Designing the Crown Mounting System - Mode Keyboards

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:00]You don't get anything right on the first try. And the more times you make something, the more you learn and develop a better understanding of what you're trying to achieve. And if you want to make something good, you have to make it over [music] and over and over again.

[00:00:17]>> [music] >> At the beginning of 2025, we set out to design our most satisfying typing experience yet. Every component in the keyboard plays a role, but the mounting system, which joins the internal components to the case, is the foundation. Every mounting system comes with trade-offs. You can have something that's very stable, but it comes at the cost of a harsh typing feel and a metallic sound profile. You can also have something that's very soft, and that typically sounds good, but it may be too mushy and you might be bending components in unwanted ways. So, we set out to design a mounting system without compromises. One that provides stability without harshness. One that is comfortable without feeling too mushy.

[00:00:53]And one that removes unwanted sounds, allowing the character of your plate, your switches, and your keycaps to shine. So, where do we begin? So, two things matter most when you're looking at the typing experience, the feel and the sound. But how do you define what a good feel and a good sound are? Within the hobby, it's a very subjective experience for everyone. There's a gamut of different sound profiles and typing feels that you can achieve. But most people can align on a few things that are [music] bad. So, for our team when we were setting our goals and parameters for this, it was a lot easier for us to define [music] what was bad and things that we wanted to avoid and just keep an open mind on what an ideal sound could be. So, when we first started looking at what our new mounting system could be, they came across the concept of flexures. And I thought it could be really applicable to what we were trying to achieve because it could be a single piece and you can really dial in how stiff [music] or how soft it was.

[00:01:46]However, the mathematics behind it were a bit beyond me. So, I wanted to bring in a third party who could help us explore that option. That led us to finding a group called Swoop, who is a mechanical engineering firm based out of San Francisco. And I took this concept to them alongside a pretty lengthy brief [music] on both keyboards and what our goals were for this project. They certainly helped us explore the concept of >> [music] >> using flexures, but we also took it as an opportunity to do a blue sky exploration of what a mounting system [music] could be through the lens of someone who is very mechanically minded but not necessarily [music] biased towards the current keyboard trends. And what they did have was a ton [music] of tools. Yes. So, they could try a lot of things out. They could build small quick prototypes. And they had the ability to measure it against our goals. So, one example of that is we wanted to [music] get a sense of how well a mounting system removed vibration from the keyboard, right? So, we attached a sensor to one side of the keyboard [music] and we would press the key on the left side and then we would press the key on the right side and we would compare how much vibration was on the right versus the left. [music] And that would tell you how well the mounting system was actually taking vibration out of the system. So, another interesting thing working with Swoop and looking at these vibration tests was the vibration decay. So, we could test all of these different flexure systems.

[00:03:05]Seeing those tests gave us a sense of [music] the damping of each of the flexures. So, it was fascinating to see >> [music] >> how things peaked and how quickly they dissipated. Testing both existing mounting systems that are out [music] there in the world as well as a bunch of prototypes that we created in this process. So, that was a really fun way to objectively measure an aspect of these systems versus just basing everything off of [music] preference and what we could feel. Yeah, I think the the dissipation measurement particular was really interesting and and useful for us because that tend to align pretty well with the mounting systems [music] that we enjoyed, right? Or the properties of the mounting system that we enjoyed. So, the quicker the sound starts and stops typically results in a more favorable sound profile. So, we explored a variety of different architectures for the mounting system.

[00:03:56]Most of them were flexure based and most of them underperformed against what we wanted out of it. However, there was one that was a bit of wild card that stood out and I think you had a strong emotional reaction the first time you experienced typing on that one. That one used the wave spring. That was a really interesting little mechanism here because unlike a standard spring, this takes up a lot [music] less space and it still has a really nice compression and rebound. And when we had this in the board, it felt head and shoulders above [music] all the other tests that we did.

[00:04:28]It outperformed all of them on all of the metrics that we were measuring. And for me, it just left that emotional response like, "Wow, this is a joy to type on." I think the the word that we used a lot, it felt lively. And I think that was the best way to capture this.

