Please reach out to me over email if you are not able to fix it through the manual's step by step setup instructions. As noted on the product page, the Round 1 boards required extra setup work and work over the initial several months of usage to repair or replace any improperly QC'ed modules. The manual explains how to test each module and fix the ones that don't work, with the help of the pandrew utility's signal level monitor tool. Every key module needs to be tested as one out of place module can affect the sensing.
I have answered the powdercoating question many times now; please see the Model F thread's replies. The powdercoating formulation on the F62 and F77 classic style batch produced many years ago and still shipped today was not a durable as the improved formulation. Rather than throw away all of the remaining F62 and F77 inventory, everything was discounted $100 and this was disclosed on the project website so everyone can make their own decision.
Powdercoating did not exist in the 1920s; you may be referring to something that was painted or maybe even japanned, which is an extremely durable coating used on various phones and other products of the 1920s.
Beam Spring 104+SSK Reproduction Project! First Batch In Stock, Shipping early next year after New Model F Project
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Ellipse
- Location: United States
- Main keyboard: Brand New Model F Keyboards
- DT Pro Member: -
- Contact:
-
Ellipse
- Location: United States
- Main keyboard: Brand New Model F Keyboards
- DT Pro Member: -
- Contact:
Container shipment update:
The container shipment was delivered last week without issue.
Over the coming weeks I will be confirming mailing addresses, updating the manual for the round 2 boards, inspecting inventory, and testing the keyboards with Rico's latest Leyden Jar firmware which offers some improvements to the calibration binning. These are the first beam spring keyboards to use Rico's Leyden Jar controller!
As always there is still time to add on to your order any additional key sets, first aid kits, LED overlays and other parts to ship with your keyboard. You can also order the skip the line custom/low serial product add-on.
In other words, shipping will not start for several weeks, and there are a couple hundred boards to ship, so this will take quite some time. And as I mentioned with a previous update, please do not ask me which batch your keyboard is in or when your order will ship. As per a previous update:
"The factory has completed just about all needed variations except for nearly all the black and industrial gray cases; most of those will be shipping in the container shipment departing in a few months from now. If you picked one of those two case colors and want to get your keyboard in the shortest amount of time, you can request switching to Dark Blue, Light Blue, Regular Gray, or True Red by emailing me. You can't switch to Off-White/Beige. In other words, just about everyone who has ordered a B104 is expected to be in the current shipment, except the black and industrial gray case orders and possibly a few other exceptions; being in one shipment or another is not guaranteed."
The container shipment was delivered last week without issue.
Over the coming weeks I will be confirming mailing addresses, updating the manual for the round 2 boards, inspecting inventory, and testing the keyboards with Rico's latest Leyden Jar firmware which offers some improvements to the calibration binning. These are the first beam spring keyboards to use Rico's Leyden Jar controller!
As always there is still time to add on to your order any additional key sets, first aid kits, LED overlays and other parts to ship with your keyboard. You can also order the skip the line custom/low serial product add-on.
In other words, shipping will not start for several weeks, and there are a couple hundred boards to ship, so this will take quite some time. And as I mentioned with a previous update, please do not ask me which batch your keyboard is in or when your order will ship. As per a previous update:
"The factory has completed just about all needed variations except for nearly all the black and industrial gray cases; most of those will be shipping in the container shipment departing in a few months from now. If you picked one of those two case colors and want to get your keyboard in the shortest amount of time, you can request switching to Dark Blue, Light Blue, Regular Gray, or True Red by emailing me. You can't switch to Off-White/Beige. In other words, just about everyone who has ordered a B104 is expected to be in the current shipment, except the black and industrial gray case orders and possibly a few other exceptions; being in one shipment or another is not guaranteed."
-
Ellipse
- Location: United States
- Main keyboard: Brand New Model F Keyboards
- DT Pro Member: -
- Contact:
Here is a summary of the Round 2 improvements over the Round 1 beam spring boards:
An improved, dampened, and more refined sound while typing, due to:
• Extra case material and foam on top of the modules (like on the originals) for added dampening. The casing is made from custom-bent metal (see below factory videos) whose dimensions were based on scaling the measurements you kindly provided me. The Round 2 keyboards were made to look like the classic appearance of the rounded case beam spring boards (basically all the boards except the angular 3278 and 3279 boards (a prototype was made of this design but most folks disliked it). It's also inspired by the process used to make the IBM Displaywriter keyboard case (the bottom was stamped and folded, not die cast; the new beam spring boards were all stamped, folded, and welded with custom-made stamping tools).
• Improvements during a long R&D process over the past few years (the injection molds for the modules was redone and the beam module metal materials were changed to make them sound closer to the originals; though as I mentioned in my updates, the goal of this project was to bring back the beam spring mechanism and not to exactly recreate the sound or feel as exactly as with the Model F project).
• Also the inner assemblies are now closed with a torque screwdriver, which allows you to specify the torque and it will let you know if the torque is too high and if the screws are too tight. The purpose of this process is to optimize how tightly the bottom and top inner assemblies are attached to each other. In our research over the past few years to get these keyboards to be in line with IBM's standards, we have found that having a slight looseness to the assembly, as shown in one of the below videos, results in a far nicer sound and typing experience. You don't need a torque screwdriver for your own maintenance of these keyboards, you can just back off the tightness a few turns by eyeing it and keep things loose for optimal sound and performance.
