***For the Brand New Beam Spring Project launch information, please see the previous post below this one! It’s in its own post.
***If you have a new shipping address please do email me to let me know your order numbers and the new address. Check your order email and our email communications (if applicable) to make sure the latest address I have on file for you is the correct one.
Project status summary – what has been going on lately, when is my keyboard shipping, etc.:
This section is nearly the same as other recent updates: For those who have not been following recent updates and frequent postings over on the Deskthority and geekhack project threads, I will note that there is still time to customize and order your Brand New Model F Keyboard and/or add on to your order with any accessories like the First Aid Kit for future repairs, solenoids and solenoid drivers, extra key sets, inner foam, extra flippers/springs, Model F key pullers, custom made 3 meter USB cables compatible with these keyboards, and other parts. Also I will note that the keyboards have started shipping – it does not mean that your keyboard will be shipping right away! There is still a ways to go to get everyone’s keyboard out.
To add accessories to an order that hasn’t shipped yet, you can choose (when placing a new order) the free/other shipping method, immediately before clicking Place Order. This way you can save on shipping – big savings especially for international shipping. However if in the US and if you can pay the shipping charge, please do so to help defray the significant project cost overruns.
Regarding the shipping notification emails, everyone receives one as soon as your order ships. You would receive one email per order that ships, so you may receive more than one email.
Everyone please make sure that the shipping address is correct! A few people have forgotten to check their email or switched emails without letting me know, missed the tracking number email, and their package was sent back to me – a big charge to ship the international orders again!
The major news is that I’ve QC’d and shipped out 1700+ keyboards so far and am continuing to send out keyboards. Now that the shipping is going into full speed mode, split shipping is no longer available; please hold off on split shipping requests which were designed to fill in the down time and reduce the backlog before the printed keys arrived.
Important note: please do not ask when your keyboard is going out or about separate shipping. Hoping to continue shipping out everyone’s orders over the coming months. Sorry I can’t be more specific just yet or let anyone know exactly where they are in the queue.
There are not many new updates in the past month – the main focus is on continuing to mail out the keyboards, which will continue over the coming months until everything has been mailed out. Please review the prior updates below for other recent updates.
I thank everyone for their patience as I become the final bottleneck of the project, QCing and mailing out each order. I expect to continue mailing out keyboards for the rest of this year into early next year, so please refrain from asking me when your keyboard will ship 🙂 as I cannot estimate where any one order is in the queue.
XT foam now available to order:
I have ordered a stamping tool for the IBM XT foam as quite a number of folks were asking for it.
As a note the priority is very low for the XT foam and I will only be focusing on mailing out everyone’s non-XT orders over the coming months, so please expect these to go out around year end and not earlier if you are interested.
This will be another group buy style order like with the beam spring and displaywriter beam spring controllers, where I will tally up the orders and send them to the factory when the tooling is complete (expected in several months from now). For the group buy orders I have subtracted $10 from the price; I will order some extras to sell for maybe $10 to $20 more for those who are late to the group buy, to help very slightly ameliorate the project cost overruns including all the DHL Express mailing of the key sets a month or so ago.
Besides almost everything being an exact reproduction of the original, even with the same type of foam material and similar dark gray color, there were two changes made – one, the removal of the vestigial foam covering part of the attached controller, and two, the pin registration holes were changed from 1/8″ to 3/32″ to provide an ever so slightly tighter contamination shield for the PCB.
As noted earlier I purchased tooling for the XT foam recently and started taking orders for the foam for delivery later this year. It’s a small batch – not sure if any will be left by the time they arrive in stock.
New transparent cap reproductions now available to order:
For delivery around year end 2021 (not until the keyboards have gone out – getting the keyboards out is my continued top priority)
https://www.modelfkeyboards.com/product/clear-relegendable-cap-stem/
Check out the first sample units from the new molds in the below photo – the caps are super-clear!