[00:04:41]But this thing had challenges. What were the challenges with this?

[00:04:44]>> Mhm. There were certainly challenges and I also want to call out that adding the silicone overmold was [music] a key piece to this because the the wave spring on its own didn't provide enough damping. The silicone on its own felt too [music] mushy. But the combination of the wave spring and the silicone gave us the best of both worlds. It felt great. It sounded great, but it wasn't stable. It was loose in the case and there's a lot of unwanted side-to-side movement. So, we had to figure out how to fix it [music] to the case. It definitely had the most promise out of everything we tried and I think there was enough promise there that it was worth iterating [music] on and and kind of pushing the rest aside. So, I think that was the point where we liked this so much that we wanted to revisit some of our initial constraints. One of those was we didn't want to introduce any extra fasteners to the system. However, I think you had a great idea of, "Okay, well, what if we relax that constraint a little bit and kind of use top mount as a starting point for how we could actually work this into our mounting system." Yeah, and a top mount is a very basic or a very traditional style of mounting to a keyboard where you take your internals [music] and you screw it to the top of the case. This is one of those harsh typing sounds, but some [music] people really like it. I think we've always tried to work with that and try to make that sound better. The only thing that we don't really like about a traditional top mount, it doesn't give you much flex or response in there. And so, that's something that we wanted to see how we might combine these two types of mounting systems. And [music] I noticed in the wave spring, like there's a hole down the middle. What if this little hole down the middle becomes a screw that we utilize and put a top mount screw in there? [music] After kicking around the idea for another week, we came up with this interesting [music] structure that started with a shoulder bolt and a stack of components here that would allow the overmolded wave spring to sit uncompressed. So, one of the reasons why we have a shoulder bolt is so that you can't keep tightening this thing and compressing the spring, right? So, the shoulder actually stops it from over compressing.

[00:06:41]Cuz if it's over compressed, then you have no rebound from the spring. You get none of that action and it just becomes top [music] mount again. So, once we had a structure that we were pretty happy with with this general concept, I felt like this was good enough [music] for us to do iterations because we were capable at that point now to play with all of the properties and all the variables to explore this further. Right. At this point, we reached the limits of what we could do with mostly off-the-shelf parts. So, that we were using a combination of things that we could find at a hardware store with some 3D printed pieces. We needed to go a step further.

[00:07:16]Then we started designing completely custom components that fit the exact parameters that we needed for this to [music] work. And this process took months.

[00:07:24]I think it was probably 6 to 8 months of us doing the next few rounds of prototyping, constantly playing with one variable at a time. Right. And for me, it was definitely a a journey of discovery [music] for this cuz while it felt like we got 80% of the way there in those first 3 months, it took us another 8 months to get that last 20%. And a lot of that was we were developing a much better understanding [music] of how each component affected the overall feel and sound of the system. And each time we had a new insight or revelation around how this thing worked, we had to cut new iterations. And with those new iterations, something new would emerge.

[00:08:00]Um but eventually, we found most of those things. So, obviously we had to do a lot of iteration and testing. And at the same [music] time as developing our mounting system, we were designing a new keyboard. Problem is we were nowhere near close to a functional version of our keyboard. I think we were still kicking around [music] the model in CAD.

[00:08:18]So, we needed to test this in something.

[00:08:21]What did we [music] end up doing? We were designing a mounting system for a keyboard that didn't exist yet. If you want to make progress faster, one of the best things you can do is shorten your feedback loop. And the way we did that was creating what you see here is a a test board, which at its core is quite simple. It is a platform which has [music] different fastening points.

[00:08:40]Yeah, the beauty of this test board that Andrew and Jacob came up with was when we replace a layer, we could do something like figure out if we want [music] four mounting points versus eight mounting points. And we could test that very quickly by just swapping the [music] middle layer and then fastening everything together. So, it was a really fun way to quickly iterate [music] and prototype and then compare AB. What does four points sound like versus eight points?

[00:09:04]>> [music] >> Which ones were more stable and could we get away with less? And it was a really interesting process [music] to see that.

