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

[PRIPARA_PLAYER]

If I wanted keys of a different colour (such as red or purple), do you foresee any issues with buying an extra pearl set and dying them similar to what can be done with other PBT caps?

[Redmaus]

Will there be a light gray option as well as dark gray?

[Ellipse]

Just dark gray. There are light blue and dark blue compact case options though.

Not sure about dying PBT key caps.

[jabuzzard]

Final artwork for all of the extra key sets with a few minor additions and changes.

F XT Extra Keys ren A.png

F XT Extra Keys ren B.png

F XT Extra Keys ren C.png

Hum, as ordered I asked for a UK ISO layout with front printed function key legends. Unless I am mistaken there is only US layout number keys with front printed function key legends. That is on the UK layout 2 and 3 have " and £ respectively. I am going to be a very unhappy bunny if I don't get a UK ISO layout with front printed function key legends.

Note more modern keyboards have an extra € on number 4, that I can live without.

[Zed]

Hum, as ordered I asked for a UK ISO layout with front printed function key legends. Unless I am mistaken there is only US layout number keys with front printed function key legends. That is on the UK layout 2 and 3 have " and £ respectively. I am going to be a very unhappy bunny if I don't get a UK ISO layout with front printed function key legends.

Note more modern keyboards have an extra € on number 4, that I can live without.

My apologies for appearing to ignore ISO users. You are not the only one to have expressed concern over my lack of posting those sets/legends. It all comes down to the order in which I am doing the artwork.

Since the UK set doesn't have any keys that need front printing, we have room on the jig for the front print function row for UK ISO so you should be a happy bunny! Thanks for bringing up this issue. I have, up to this point, been focusing on the ANSI and extra keys and with the ISO sets next up, it's important that we account for all the possible permutations.

[Ellipse]

The factory continues assembly this week and they have sent some more photos of in-progress and completed assemblies awaiting packaging (the pictured bubble wrap is temporary).

The plan is still to finish all assembly and packaging by month end.

I sent them 137 unique keyboard variations to assemble, based on what everyone has ordered plus the extra keyboards I ordered for the latecomers (still have some left for the early bird round but running very low on early bird Industrial Gray F77 cases - it would be much appreciated if anyone could message me to switch to Black or Off-White/Beige!).

Correct jabuzzard, all offered key layouts have a front printed F1 etc. option with legends specific to their layout.

Also nice seeing everyone at Keycon last Saturday! There was a great turnout and over 430 people signed up!

2019-06-05 factory update (2) - Copy.jpg (2.03 MiB) Viewed 12817 times

2019-06-05 factory update (3) - Copy.jpg (1.77 MiB) Viewed 12817 times

2019-06-05 factory update (1) - Copy.jpg (119.49 KiB) Viewed 12817 times

[mSSM]

Super exciting!!

@ellipse: After assembly, is it at all possible to go from the full HHKB layout (split right-shift + split backspace) to the reduced HHKB layout (split right-shift + regular backspace)?

I think I might be happier with the regular-backspace HHKB layout, but have ordered the full layout. :-/

[depletedvespene]

Correct jabuzzard, all offered key layouts have a front printed F1 etc. option with legends specific to their layout.

This is very good to know - now we only need to know the definitive list of national layouts so we can complete our laundry lists of keycaps.

[Ellipse]

mssm (replied over PM)

depleted, I believe the options are US, UK, Swedish/Finnish/Norwegian, German, French, and Latin American Spanish, plus some others that Zed is designing.

[Ellipse]

Factory update: 217 completed assembled keyboards (no keys) plus 133 additional completed bottom inner assemblies (no keys). As a reminder the factory is installing the unprinted key orders while I am doing the dye sublimation and installing the printed keys. I am designing tools to install/remove a key set at once to a keyboard instead of key by key, to save time.

[Craweth]

depleted, I believe the options are US, UK, Swedish/Finnish/Norwegian, German, French, and Latin American Spanish, plus some others that Zed is designing.

Does this mean that you will be using the nordic layout for Swedish/Finnish/Norwegian, or do we get language specific?

[nickg]

will the first aid kit still be available in the 2nd round if i bought one or two boards in the first? ryzen 3000 is gonna eat my money this and next month...

[Ellipse]

Yes on the first aid kits

Craweth I believe those layouts will be language specific.

[Ellipse]

The factory has finished assembly of 400 keyboards so far, less than planned due to issues slowing down the process that are being worked on. Assembly going forward should be at a quicker pace once these issues are no longer a bottleneck. This means that assembly will likely finish in July despite the factory's expectations to finish around the end of June.

Assembly issues earlier this month: assembled incorrect layout for about 100 units (had to disassemble and adjust; they are working on training their factory team for assembly), bottom inner assembly radius issue mentioned before, some zinc cases are bent a little too much (there should be no visible gap in the cases; the way to fix this is by using a rubber mallet!), some PCBs had some factory defects and are being re-made (I ordered extras of each component so as not to delay assembly if some parts were bad).

