship during this time. However we will be working at a reduced capacity until we write-out Worker Permits for our temporary packing staff - we are sorting this out as soon as possible. Our main priority is keeping our workers safe and operating within the Government guidelines.

CANVAS 2 / XL

The CANVAS is back open again for pre-order, this way we can supply the demand of the units. The pre-order will close on the 15th of August. At that point, we will then begin production

M10-C

The M10’s are shipping!! Excited to see these out 😁

COLLABORATION CAPS

For the first time, we have some Collaboration Keycaps available through our web store. They are also available alongside the keysets through the respective distributor sites.

Support Channel / 135 Canister / Silver Hotshoes / GRID NANO

Support Channel

Since beginning RAMA WORKS, I’ve always wanted to handle everything myself as everyone must receive the same care and attention. Over these few years, I’ve personally answered over 8000 support tickets (and the typical 4 level chains within) on top of those that emailed me directly. Ongoing, this hasn’t been sustainable and has prevented me from doing things to run the company in its full capacity and to work on making new products. As of yesterday, we’ve brought on a new member to work on our support channel and handle those requests. We’ve currently disabled Facebook Chat and not actively replying on Instagram/Twitter at our full capacity as it’s been overbearing - we will train up and have the ability for these channels in the following months. Previously, personally handling support emails, there are many people I have interacted with and love chatting to. With new personnel on board, we will not tolerate any disrespect or harassment towards our team members - at the end of the day, we want to do whatever we can to resolve an issue and make sure everyone is happy. We appreciate everyone’s patience and are excited for what’s to come for the rest of the year as I have more time to allocate in what I enjoy. I will continue to focus more effort in supporting this update blog whenever possible! 💛

Sneak peak of some of the packaging that we commissioned from the incredibly talented Janne Iivonen for the KARA!

135 Canister / Silver Hotshoes

With the Film Canisters / Hotshoes, we thought that we had received all units in the first shipment. Unfortunately, this was not the case. With the reduced transit/freight flights, we’ve had to space out our shipments as there’s a newly introduced weight limit with some carriers in reducing the amount of air-freight you can send at a time. So we’re receiving items in batches. The first batch was the all the 120 (4U) canisters, and we’ve shipped out all of those orders. We’ve shipped around 60% of the 135 (2U) canisters and are expecting to receive the second batch in about two weeks where we will swiftly pack and send them as soon as they arrive. The same case with the hotshoes, all KURO units have shipped and are expecting to receive the MIST hotshoes by the end of the week or early next. Some orders may have had the shipping labels already printed, and have received a ship notification - as soon as the extra 135 canisters arrived and are picked up by DHL, you’ll receive an email from DHL 🤗

M50-A NANO

For those interested, we present, the NANO colourway of the M50-A!

RW CHESS

An early look at our chess set that we are working on! ♛

M50-A Assembly/Typing Video + Extended / M65-B / GRID Caps / FILM / CANVAS

M50-A

We’ve extended the M50-A pre-order period to the 30th of this month, we’ve also created a quick video showcasing it! Unfortunately, with our move, we didn’t have everything we needed. But, either way - we hope you like the look of the board, we’re incredibly happy with the feel and size of it!

We’ve also extended the GRID keycaps to the end of the month as well. The CANVAS XL are now being packed and shipped along with the FILM accessories + NEMO. M6 Milkshake will also be shipping out to the distributors shortly!

M65-B

The machining has completed for the Aluminium variants of the M65-B! We expect to freight the Aluminium units next month and the polycarbonate ones later (will update as we are closer to the date).

M60-A EDITIONS

We’ll be posting updates of the M60 EDITIONS (LNY / OLIVIA) soon, please stay tuned!

KARA

We’re super excited to show this as it comes together, aiming to show something late next month.

U80-A / THERMAL PCB's inbound! + GRID keycaps

U80-A / THERMAL

The THERMAL and U80-A PCB’s are inbound from our manufacturer, and we will have it in our warehouse within the month. Orders which have the U80-A or THERMAL PCB by itself will be shipped out once they’ve arrived!

We’ll post a further update when they land in our warehouse.

JULES

In other news, we’ll be launching our latest offering through the RAMA WORKS® Foundry, Jules. A board designed by Zambumon.

GRID Keycaps

We also expect our GRID keycaps from our January re-run to support the bushfires to arrive by the end of month and ship within April as they are packed. Thanks to all that supported through this pre-order and to those that donated directly 💛

We also expect to ship Heavy Industry SEQ3 sets next month!

Extra stock of the GRID caps are available to purchase through our store.

Film Accessories

We will be shipping the Film accessories in 2/3 weeks - we'll be including extra goodies with each order!

We're also increasing our CNC machining capabilities this month to speed up our machining times across all our product lines 🏭

M50-A GRID / U80-A + THERMAL Updates / CANVAS XL

RAMA WORKS® M50-A GRID

In the following weeks, we’ll be releasing our latest keyboard, the M50-A GRID. It will be available as a complete kit with switches, stabilisers and our GRID keycaps in a new retro cream colourway. It will be available in a powder-coated finish along with a few other variants we’re excited to show!

U80-A + THERMAL Updates

As the anodizing factories return back to work after the extended LNY we can complete the final stages of production and anticipate the boards to be finished in March, both for the U80-A and THERMAL. They will then be packed and sea-freighted to our main warehouse for shipment. At this stage we expect to be shipping in April / May!

Ready-To-Ship Items

Our wear items are in stock and ready to ship, this includes the TEAM SHIRT / SWEATER & TEAM CAP. You can see all our ready-to-ship items at: rama.link/stock

CANVAS XL

Due to popular demand, we've brought the Canvas XL back! Production begins at the end of the month for the Canvas XL pre-order - limited stock when production starts.
Preorder at: ramaworks.store/products/canvas-2-deskmat