F104+SSK+122+62+77+50+Ergo orders now open! New Kishsaver+Industrial Model F Keyboards

[Virtureal]

Maybe the market is reacting to the large amount of zinc being bought by this group buy

[andrewjoy]

5-6 lb of zinc per case thats amazing.

Will prob go in next years round now due to MF project

[Harshmallow]

Hello!

After looking over the website many times, I was starting to worry that I wouldn't get a chance to order one of these this year, but since it looks like there are delays, would I still be able to place an order for one in early January 2017? Or is December 31 2016 the final day to place any orders?

Also, if I'm interested in a custom case color (red, like a poster previously asked for on the previous page), would I need to place that in my order and get a quote from you separately?

[Ellipse]

Yes you can order one in January due to the delays.

The True Red and Regular Gray original style case color upgrades are $75. To order it, please order 75 units of the store item "other customizations in $1 increments" and specify the color. No custom ultra compact case colors are available.

[Harshmallow]

Yes you can order one in January due to the delays.

The True Red and Regular Gray original style case color upgrades are $75. To order it, please order 75 units of the store item "other customizations in $1 increments" and specify the color. No custom ultra compact case colors are available.

Thank you for the quick reply Ellipse! I am still debating the case color, but I appreciate the info on how to go about selecting it. Also - is there somewhere I can get an idea of the particular shade of Red that True Red would be? $75 sounds quite reasonable!

EDIT: I found a link with more photos, nevermind - sorry, I didn't find the samples in my initial search!

http://imgur.com/r/mechanicalkeyboards/ukZrJ

[Ellipse]

sure, and here is a cache of over 100 project photos, including the cases: https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyb ... board_f62/

[Harshmallow]

sure, and here is a cache of over 100 project photos, including the cases: https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyb ... board_f62/

Great, thanks again. I can picture it quite clearly now - F77, red case, blank black caps, US/standard layout with split right shift + 1u fn key and a numpad + navigation cluster on the right....dreams CAN come true! I think your dot matrix invoicing is a nice touch as well - great attention to detail. Once my year-end bonus comes in, I will be placing my order =D

[Elrick]

Once my year-end bonus comes in, I will be placing my order =D

My bonus came in October this Year. Never wanted to wait till December simply because of the usual expenditure expected before Xmas arrives.

[Harshmallow]

Once my year-end bonus comes in, I will be placing my order =D

My bonus came in October this Year. Never wanted to wait till December simply because of the usual expenditure expected before Xmas arrives.

I definitely agree with that, and I'm glad the company I'm with now pays out the bonus either on the last payment of the year if it's after Christmas, or the first one in January. So this will be purely rent money and F77 money!

[Harshmallow]

Ellipse - I was reading back through some of the previous pages and it doesn't seem like you'll be offering that tough looking carrying case in this GB, but if I could perhaps offer a suggestion - could it maybe be something we can work out later on for all of those that bought their keyboards and have saved up some money again? I would definitely be interested in one to protect my investment - especially if it had some sort of reference on it to indicate the contents and maybe even match the serial number of the board (how cool would that be?), but I would be more prepared to spend that extra money later on in the year, as this keyboard purchase will already be quite pricey with all the options I'm going to want + shipping to Canada.

[Phenix]

I would prefer to get the oppurtunity for huying it WITH the boards, as international shipping (Germany for me) sums up badly

[Harshmallow]

I would prefer to get the oppurtunity for huying it WITH the boards, as international shipping (Germany for me) sums up badly

That's a good point, but I believe it was a 10+ pound case and it was inevitably going to add to the shipping cost, but I might have been wrong in that assumption. If it is an option during the keyboard GB, I would probably still buy it against my better financial judgement lol.

[Ellipse]

Harshmallow and Phenix unfortunately there was not enough interest to get bulk pricing on those cases. I might order a few for those interested - if anyone wants one of those hard cases with custom cut foam, please ask me again in a few months when the keyboards arrive from China and I'll let you know what the status is. If I ordered a few cases at retail pricing you can add to your current order to save on shipping. Expect each case with custom cut protective foam to cost about $45 plus maybe $10 in additional shipping.

[Harshmallow]

Harshmallow and Phenix unfortunately there was not enough interest to get bulk pricing on those cases. I might order a few for those interested - if anyone wants one of those hard cases with custom cut foam, please ask me again in a few months when the keyboards arrive from China and I'll let you know what the status is. If I ordered a few cases at retail pricing you can add to your current order to save on shipping. Expect each case with custom cut protective foam to cost about $45 plus maybe $10 in additional shipping.

Ok will do, that sounds good! Oh, do you think I could get an extra birth date label (exact same as on the back of the board) to stick on the case if we do end up getting these towards the end of the buy? Perhaps you could let me know how much that might cost?

[Ellipse]

An update - we are three keyboards away from passing $170,000 in orders!

The factory needs an extra week from their scheduled shipment of the first-run parts for my inspection. The key molds need some more work to make sure they produce parts to spec. Hopefully the first-runs ship next week.

Below are some photos of the F62/F77 original style cases palletized and ready for storage at the factory. These are heavy boxes! They put 8 per box, so each box probably weighs 40-50 pounds - just the cases!