[Shihatsu]

Factory: How many should we ship?
Ellipse: Yes.

[segacontroller]

How hard would it be to match the powder coat on this?

I have an F50 on hand just waiting to match this board. Assuming its not possible to ship this to the factory they were powder coated for an exact match... is there some sort of specifications I can provide another powder coat service to get an exact match?

[Ellipse]

The Off-White/Beige should be a close match to IBM's original color so I recommend selecting that color for your new Model F.

There is no Pantone or other number as these were custom mixed.

[zazxyz]

Will we ever get an unsaver or F50 version?

[segacontroller]

@ellipse

I meant the other way around.

I ordered black F62, and am going to be attempting to match the F50 to that black.

[Ellipse]

Both the color and texture would have to be considered. Both were custom done for the new zinc cases. You'd probably need to mail me the case, stripped of paint, to send to China for them to do in the final batch. They spent over 6 months trying to get the texture right so I'm not sure another shop could do a perfect match. It will be costly and may take 6+ months. Feel free to discuss with me further over PM/email.

[Ellipse]

As of now, the factory has completed assembling 700 keyboards and can assemble about 50 keyboards in one day.  They are continuing to work on ramping up the daily capability to speed up the remaining assembly. We are now looking at completion of mass assembly in July!

[consolation]

I'm squealing like a girl scout, who made it back to the street, after selling all her cookies to a creepy old man with a really long driveway...

[Ellipse]

Bluetooth wireless keyboard option?

Someone just messaged me the following option for a wireless Model F and I was wondering if anyone has looked into it:
The Handheld Scientific BT-500 Bluetooth Adapter for Keyboard & Mouse:
http://handheldsci.com/kb/
Using this adapter, removed from its case, you could possibly fit it inside the spacious case of the Model F.

Looks like it has one end to attach the USB cable from the controller and the other end to connect any USB battery.

[Humanoid]

Bluetooth wireless keyboard option?

Are wireless keyboards really that popular? All your keystrokes, private messages, and passwords in the air for others to possibly steal, and a long history of bluetooth security problems...

[Hypersphere]

As of now, the factory has completed assembling 700 keyboards and can assemble about 50 keyboards in one day.  They are continuing to work on ramping up the daily capability to speed up the remaining assembly. We are now looking at completion of mass assembly in July!

Ellipse, this is welcome news.

Looking forward to receiving my F62s in both the classic and ultra-compact cases. After trying each of these, I can then determine which version to buy if there should be a follow-up round.

[cods]

Bluetooth wireless keyboard option?

Someone just messaged me the following option for a wireless Model F and I was wondering if anyone has looked into it:
The Handheld Scientific BT-500 Bluetooth Adapter for Keyboard & Mouse:
http://handheldsci.com/kb/
Using this adapter, removed from its case, you could possibly fit it inside the spacious case of the Model F.

Looks like it has one end to attach the USB cable from the controller and the other end to connect any USB battery.

Ellipse, I have one of these, and have tried it with multiple keyboards (including Model M) and computers/devices and USB batteries.

It’s terribly flaky and does not work very well - disconnects semi-randomly, doesn’t wake up randomly, connecting new devices is clunky... After a few weeks of trying to make it useful, I gave up and consigned it to the junk drawer.

Unfortunately I don’t think this is the answer, although if someone else out there has had more success, I’d gladly take advice and retrieve it from The Drawer Of Poor Purchasing Decisions.

[cods]

Bluetooth wireless keyboard option?

Are wireless keyboards really that popular? All your keystrokes, private messages, and passwords in the air for others to possibly steal, and a long history of bluetooth security problems...

Hey Humanoid - yeah, nothing is as secure as a cable, I agree, and for a single keyboard-device pair a USB cable makes sense. In the environments I’m using them in (office or home) the security threat is minimal, and the convenience outweighs the very small chance of BT snooping.

In particular at the office I’m always switching between work PC and iPad, and at home between Mac and iPad - with the phone an occasional third device. It’s a big productivity plus for me, and I suspect for others too.

YMMV, and maybe you have no use for BT, however I’d love to be able to smash away on one of my new Model F’s and switch between devices - or even just avoid the thumb typing I’m doing right now!

[Zimyver]

Elipse, would it be possible to get a breakdown of the options that people have bought at some stage? Don't worry if it's too much trouble, I just thought that it would be interesting to know the proportions that got the F62 vs the F77, regular case vs ultra compact, case colour preferences, and ANSI vs ISO vs HHKB.

[Wazrach]

What's the absolute latest date I can pay the rest of the total amount? I have paid $165 so far for a $387 item, not including shipping to the UK.