As requested by many people asking about these caps, I have ordered a new mold for these transparent relendable caps based on the exact dimensions of the original IBM 4704 transparent (now yellowed!) caps. The relegendable caps allowed banks using 4704 terminals to put in specific function keys before the days of the GUI for IBM mainframes and terminals, so it is definitely in line with the 4704 reproduction project. Nowadays they can be used for designing your own key, to open a specific program, to run a particular macro, etc.
The plan is to offer the lowered pricing currently shown on the product page for the group buy folks and then to increase pricing once they are actually in stock, to help cover project cost overruns and pay for the new molds.
Ordering one unit of this product gives you one clear relegendable cap and one Model F / Model M compatible stem. The stem will be provided in assorted colors – you can’t pick, but you won’t see it anyways once your relegendable paper label is installed.
I am aware that Fentek may still have some transparent caps in a non-original design at lower prices and I recall that a Deskthority forum member has posted a comparison of original vs. fentek caps.
This is the only place to get these IBM-style reproduction transparent caps, unless you buy an original 4704 keyboard that happens to have these caps (if you can find one!).
You can access a template for printing your keys here: https://deskthority.net/workshop-f7/ibm-4704-model-f-model-m-transparent-key-template-t9794.html
The relegendables will be shipped separately – I recommend putting them in a completely separate order if possible (not required). The store now shows a small shipping charge for order add-ons not shipping with a keyboard (the free shipping option is still available to pick during checkout), so it can ship without complicating existing orders. Of course for international shipping, this is not required and the caps can ship with the rest of your order when ready.
A note on the QC secrets video
Adjusting springs with tweezers: regarding the tweezer method for the springs, it is important to have tweezers matching the ones in my video for best results, not the smaller tweezers that do not have a completely flat end of sufficient length. Other tools should not be needed then.
Chatting with the inventor of the IBM Buckling Spring and Beam Spring keyboard switches, Richard H. Harris (Dick Harris)!
https://deskthority.net/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=25847
Someone was able to track down Dick Harris who created a thread on Deskthority and has been answering questions over there. Feel free to read the thread and post if you had any other questions! Below is my post on the thread:
“Hi Dick, I just came across your thread and want to echo everyone else in stating it is a great honor that you are a part of our community. Thank you so much for your time reviewing and writing up responses to the community’s questions.
I am the coordinator of the project that brought the Keyboard F back into production after many decades and it is a great honor to be able to chat with you and to make for the next generation some more keyboards of the technology that you invented. I and many others consider the Keyboard F (what many of us colloquially call the “Model F”) to truly be the best keyboard ever: a great experience to type on and an extremely reliable keyboard that people have used for decades after manufacture – can’t say that about too many computer parts made these days!
A question: I might have missed your reply in this thread but did you make adjustments to the buckling spring design based on any sound considerations? Part of the enjoyment, in my opinion, of typing on your invention is the musicality of the key presses and the musical ringing after releasing each pressed key while typing. Was optimizing the sound feedback of similar importance to optimizing key travel distance and tactile feedback in the development / prototyping process?”
Shipping status for the split shipping option offered last year (ship keyboard ahead of keycaps; ship keycaps when ready):
Everyone is currently waiting as part of the separate shipping option, outside of some of the early bird tooling supporters and single digit serials who also opted for separate shipping and received their key sets soon after I received the first batch back in late February and early March. As noted in recent months, the focus has been mailing out as much as I can of the “all in stock” keyboards and orders from those who have been patiently waiting and preferred everything to ship at once. The priority for the past few months and also for next few weeks is to continue mailing out more keyboards for the early birds and for those who have been waiting for the keyboard. Key sets for the split shippers should go out starting in late September. Printed, nonprinted, and other items are not in separate queues – I expect the queue will be approximately by order date where possible, with the “all in stock” stuff going out as the priority and no option available at the moment for “split split” shipping, as we wait for the factory to wrap up the remaining sublimation of international sets and customized individual keys and other small sets. Sorry to keep everyone waiting as I am now the bottleneck.