[00:09:11]And I felt like we could see the results in 1 week, get some insights, and then be cutting a new piece of metal the next week and then we could [music] do another round of testing. So, that was very fun. Eventually, we got to a point where I was very happy with the feel and sound of this [music] test board configuration. We had a wave spring configuration that was in there [music] and I felt like, "This sounds so good.

[00:09:35]This sounds and feels like nothing I've ever felt before. I think it's time to move it forward."

[00:09:41]>> So, we took everything that we learned in the test board and we transferred it here to the Encore, a keyboard that we designed previously because we wanted to hear what our new mounting system sounded like in a real keyboard. And our new keyboard that we've been designing was nowhere close to done, but we thought this was a great opportunity to bring it to this one and test it. And there was a lot of high hopes for me going into it, but when we finally had built it up and tested it, it didn't sound great. And I was so disappointed because I felt like we made so much progress with all of our tests, and I was expecting it to just sound [music] even better in a real keyboard. I think feeling disappointed with it isn't [music] wrong cuz you you always you always go into another round of prototyping with with high hopes. When we were working off of the test board, you know, there it wasn't just uh taking the parts, putting them in there, and taking notes. There was a lot of steps in between, [music] tweaking things you could tweak, basically making a series of modifications to the point where the parts that you had produced looked a lot different at the end of that test than the beginning of that test.

[00:10:40]>> [music] >> The good news is you're able to get something that sounds good. The hard part is translating all those little changes into the next iteration in a way that works. So, something as small as 0.1 mm being off in our system can make or break this new mounting system in the typing experience. That was something that we had to refine over a bunch of new iterations of this keyboard.

[00:11:02]Something I was originally disappointed with, but learned [music] to live with and learned to accept that, ah, this is part of the process. When we were were testing these, uh I needed a way to troubleshoot, and I like to think in like systems. So, if there's not a system for something, I like to create a system for something um that I can [music] go to as a structured way of thinking about a problem. So, with the keyboard, you know, it turned into something that we're now calling the the acoustic [music] chain, but I needed a way to troubleshoot when there was a problem with sound. And the best way to troubleshoot is to try to [music] isolate the scope of what you're looking at. So, we break it down into, okay, where does sound start and where does sound end? That comprises the acoustic chain. So, it starts with your keycaps, moving into your switches, moving into your plate, going into the case, down to the feet, and into your desk. The mounting system is in the middle of that, but I want to try to move remove as many components as I can from the chain when we're looking at uh where is [music] a bad sound coming from. So, for example, in a few tests, I was trying to determine whether the issue was with how the bottom case and the top case were coming together. Uh so, I would remove the bottom case entirely. Do I still hear that weird sound? I did. Okay, well, it has to do with how the plate is affixed to the top case, not how the uh the bottom and top case are interacting.

[00:12:09]I think because you had a very clear process of isolating variables, you were able to find that culprit. So, the series of tests that we did next were kind of pitting it was almost like a like a tournament bracket, right? Where we were pitting different concepts against each other and then letting the winning ideas move forward. Uh so, for example, we wanted to see whether, you know, a singular sleeve that kind of hosts the uh the wave spring would work better than having a bushing combined with a wave spring. In that case, we decided the bushing was the winner.

[00:12:36]Moving forward, we wanted to challenge whether we actually needed the wave spring because that was creating a lot of challenges for us. So, we revisited if we could take a purely silicone approach. And if we could try to eliminate some of the mushiness that that came with using silicone, we tried several different versions of that. Ultimately, none of them lived up to the wave spring solution. So, I'm like, okay, we got to keep working with the wave spring. The next uh competition was, okay, do we actually need to overmold the wave spring or >> [music] >> can we use this spool shape that we came up with to provide the damping effect that we like? And that ended up being a winning solution for us. It simplified the manufacturing process considerably, and I think it ends up looking quite nice. Up to this point, we're already a year into this process. We made all of these changes based off of all the insights we learned, and [music] we cut a new version of the Encore prototype with the new mounting system in there. I remember you came over, we were building it up, and we're so excited cuz it looked beautiful. Everything seemed like it's going to come together, and still something was wrong. It still didn't sound right. There were still little things off, and at this point for me, I started to have >> [music] >> doubts. I felt like, oh my gosh, we've invested a whole year into this process, [music] and we still haven't figured out how to solve some of these problems, [music] or every time we fix a problem, two new ones pop up. I always go back to our current mounting system and like, well, this one works, and it sounds good. Are we actually making something better, or am I just having this sunk cost bias?