[Ellipse]

The factory is up to 800 keyboards assembled. We just reached 1700 keyboards ordered!

Wazrach (replied over PM)

Order breakdown:
F77 907
F62 412
Compact F77 240
Compact F62 141
Grand Total 1700

F77
Industrial Gray 486
Off-White/Beige 299
Black 106
True Red 6
PANTONE 14-5002 TPX Silver Gray 5
Silver Gray 3
Another color 2
F77 Total 907
F62
Off-White/Beige 210
Industrial Gray 131
Black 60
True Red 10
Silver Gray 1
F62 Total 412
Compact F77
Black 150
Regular Gray 82
Dark Blue 4
Carolina Blue 4
Compact F77 Total 240
Compact F62
Black 92
Standard Gray 47
Dark Blue 2
Compact F62 Total 141
Grand Total 1700

Key Set Types:
Regular printed key set (US/ANSI layout) 1267
Black unprinted keys 143
Regular color blank keys (no lettering/legends) 112
UK 47
Use your own keys / use other color new keys 40
Swedish-Finnish 28
German 18
Norwegian 11
French 6
International layout 4
Danish 3
Swiss German 3
Latin American Spanish 2
APL Keys 2
JIS 2
Spanish 1
Swiss French and German 1
Hebrew English 1
Swiss 1
Arabic 1
Italian 1
Dutch 1
Brilliant white printed key set (US/ANSI layout) 1
Blue printed key set (US/ANSI layout) 1
Korean 1
Russian 1
Brazilian ABNT 1
Grand Total 1700

Layouts:
ANSI (U.S. default - horizontal Enter key) with split right shift, split backspace, and HHKB keys but not HHKB layout 1
ANSI Enter (default - horizontal Enter key) 868
ANSI Enter (default - horizontal Enter key) and non-HHKB Split Right Shift 1
ANSI Enter (default - horizontal Enter key) and Split Backspace 6
DVORAK layout; ANSI Enter (default - horizontal Enter key) 1
DVORAK with HHKB style split right shift 1
DVORAK with HHKB-Style Split Right Shift and regular 2-unit wide backspace 1
HHKB split right shift only and split backspace, everything else ANSI Enter 1
HHKB split right shift only, everything else ANSI Enter 15
HHKB split right shift only, everything else ANSI Enter, HHKB style Ctrl and Caps Lock 2
HHKB split right shift only, everything else ANSI Enter, short left shift 1
HHKB-Style Split Right Shift and regular 2-unit wide backspace 251
HHKB-Style Split Right Shift and regular 2-unit wide backspace and short space bar 1
HHKB-Style Split Right Shift and regular 2-unit wide backspace, original position Ctrl and Caps lock keys 1
HHKB-Style Split Right Shift and regular 2-unit wide backspace, short left shift 1
HHKB-Style Split Right Shift and Split Backspace 388
HHKB-Style Split Right Shift and Split Backspace and short left shift 4
HHKB-Style Split Right Shift and Split Backspace, original position Ctrl and Caps lock keys 1
ISO Enter (vertical enter and 2U Left Shift) 1
ISO Enter (vertical enter and split Left Shift) 128
ISO Enter (vertical enter and split Left Shift) and HHKB-Style Split Right Shift 9
ISO Enter (Vertical Enter And Split Left Shift) And HHKB-Style Split Right Shift, Split Backspace 6
ISO Enter (vertical enter and split Left Shift) and non-HHKB Split Right Shift 2
Scumyc ANSI Enter (default - horizontal Enter key) 7
Split Enter (1.25U enter and split Left Shift) and non-HHKB Split Right Shift 1
Grand Total 1700

F77 Right side block:
Print/ScrLock/Pause/Ins/Del etc. keys, cursor keys 657
0-9 and cursor keys 398
Blank 91
0-9 and cursor keys, blue unprinted keys for 5 and 0 1
Grand Total 1147

Extras:
Extra Flipper and Spring 3541
Extra Barrel 1894
Individual Keys 998
4 Extra bumpers 578
Extra Set of Brand New Production XT-quality one-piece keys 567
FirstAidKit 425
Extra Plastic Stabilizer Insert for keys 390
Extra inner foam (F62, F77, F62 split shift, F77 split shift, F107, F122, PC AT) 145
Extra steel spacebar tabs (pair) 141
Key Cap Puller 122
Extra case 119
xwhatsit Beam Spring or Model F USB controller 57
Extra PCB 5
Extra top inner assembly 3
Extra box + protective custom foam 1

Extra Key Sets
Extra Set of Brand New Production XT-quality one-piece keys 499
Add Front Printed F1-F12 12 Key Set?: Yes 310
Add HHKB 6 Key Set?: Yes 117
Industrial SSK Blue Keys 231
Apple/Mac Command-Option Keys 163