Mattr567 - sorry for the delay - just mailed out your solenoid driver! As a general note everyone will receive a tracking number by email when something is shipping.
FXT did you see the newly posted manual which discusses suggestions to mitigate the binding of larger keys? Now available at
www.ModelFKeyboards.com/manual Please do share your results and let me know if you tried anything else that works, so I can add to the manual.
FXT since I switched the keyboard firmware over to QMK, that is what many recently mailed keyboards may be running, especially if your keyboard was mailed out in recent weeks. You can check Windows Devices and Printers I believe. The xwhatsit utility won't launch in those cases. To switch back to xwhatsit I have posted instructions in the above manual. Also feel free to request access to the QMK beta. QMK works by flashing the firmware and layout all at once. The editing of the layouts is done on a web site instead of a standalone program.
If anyone else wants the solenoid driver mailed out before the solenoids are in stock later this year (with the second container shipment) please let me know or make a note "ship ASAP" in the order notes text box when placing an order.
clint I like your Model F case! It has the right vintage look, appropriate for the keyboard inside. I was actually looking up cases with protective foam for these new keyboards from factories in China a few years back but did not find much interest in a group buy.
Gurbsordidity for dust covers I have used the Fight Computer Dust Antistatic Vinyl Keyboard Cover (Keyboard Cover: 20W x2H x9D-Large) for my buckling spring keyboards. It is a soft cover. I was looking through my old emails and it looks like tomorrow will actually be 7 years since I ordered it, and it has remained in good shape without discoloration or other damage. I added a thick copper wire around the bottom to give it some more structure for ease of removal and installation.
helohe I would definitely consider updating my printed manual's font to IBM's open source font as well as a future PDF of the detailed manual on the project web site. I see 10 options in the OpenType ZIP file. Which ones are recommended? Since it's in Microsoft Word, I can easily change the fonts for entire groups of text at once.
If anyone would like to volunteer any artwork to the detailed manual it would be appreciated! Maybe it will expand from just being on the web site.
darkcruix the update on the dye sub is that the factory is mailing me some samples in the next week or so that they have made with the initial prototype jig. The alignment is still needing of improvement. The dye sublimation continues to take longer than expected unfortunately. I am continuing to mail out keyboards earlier, with printed keys to ship later. I still have about 50+ keyboards in the current queue to send out.
Thanks everyone for the recent days of discussions here. Very interesting reading. I think all of the points have been expressed well by everyone who has been posting. I'm not inclined to express any further notes publicly on the subjects at hand, but I will state that I believe a Brand New Blue Box SSK is far rarer than a used Industrial SSK (which I have sold for $1000-$1500) based on the number of units of each of these keyboards that I have seen listed online, but the relative valuation and how much rarer would be a private discussion between me and an interested party. Out of respect for the privacy of the buyer I would not expect to disclose the final sale price unless the transaction were a Buy It Now or Auction on eBay where the display of pricing and bids would be out of my hands. There are many new brown box SSK's manufactured years after the blue box units that sell for far less and are relatively more plentiful. The only NIB Industrial SSK sold for $2,000 on eBay in early 2014 but that was before IBM keyboard pricing skyrocketed in recent years.