[00:14:11]We've spent so much time and money and energy in this. Are we actually making something better? So, those were the doubts that started to creep up in my mind, and I was very worried that will we ever see the end of this project?

[00:14:23][music] The thing that was always encouraging to me was we were able to get it to a spot that sounded good, >> [music] >> and I couldn't let go of that. Like I also did plenty of comparisons with the mounting block system that we we started with, and I would like pulling people close to me, too, and I'd, you know, get have them do a blind test and be like, all right, which one was better? And they kept saying the new one was better, and I was like, okay, this this has to work, right? We went through the whole troubleshooting process again, and I think in this case, we made the mistake of changing too [music] many things at one time and making some assumptions about the case design that we shouldn't have.

[00:14:55]Um overcorrected [music] in in in several cases. On top of that, we still weren't using proper production tooling and manufacturing processes [music] on these components. The tolerances were still a little bit loose. So, I was like, okay, I think we can dial in the components, and I think we can correct some of our overcorrections, and I think that one will sound good. While we're waiting for the next round of prototypes, we had to think about the name [music] of our mounting system. And to this point, we're just referring to it as the mounting bolt system, >> [music] >> which is totally fine, but I think it was you who was pushing for us to come up with maybe explore something more interesting. Why did you want to do that? Naming is always one of the hardest parts of a project, [music] and using a very straightforward descriptive name is never a bad solution. It communicates the product well, um and it makes our lives easier. [music] If you can come up with something that is a little more unique or artistic, though, I just I just think it's more fun and a little more memorable, and I think it helps to uh kind of put a stamp on on all the work that we put into the [music] project. So, we started brainstorming different ideas for names.

[00:15:55]We had several meetings about it. We came up with some that were pretty [music] good, some were a little weird.

[00:16:00]And after our third or fourth meeting on it, I had this realization that one of the inspirations for the look of the part could make for a good name. But with any idea, I think it's a uh it's good to sleep on it and see if it feels good the next day still. And uh in the meantime, we had some new prototypes to look at. At this point, over a year has passed [music] from us deciding to design this new mounting system to us testing [music] the latest version of our prototype. We've made dozens and dozens of iterations, [music] and we wanted to gather the team together in our Boston office to sit down and check out the new prototype. And [music] that was an interesting experience. We went from a lot of in-house prototypes and [music] kind of rough around the edges components to now something that was production finished. Most of the time when you're looking at something on the the [music] computer screen versus seeing it in person for the first time, it's a little underwhelming. There there's [music] stuff that, you know, you you just can't hold up to a perfect render. In this case, somehow, the part looked even better in person than it did on the screen. So, everything Kenny was hoping like, this is the one that works really well. I was feeling the same way.

[00:17:07]Because I've been looking at all of these prototypes up until now, they were good, but this was incredible. It looks like a piece of jewelry. We've even looked at it under a microscope, and [music] kind of seeing all the fine details, all of the little chamfers and edges, and engravings that we put on this thing, I was surprised that this level of detail actually [music] came through in a production part. So, this got me very excited, but it can look good and still be bad, [music] and the proof is in the pudding. I mean, the moment of truth started with installation. So, one of our challenges was we needed to dial in the length of the shoulder just right so that all these components didn't end up over compressed, which again was one of our biggest problems or challenges throughout all of this. So, we disassembled the board, and we started putting these things in there, and [music] it was perfect. The the part stopped exactly where it needed to.

[00:17:55]Nothing was over compressed. Nothing was contacting where it shouldn't be contacting. So, at that point, I was feeling pretty optimistic about it.

