Our story
About
Datamancer makes keyboards, displays and mice by hand, from brass, copper, hardwood and glass, with real typewriter keys under your fingers. Modern machines, built to be kept.
How it started
Datamancer began in a small garage in New Jersey. Richard “Doc” Nagy had grown up with the same grey plastic computer as everyone else and wanted something more beautiful to work at. His idea was a complete computer station for each of history’s great design eras: Art Deco, Victorian, even Gothic.
The first piece was a Victorian brass keyboard built with Jake Von Slatt. It put typewriter keycaps on a modern keyboard for the first time, and that idea became the heart of everything Datamancer has made since. The Archbishop PC followed: a complete Gothic suite with a stained-glass arch around the display.
Richard has since passed away. The workshop carries on his designs, and his standards, from Chino, California.
How we work
Every piece is made to order by a small team of artists, not pulled from a shelf. Our keyboards use Cherry MX mechanical switches, so each key clicks and snaps the way a typewriter should, and they work with Windows, Mac and Linux.
Because so much of the work is done by hand, we build very little ahead of time. Think of an order less as buying an item and more as commissioning a piece; the wait is part of how it gets made. Current turnaround times are on the FAQ.
Custom work
A few of the pieces we have built to order over the years: one-off keyboards, displays, cases and complete suites.
Have something in mind?
Most of what you see above was made for one person. If you would like a keyboard, display or complete suite built to your own design, tell us about it. Custom projects start at a six-month timeline, and every one begins with a conversation.