deskthority

Found this on Ebay, couldn't resist picking it up. It's in relatively good condition; a couple dents and scratches on the top case, but that's basically inevitable with these boards since their top cases are just painted plastic. The biggest win was no rust on the metal parts.

Most of the switches had binding issues, but luckily this keyboard is easy to service so I'm soaking those switch barrels and sliders right now to get any stray debris out. If they still bind after that I will probably have to lube them. I was really impressed with how easy it was to get the switches out, and the fact that they didn't integrate the LEDs into the switch housing or something stupid, so you can pop out the switch modules with LEDs just as easily as the others.

I'm really in love with how this keyboard looks. It's from so long ago, yet looks like a custom that would be made today. Such a classy piece of kit imo.

The board has absolutely massive and crazy thick cylindrical abs doubleshots. These things are the thickest keycaps I've ever seen, and they look great as well. The lone red break cap just looks so good.

Sound test for anyone curious:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ctk6ornGJA

P.S. Soaking the switch modules in soapy water did not fix the binding issues. Might lube these if I ever get this thing converted to USB someday.

Some better photos of the cleaned up specimen:

That's gorgeous! Really nice pictures and nice job on the cleanup. There should be some threads on how to clean and lube FLS 3rd gen. I haven't come around to convert or really clean mine yet, but I'll follow your updates and maybe can even help along the way.

Are you planning on a hardware conversion (as in just using the matrix and rewiring a new microcontroller inside) or do you have the means to figure out the protocol?

TNT wrote: ↑

20 Sep 2024, 12:12

That's gorgeous! Really nice pictures and nice job on the cleanup. There should be some threads on how to clean and lube FLS 3rd gen. I haven't come around to convert or really clean mine yet, but I'll follow your updates and maybe can even help along the way.

Are you planning on a hardware conversion (as in just using the matrix and rewiring a new microcontroller inside) or do you have the means to figure out the protocol?

It really is a gorgeous board with equally gorgeous keycaps, that I can agree on.

I've commissioned an entirely new replacement PCB with NKRO (since this keyboard doesn't have compatibility for diodes) and QMK support. I should have three or four left over from the production run, so I might send those off to whoever wants them when I confirm that they work properly. They will even maintain support for the reset button and its functionality.

Wow, that would be tremendous! I'm taking one for sure.

TNT wrote: ↑

24 Sep 2024, 14:38

Wow, that would be tremendous! I'm taking one for sure.

Will do!