Sublimation update:
The international sets and additional keys have been delayed. The expectation is that production on them finishes in the next month or two. For now the factory is focusing on the international sets. Zed and I have been going back and forth with the factory’s key set photos to review the alignment. After that, all of the one-off keys will be sublimated. The key alignment has proven much more difficult for all of the international sets – especially with the multiple legend characters on each key requiring much more precise alignment for each key. Alignment issues would be much more noticeable with these keys than they are with the US ANSI set which had fewer multi-character sets.
JIS and Czech are also in the pipeline – let me know if you are interested in either of these sets.
Three Factory videos just posted for new Model F keyboard parts!
As the Brand New Model F Keyboards continue to be mailed out I wanted to share another factory video. This video shows how the top inner assembly steel plates are laser cut. This is the first step of the process, before they are bent to shape and then finally powdercoated. As you can tell, each hole is done one at a time so it is a relatively long process for thousands of keyboards.
From the next factory video I posted on the project’s YouTube channel:
“As the Brand New Model F Keyboards continue to be mailed out I wanted to share another factory video. Still time to customize your Brand New Model F Keyboard and order add-on accessories (like the First Aid Kit, extra key sets, etc.) at www.ModelFKeyboards.com
This video shows how the inner foam is stamped to create all the super-precise holes for the barrels and top inner assembly tabs. You can then see a photo of the bottom of the stamping tool (basically sharp metal in the outline of all the barrels etc.), and finally a photo of the finished product. The machine that evenly applies the stamping pressure is enormous! You only see a tiny part of the machine in this video.”
Below is another factory assembly video, this time showing the second part of the top inner assembly production – the stamping operations to bend the part to shape.
First, the steel for the top inner assembly is laser cut (see previously posted video). Then it is stamped to shape in a huge custom-made stamper tool (as shown in this video). Then the two ends are stamped to bend them into place. The final step of this process is inspection of the angle of the stamping. After the laser cutting and stamping are complete, the top inner assembly plates will be powdercoated. You can see that one piece is kept uncurved on the table, used for the stamping tool operator as a reference for the proper direction of the stamping.
Photos of two more keyboard variations:
Compact cases, both regular gray and black case colors, with the standard pearl/pebble printed keys (first and second photos below) and the 60% dark gray printed keys (third photo).
As a note all the variations are in the continuously-updated album of variations linked to on each product page:
New Quick Order Form (for returning customers):
I added quick order form functionality to the project web site as a test. It lets you order any configuration of any store item from one page, without having to leave the page. https://www.modelfkeyboards.com/quick-order-form/
Please do provide feedback!
I wanted to share two interesting YouTube comments on the Chyrosran22 video from someone who dealt with the original IBM 4700 systems back in the day:
“Thanks for another excellent keyboard review, Thomas.
Keys sound authentic, as the banking keyboards always seemed to me to have a deader sound than the IBM PC and 3270 model F keyboards. I used to program the 4704 banking systems many years ago, and there was never that high pitched spring noise you get in your reconditioned keyboard. Managed to get my hands on a “Pingmaster” a couple of years ago, but it obviously never matched the Model Fs I have missed for decades. Been checking in on this project for a long time and am so happy this has finally shipped.”
“The 4700s were usually menu based programs designed for smaller screens but similar to what might be seen on 3278 terminals linked to a mainframe. The distributed processing of the 4700 meant that transactions could be partially processed locally and then sent in batches for mainframe processing. The hardware was very reliable, with the most common points of failure being the 4701 5 1/2″ floppy drives due to dust and dirt (during a reboot after a power outage), or the display unit. Keyboards were reliable and robust and in my experience front line staff only ever used the 50 key model 100. Usage and key functions tended to be similar to bespoke POS keyboards. The 4704 model 100 keyboard layout was related to the previous generation banking terminal 3604 model 1 keyboard with an extra column of keys on the RHS block, which goes some way towards explaining the unusual format. If there ever were any keyboard issues, a robust upside down tap on the desk sorted things out. I only saw the model 300 and 400 keyboards a few times. The 4700s were programmed in assembler. All these banking systems were eventually replaced by PC’s. I did not work in the US, but over half of all New Zealand bank branches used 4700s at one stage. Lloyds bank in the UK used these in the late 1980s. Tellers used these terminals to process almost all front of house banking transactions. I still remember my sorrow at having to bin my trusty old AT format model F keyboard and having to use a crappy plastic model M.”