[00:18:01]>> I had that same feeling, too. Uh screwing these into [music] the case, there's some satisfaction of it stopping precisely where we wanted [music] it to stop, and seeing the uncompressed spring just levitating there. There that was so satisfying [music] for me, and that is definitely a a win moment. It's like, ooh, this is probably it.

[00:18:19]But we had to hold our breath until we actually got to type [music] on it, and we finally built it, and I think all of us were a little hesitant. No one wanted to type on it cuz we're like, ooh, I don't want to be the first one cuz if it's bad, then I'm the bearer of bad news. I think you were the first one to type on it, right?

[00:18:34]>> I was, yeah. I was uh I was I was glad to do the honors, and uh we took a little vote. We're like, which key should we press first? Right?

[00:18:42]>> [laughter] >> Yeah. I said space bar. Space bar for sure. That's the most important key for me. Yeah, I think it's the one you you hear the most, right? So, it makes sense. Let's try the the most important key first. So, we gave it a few taps.

[00:18:56]It was really good. It was I think it was our best space bar yet. Maybe, okay, that's a little hyperbolic, perhaps, but I'll stand by it. I think it was the best sounding space bar we've made so far. Going around the room, everybody got a chance to type on it, and for me, when I was typing on it, all those doubts that I had earlier started to release. I just felt like, wow, wait a minute. This sounds really good. This sounds really, really good. Well, going from something that I was a little doubtful of to something now that has all of the qualities that we set out to capture. [music] For me, I felt like I think we arrived.

[00:19:32]So, I'm always a little bit slow to accept good results.

[00:19:35]>> [music] >> Uh I typically like to spend a little more time with things before saying anything definitive. So, I spent some more time with the board, and there were certainly a few things we had to tweak that we didn't get [music] quite right, but overall, I was able to look at this and say we have a a winning version Because none of those tweaks were fundamental. We're talking really small changes here. Having said that, I know it's in good hands with Andrew to take this to the finish line. That name that we came up with, that started to sink in [music] and it felt really good, especially seeing these in person. So, the name that Jacob had suggested was the crown mounting system. And the reason why is at some point in the design process, I was referencing the crown [music] on watches, which is the knob you use to set the time. And that inspired a lot of the little details that you see on this thing. Seeing this in person, especially in this brass finish, it feels like a crown. It feels like a little crowning achievement.

[00:20:29]Uh >> [laughter] >> I mean, it looks like a jewel. I kept saying over and over, especially when I was looking at this in the microscope, it felt like jewelry. I think you even had a a comment on it, too, about wearing this thing, right?

[00:20:41]>> If it doesn't work as a mounting system, I think we can sell them as cufflinks.

[00:20:45]That's right. For me, this the name crown mounting system feels right for this and it feels right for this moment.

[00:20:52]So, after well over a year of many manic nights of testing out different ideas [music] and then trying different concepts and, you know, countless iterations, I think we've landed in a really good spot [music] where everything feels like it's starting to click into place. And we've created a mounting system that I feel achieves the [music] goals that we set out to achieve in the beginning. It is rock solid.

[00:21:11]Like, it is so stable in this board, but it's comfortable to type on. It is responsive [music] and it's not mushy and it really lets the character of your switches and your plate shine without any of those unwanted metallic or pingy or highly resonant [music] sounds. So, looking ahead, I have this feeling that as with any project, the moment it goes into production, we'll start thinking of things that could be better. But what I love about this is it's such a good foundation. [music] We can take this core concept and I think there's other things that we can try which achieve those goals, but bring some more [music] variety to what you can get out of your board. And we have one of them here. So, we had this idea of, well, what if we leaned into the top mount structure [music] a little bit more, but took the edge off of some of the the downsides of it. And this is, you know, a version [music] of that. So, we'll see where it goes from here, but I feel like we have a really good foundation for a mounting system that will be a part of the Mode ecosystem for years and years to come.

[00:22:04]And that's how we made the crown mounting system. If you enjoyed this video, check out our channel for more details into our process and how we [music] make things at Mode.