Once all of the parts have finished assembly and the factory QC procedures and have been packed for storage, then the factory will bring all the boxes together and assemble the keyboards with the configuration options specified in everyone's order forms.

Sure Harshmallow - like the original Model M boxes! If anyone wants extra labels to put on their box like an original Model M please order 5 units of "other customizations in $1 increments" and feel free to choose free local pickup. The labels will match the photos of labels on the www.modelfkeyboards.com web site and will not have the Model M design. I will add it to your order. No NIB Model F's in my collection had serialized labels on the boxes so by default the label will just be on the keyboard underside.

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[Mr.Nobody]

This is truly a labor of love.

[Ellipse]

An update on the dye sub keys - I was not impressed with the quality of the factory's dye sublimation tests on old keys so I am looking to do all the dye sublimation myself with my own equipment. I want to make sure the dye sub work is on the level of the IBM XT keys and not on par with the later production. A major dye sub firm in the US is advising me on the setup and process. We are also likely to lose several weeks of production time for the Chinese New Year holiday, since the factory still has not finished with the first runs.

[Ellipse]

Another milestone - we passed $170,000 today in orders!

Also I had to do a site software upgrade today. The shipping charge now appears on the checkout page after you enter your billing/shipping address.

Here is the order breakdown as of today - 368 keyboards!
Compact F62 20
Compact F77 32
F62 141
F77 175

Here is a breakdown of accessories ordered:
Extra Flipper and Spring 1442
Extra Barrel 1122
Extra Plastic Stabilizer Insert for keys 101
Industrial SSK Blue Keys 49
Front-printed keys F1, etc. 42
Extra steel spacebar tabs (pair) 36
Extra inner foam (F62, F77, F62 split shift, F77 split shift, F107, F122) 34
Extra Set of Brand New Production XT-quality one-piece keys 23
Extra F77 Case 17
Extra F62 Case - 'Kishsaver" 16
Apple/Mac Command-Option Keys 14
Extra PCB 5
Extra top inner assembly 3
Extra box + protective custom foam 1

[Ellipse]

The factory is ever closer to sending over the first-run samples! The key molds still need some fine tuning so the first-runs will not be sent out this week unfortunately.

We also have photos of the compact case F62 and F77 test assembly and packaging!

Please note that the cases have not yet all been hard anodized (one bottom case has been hard anodized, shown below) - the production finish will not look like the other photos.

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[lot_lizard]

Love the packaging... All looks great

[XMIT]

I may get one after all...

[evoman]

Another milestone - we passed $170,000 today in orders!

Extra Barrel 1122
Extra Plastic Stabilizer Insert for keys 101
Extra steel spacebar tabs (pair) 36
Extra inner foam (F62, F77, F62 split shift, F77 split shift, F107, F122) 34
Extra Set of Brand New Production XT-quality one-piece keys 23
Extra F77 Case 17
Extra F62 Case - 'Kishsaver" 16
Apple/Mac Command-Option Keys 14
Extra PCB 5
Extra top inner assembly 3
Extra box + protective custom foam 1

So are people ordering the extras as replacement parts for old Model Fs or as potential future replacement parts for their new keyboard order? I didn't add any extras, and I am wondering if there is a general opinion that it would be smart to add some extra replacement parts? Given the expense, I am hoping that the F77 will be a long term replacement for my current Model M workhorse (that has been in daily use for something like 8 years).

[Ellipse]

evoman I'm not sure but the barrels and flippers are fully interchangeable with new and old Model F keyboards so it makes sense to get some extras if you have existing Model F's that you want to keep replacement parts on hand for in the future.

Everyone feel free to add small extras to your orders at no extra shipping charge (just choose "special shipping" in the checkout option").

Yes the new repro Model F's will definitely be in it for the long run.

[alh84001]

@ellipse, keep the pictures flowing, they are starting to raise the pulse.

[Elrick]

Love the packaging... All looks great

AGREED.

Ellipse went all out to really produce a professional keyboard that few others could ever match, that also includes packaging that one day alone will fetch a good price on Flebay.

Everything about this event signifies a unique era of Model-F resurrection .

[Ellipse]

Some more photos from the factory!

The metal space bar tabs have been welded onto the top inner assembly - this is an upgrade from the brittle plastic tabs found on the original Model F's.

The foam molds have been completed and the first run samples are finished. The samples look a bit dirty but the final ones will not be!

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[ryvnf]

Hello! I am very interested and will probably order one (after I have seen a working compact-case prototype).

You have mentioned that you will attempt to make molds of non-stepped 1.75 unit keys. I am confused because you also mention in another place that non-stepped keys have to be ordered 3D-printed from www.shapeways.com (this was mentioned in February so that info is probably outdated).

This is not a deal breaker for me but I am curious.

How is the progress of non-stepped keys working out?

And thank you for putting so much time and effort into this.

[Ellipse]

Thanks ryvnf. The key molds are in production, including for 1.75U unstepped. The other info is outdated.

[Ellipse]

The compact case keyboard prototypes have arrived! Doing the testing now...

[mana]

Keen to see some photos! That is, if they pass your quality check.