Spherical Buckling Spring Thread

donnydg · 11 Jun 2017, 05:03

Great work Zed! I'm definitely a fan of the Ellipse F77 Industrial Mopar mashup.

Zed · 11 Jun 2017, 21:56

Thanks donnydg. Here are a couple of new ones. Space Cadet for Techno Trousers with the original cool gray and a warmer variant on the number pad and a vintage yellow/orange for rsbseb. The warmer gray in these pics is a bit toned down from the F77 pic but still might be warm enough to go OK on beige cases.

Techno Trousers · 12 Jun 2017, 01:10

Awesome, I'm loving that, thanks! It'd go into one of my Unicomp surplus industrial cases. At least until lot_lizard runs a group buy for all metal cases.

Zed · 12 Jun 2017, 01:32

I was actually just trying to get a handle on what the Industrial gray color actually is. We want to make sure that the colors play nice with beige and industrial (OG and Ellipse). Looks like Ellipse did a pretty nice job matching the original.

https://geekhack.org/index.php?action=d ... 0537;image

rsbseb · 12 Jun 2017, 14:36

"Beamspring Vintage Yellow" is awesome

just_add_coffee · 12 Jun 2017, 15:37

I want one of all of these and two or three of the gray/navy and Space Cadet sets.

Rather than matching the keyset to the case, make the case match the keyset!

sgtpopwell · 19 Jun 2017, 08:47

Oh my god, SBS Space Cadet is my dream board setup! PLEASE!

Zed · 20 Jun 2017, 04:14

sgtpopwell wrote: ↑Oh my god, SBS Space Cadet is my dream board setup! PLEASE!

That was a color combo I hadn't even thought of when I started this but it does look pretty sharp and would be a dramatic change from the traditional IBM/Unicomp colors. We will have to see what rsbseb decides but thanks for casting your vote.

euphxenos · 20 Jun 2017, 04:41

I've got five 101-key model Ms and four SSKs already, and will be adding at least one of Ellipse's reproduction Model Fs. I'll take any and all of these that make it to production (especially all the Beamspring variations, and Ellipse F77 Industrial Mopar).

Zed, if you're so inclined, you might also want to suggest some colorways to Ellipse over in his Model F reproduction thread. He's using dye-sub on PBT, so he's limited to dark legends on lighter keycaps, but he has molds and is already making keycaps. In his thread over on Geekhack he said he'd be willing to consider producing an alternate colorway if there was interest in at least 10-20 sets. What would Beamspring Vintage Yellow or Honeywell Beamspring look like if the legends were all black? Probably not better than what you already have, but it would be feasible for dye-sub on PBT, and it would help tide some of us over until these spherical doubleshots are ready.

Zed · 20 Jun 2017, 05:18

euphxenos wrote: ↑Zed, if you're so inclined, you might also want to suggest some colorways to Ellipse over in his Model F reproduction thread. He's using dye-sub on PBT, so he's limited to dark legends on lighter keycaps, but he has molds and is already making keycaps. In his thread over on Geekhack he said he'd be willing to consider producing an alternate colorway if there was interest in at least 10-20 sets. What would Beamspring Vintage Yellow or Honeywell Beamspring look like if the legends were all black? Probably not better than what you already have, but it would be feasible for dye-sub on PBT, and it would help tide some of us over until these spherical doubleshots are ready.

Excellent idea and I have already been working on some pics to show to Ellipse. As long as the gray for the mods isn't too dark, dye sub would look pretty good I think.

clicktype · 30 Jun 2017, 02:36

hello
i was browsing info on the kishsaver repros and found this thread. i was going to order one but now i know these are the keys i want for it.
sorry if i dont understand the purpose of the thread but is it possible yet to order the repro with these keys preinsralled? if not where do i order them from to add them myself? i couldnt find a link to purchase.

if these keycaps are still in preproduction then is there an eta ir mailing list for updates so i can get them later?
sorry so noob. thanks

Zed · 30 Jun 2017, 02:51

These caps are still in pre-production clicktype. rsbseb has set up a site so you can stay up to date here: http://sbskeycaps.com/

This is a separate project from the Ellipse Model F reproductions. You can order those keyboards with the Model F XT font (dye sub cylindrical) caps but the doubleshot spherical (SBS) caps from this thread will come from rsbseb. I just happen to be the guy designing both fonts if that was the source of any confusion.

clicktype · 30 Jun 2017, 03:28

thanks for the reply and for your work on both sets

rsbseb · 30 Jun 2017, 04:27

We will have an update to send out this weekend on SBS

Techno Trousers · 30 Jun 2017, 17:31

rsbseb wrote:We will have an update to send out this weekend on SBS

Hooray! I've been trying to be so patient about this project and the Model MF.

rsbseb · 03 Jul 2017, 05:31

rsbseb wrote: ↑We will have an update to send out this weekend on SBS

Sorry to report it's going to be another day or two

Techno Trousers · 03 Jul 2017, 06:01

rsbseb wrote:
rsbseb wrote: ↑We will have an update to send out this weekend on SBS
Sorry to report it's going to be another day or two

Take all the time you need! I'd rather have it done right than done fast.

