Oldest variant of SKCM White known?
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keycap
- Location: United States
- Main keyboard: '88 Model M, DFK777 SKCM Blue
- Main mouse: A paperclip and a string
- Favorite switch: Alps SKCM, IBM buckling spring
- DT Pro Member: -
Just a bit curious on the history of these ever since I posted many years ago about a board with SKCM Whites that had dry lubricant and gold springs. Recently, my interest was piqued once again when I rescued an FK-3001 from April-May 1989 that has early SKCM White. Anyone ever find any with tall switchplates or no logos?
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Polecat
- Location: Downstream from Silicon Valley
- Main keyboard: Monterey K104 Industrial Gray
- Main mouse: Logitech Optical
- Favorite switch: Early Alps SKCM
- DT Pro Member: -
I haven't found any with tall switchplates, but I have examples of white SKCM with unbranded upper housings just like blues.
This one is a Northgate 102 from June 1989. Down the page a bit are photos of one from three weeks earlier with blue SKCM. Those dates are from the paper labels added by Northgate after they received the keyboards, so the dates the switches were made are unknown, but earlier than the label dates. Both keyboards are pristine originals and the two sound and feel identical to me.
viewtopic.php?p=386593#p386593
This is a Focus FK-2001 from 1989, also with white SKCM and unbranded upper housings. Also a very clean original. I took it apart to paint the plate but the switches are untouched originals. Again the switches sounded and felt the same as my blue SKCM FK-2001, at least to me:
viewtopic.php?p=475322#p475322
We've proven that Northgate's supplier ("Vendor 111") for the gold badge 102 models was Focus. Based on the Focus and Northgate dates Alps apparently changed from blue to white SKCM in early-mid 1989. Probably too late for tall switchplates.
I have other examples as well, but for the above two I had otherwise identical keyboards with blue SKCM to compare to. One of my long term projects is to try to figure out the sequence of internal changes in white SKCM. That info was apparently documented at one time, but disappeared as older web pages went away. It may still exist on the Asian collector sites, but that's not easy for me to search or translate. White SKCM switches were definitely not all the same. We want it to be simple, but it's not. There's a lot more to it than just complicated/simplified or pine/bamboo. I'm also hoping to tie the changes to the mold numbering on the housings. But that will probably never be a "sure thing" because housings from the older molds were sometimes used alongside newer ones using newer versions of the internal parts.
This one is a Northgate 102 from June 1989. Down the page a bit are photos of one from three weeks earlier with blue SKCM. Those dates are from the paper labels added by Northgate after they received the keyboards, so the dates the switches were made are unknown, but earlier than the label dates. Both keyboards are pristine originals and the two sound and feel identical to me.
viewtopic.php?p=386593#p386593
This is a Focus FK-2001 from 1989, also with white SKCM and unbranded upper housings. Also a very clean original. I took it apart to paint the plate but the switches are untouched originals. Again the switches sounded and felt the same as my blue SKCM FK-2001, at least to me:
viewtopic.php?p=475322#p475322
We've proven that Northgate's supplier ("Vendor 111") for the gold badge 102 models was Focus. Based on the Focus and Northgate dates Alps apparently changed from blue to white SKCM in early-mid 1989. Probably too late for tall switchplates.
I have other examples as well, but for the above two I had otherwise identical keyboards with blue SKCM to compare to. One of my long term projects is to try to figure out the sequence of internal changes in white SKCM. That info was apparently documented at one time, but disappeared as older web pages went away. It may still exist on the Asian collector sites, but that's not easy for me to search or translate. White SKCM switches were definitely not all the same. We want it to be simple, but it's not. There's a lot more to it than just complicated/simplified or pine/bamboo. I'm also hoping to tie the changes to the mold numbering on the housings. But that will probably never be a "sure thing" because housings from the older molds were sometimes used alongside newer ones using newer versions of the internal parts.
Last edited by Polecat on 18 Nov 2024, 17:35, edited 3 times in total.
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Polecat
- Location: Downstream from Silicon Valley
- Main keyboard: Monterey K104 Industrial Gray
- Main mouse: Logitech Optical
- Favorite switch: Early Alps SKCM
- DT Pro Member: -
The early white SKCM switches with unbranded upper housings should not be confused with switches from 1992-1993 with unbranded upper *and* lower housings (and 1x mold numbering) often found in Datacomp, Datadesk, and Strongman keyboards. I've found at least half a dozen keyboards with these mystery switches.
viewtopic.php?p=446268#p446268
These switches may have been made by Forward or Fuhua using early Alps tooling. They feel and sound like early SKCM (possibly with slightly heavier springs), not at all like the white SKCM switches from 1992-1993.
viewtopic.php?p=446268#p446268
These switches may have been made by Forward or Fuhua using early Alps tooling. They feel and sound like early SKCM (possibly with slightly heavier springs), not at all like the white SKCM switches from 1992-1993.