Chatting with another person, someone who worked for IBM in the 1980s, installing systems containing buckling spring keyboards:
I did chat with someone who worked for IBM in the 1980s, installing systems containing buckling spring keyboards. I learned that the occasional need to re-seat some keys during the initial setup and other shipping related issues were far less common when these systems were new because the systems were ultra delicate and primarily shipped in pallets by truck directly from IBM, as opposed to through the regular postal mail or UPS. Their comments as relayed to me:
“From what I recall, the biggest issues we had were with spacebars. Most of the keyboards would be fine, but spacebars would sometimes come loose in transit and if you didn’t re-seat them carefully before setting up the system for someone, folks would either raise a support ticket to complain or try to fix the keyboard themselves, sometimes causing bigger issues. We’d set everything up in our workshop, install a Token Ring networking card and terminal software, test, and then wheel the entire system to them on a cart. We never tested that every key worked before delivery.
Keep in mind that we got the systems shipped to us on pallets directly from IBM and they were probably handled much more carefully, as they shipped together with old-school CRTs and the main CPUs. You are shipping your amazing products all around the world in individual packages and they probably get jostled around quite a bit more than what we ever had to deal with. And I’d be very surprised if IBM ever tested their packaging to what packages have to endure nowadays.”
Update: scumyc / scumnc layout
Below are the very first photos of the customized F62 scumyc layout. These keyboards have gone out to scumyc.
Keen-eyed folks will notice an error in the flipper placement around the | \ and Enter keys for one board – some of the many errors needing to be addressed during the QC process (was fixed soon after the photo was taken). These errors and other errors such as mislabeled variation numbers from the factory on the boxes have slowed down the QC process and is one of the reasons I will continue mailing out keyboards the rest of the year most likely.
QMK Firmware update:
As an update a few folks have volunteered to help pandrew add Model F officially to the main QMK project. Given the amount of work needed and the time limitations of everyone I am not sure how much time is needed to complete this but I’m hoping that it can be soon. This should make the firmware flashing a little easier.
Interesting Deskthority post on setting tap modifiers:
“The four keys now function as arrow keys when you tap them and as regular modifiers when you hold them.”
https://deskthority.net/viewtopic.php?p=491039#p491039
Great work Deskthority forum member strah on your custom 3d printed solenoid and solenoid driver holder:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4934026 Looks quite professional. I wonder if the plastic dampens the sound of the solenoid a little. (Note: strah’s post and reply to this question are here: https://deskthority.net/viewtopic.php?p=492219#p492219 )
Nice color combinations of keyboards and key sets:
With permission I am sharing another customer image: Black classic style F62 case, HHKB style split right shift and split backspace, with dark gray printed keys and several blue printed keys. I am really liking the two tone color scheme where before I was more into the one color option for the blue sets and gray sets. I can now see a bit more clearly why so many people have ordered just the blue Enter and Esc keys for their boards or ordered one set in each color.
I wanted to share (with permission) a nice photo someone sent me of the Industrial SSK Blue Modifier keys with the standard color keys. This is a nice combination.
I also wanted to share with permission another great customer image. This one shows the pearl keys and Industrial SSK Blue keys:
Below is another photo shared with permission. This one shows the classic style zinc True Red F77 case with pearl/pebble keys as well as Industrial SSK blue keys, and with pebble keys making up part of the home row and top row.
Modding the project’s zinc cases:
Yes you can definitely strip and repaint or repowdercoat the classic style zinc case keyboards, or even spray a clear coat on top if you so choose, though in my opinion it’s better to show the wear over the years and maybe repaint it only a long time from now. Metal can definitely be stripped and repainted as the cases are made of high end Zinc (Zamak 3 alloy), higher quality and a bit more dense a material than the pot metal that IBM used. A few years back I stripped and spray painted an old 1940s illuminated wall clock, teaching myself spray painting in the process (the learning curve was not too bad).