Shihatsu · 03 Jul 2017, 10:09

I am wondering what will happen first - ModelMF, EclipseF or SBS

j0d1 · 03 Jul 2017, 13:51

This is very exciting news! Now that I discovered the magical world of buckling spring, I would love to have beautiful modern keycaps for my boards. I do love the stock PBT keycaps but I also love the idea to have a "Space Cadet" IBM Model M.

ekeppel · 03 Jul 2017, 13:57

rsbseb wrote: ↑
rsbseb wrote: ↑We will have an update to send out this weekend on SBS
Sorry to report it's going to be another day or two

Great news regardless of delays!

Techno Trousers · 03 Jul 2017, 20:33

Shihatsu wrote:I am wondering what will happen first - ModelMF, EclipseF or SBS

All at the same time would be perfect.

rsbseb · 07 Jul 2017, 06:57

Unfortunately, I'm still not ready to give the update that I wanted to but since I promised something I will share a little about the status of SBS.

My son and I have been working this project from different physical locations and it has been challenging to say the least but a little over a week ago he completed a move that has put us in close proximity and we have been working every spare minute we can to get SBS in motion.

We are currently trying to get preproduction tooling completed for testing. By testing I am referring to process testing and not product evaluation. This has been a challenge for us because we are having to work through the learning curve on a machining process that is new to us (EDM). My hope was to be able to share the results of this phase a couple of days ago but have had just about every imaginable set back you might come up with. Delivery delays components, controller failures, unresponsive code, out of stock supplies, missing tools, etc.

The setbacks are in no way a deal killer, just part of the education. For now we are going to take a couple days off and catch up on life and regular work after a stressful week before getting back to work on SBS. I will update both here and via the email list once we have more to show.

: 1uedm.jpg (21.98 KiB) Viewed 9194 times

*** The above image is a rough casting of a die sink for use in testing and calibration of code for those who were wondering. Basically just a neat looking piece of scrap metal.

Shihatsu · 07 Jul 2017, 10:31

o god can't wait so impatient giev nao SBS!!!!

j/k, take all your time you need, we will be here waiting.

sgtpopwell · 07 Jul 2017, 13:19

Awesome, happy to hear about all the progress!

Techno Trousers · 07 Jul 2017, 15:04

I appreciate any kind of update, even if it's just to let us know that things aren't quite going as expected. It definitely sounds like a break is in order, so you and your son should get out there and enjoy some sunshine and stock up on your vitamin D.

rsbseb · 07 Jul 2017, 15:21

Shihatsu wrote: ↑o god can't wait so impatient giev nao SBS!!!!

I think I'm more impatient than anyone right now, I've been loosing sleep over it

j0d1 · 07 Jul 2017, 18:03

I can understand, it is a very exciting project!

Thank you for the news, I'm so ready to throw money at this

just_add_coffee · 08 Jul 2017, 20:38

Thanks for doing this rsbseb. If there's anything someone can do to help, just say the word. I pledge whatever help I can provide, and I'm sure there are others here willing to help make SBS a reality!

milk_stain · 09 Jul 2017, 09:55

Just found out about this project... and salivating over the thought of beam spring-style caps on the Ellipse F77 I ordered... my, what a time to be alive!

malthusthomas · 16 Jul 2017, 01:58

In trying to decide what my first mechanical keyboard should be I was leaning heavily towards something with a buckling spring but I was worried that I'd be hamstrung down the road when it came to customization of the board. As a big fan of the aesthetics of the Selectric's keys I was very excited when I stumbled onto this project. Now I can commit with very little fear over customization.

So, as someone who will hopefully be joining you all in the mechanical keyboard world, and in particular the buckling spring kingdom, I just want to say thank you to everyone working so hard on this project. Zed's mock ups look awesome and rsbseb's willingness to take on a challenge like this is outstanding. Cheers!