Additional improvements:
• These are the very first beam spring keyboards with Rico's new open source RP2040-based Leyden Jar controller (same controller as on the F122's). All the new Model F and beam spring boards still run Vial. These now have enough memory and pins for 18 instead of 16 columns, improved matrix scanning speed, as well as additional Vial features, including layers and macros, that did not fit in the ATMEGA32U2 used in the xwhatsit controllers. The other keyboards that do not require 18 columns (B62, BSSK, etc.) will continue to use the xwhatsit controllers until stock runs out, as I've noted on the forums. I stocked up during the chip shortage many years back, before the Leyden Jar was released.
• Improved QC - no one is expected to need to adjust the bend of the metal parts inside the module due to a factory QC error with some of the original modules that was disclosed at the time. The most common issue is just a flyplate (the metal part connected to the flipper) that gets separated from the rest of the module while in transit. This QC improvement was introduced with the second batch of Round 1 beam spring keyboards which have been in use for a couple years now without major reports of failures.
• Reattaching the flyplate is now even easier than both the IBM and Round 1 originals where you had to use tape and a paperclip. The modules now have a custom-molded press fit plastic washer on top so you can quickly and easily disassemble the module by hand and reattach the flyplate (or replace a damaged inner plastic part). This was also introduced with the second batch of Round 1 beam spring boards which used a glued-on metal washer for each module. Also in general the beam spring is much easier to take apart compared to a Model F; you only need to unscrew the bottom inner assembly plate instead of using pliers to separate it. You can even leave the keys installed (except for the modules that you need to remove to fix, of course). For these reasons, resolving issues requiring disassembly that come up over the years might be even easier and quicker to repair than many issues of the Model F.
• The boards still come with a mini-first aid kit of 4 modules in anticipation that some may break while in shipping, though many folks order the 12 module full first aid kit.
And as always, for folks who have been waiting a while now and want to see the reasons behind the extended production timeline (and for everyone who is curious about the Beam Spring keyboard production journey), everything is explained in detail on the updates page on the project website.
The aforementioned beam spring Round 2 videos:
An improved, dampened, and more refined sound while typing, due to:
• Extra case material and foam on top of the modules (like on the originals) for added dampening. The casing is made from custom-bent metal (see below factory videos) whose dimensions were based on scaling the measurements you kindly provided me. The Round 2 keyboards were made to look like the classic appearance of the rounded case beam spring boards (basically all the boards except the angular 3278 and 3279 boards (a prototype was made of this design but most folks disliked it). It's also inspired by the process used to make the IBM Displaywriter keyboard case (the bottom was stamped and folded, not die cast; the new beam spring boards were all stamped, folded, and welded with custom-made stamping tools).
• Improvements during a long R&D process over the past few years (the injection molds for the modules was redone and the beam module metal materials were changed to make them sound closer to the originals; though as I mentioned in my updates, the goal of this project was to bring back the beam spring mechanism and not to exactly recreate the sound or feel as exactly as with the Model F project).
• Also the inner assemblies are now closed with a torque screwdriver, which allows you to specify the torque and it will let you know if the torque is too high and if the screws are too tight. The purpose of this process is to optimize how tightly the bottom and top inner assemblies are attached to each other. In our research over the past few years to get these keyboards to be in line with IBM's standards, we have found that having a slight looseness to the assembly, as shown in one of the below videos, results in a far nicer sound and typing experience. You don't need a torque screwdriver for your own maintenance of these keyboards, you can just back off the tightness a few turns by eyeing it and keep things loose for optimal sound and performance.
Additional improvements:
• These are the very first beam spring keyboards with Rico's new open source RP2040-based Leyden Jar controller (same controller as on the F122's). All the new Model F and beam spring boards still run Vial. These now have enough memory and pins for 18 instead of 16 columns, improved matrix scanning speed, as well as additional Vial features, including layers and macros, that did not fit in the ATMEGA32U2 used in the xwhatsit controllers. The other keyboards that do not require 18 columns (B62, BSSK, etc.) will continue to use the xwhatsit controllers until stock runs out, as I've noted on the forums. I stocked up during the chip shortage many years back, before the Leyden Jar was released.
• Improved QC - no one is expected to need to adjust the bend of the metal parts inside the module due to a factory QC error with some of the original modules that was disclosed at the time. The most common issue is just a flyplate (the metal part connected to the flipper) that gets separated from the rest of the module while in transit. This QC improvement was introduced with the second batch of Round 1 beam spring keyboards which have been in use for a couple years now without major reports of failures.
• Reattaching the flyplate is now even easier than both the IBM and Round 1 originals where you had to use tape and a paperclip. The modules now have a custom-molded press fit plastic washer on top so you can quickly and easily disassemble the module by hand and reattach the flyplate (or replace a damaged inner plastic part). This was also introduced with the second batch of Round 1 beam spring boards which used a glued-on metal washer for each module. Also in general the beam spring is much easier to take apart compared to a Model F; you only need to unscrew the bottom inner assembly plate instead of using pliers to separate it. You can even leave the keys installed (except for the modules that you need to remove to fix, of course). For these reasons, resolving issues requiring disassembly that come up over the years might be even easier and quicker to repair than many issues of the Model F.
• The boards still come with a mini-first aid kit of 4 modules in anticipation that some may break while in shipping, though many folks order the 12 module full first aid kit.
And as always, for folks who have been waiting a while now and want to see the reasons behind the extended production timeline (and for everyone who is curious about the Beam Spring keyboard production journey), everything is explained in detail on the updates page on the project website.
The aforementioned beam spring Round 2 videos:
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jesseinmx
- Location: Mexico
- Main keyboard: New Model F kishsaver
- Main mouse: apple magic pad
- Favorite switch: buckling spring (for now)
I have some old stanley planes that were japanned... that stuff is tough as beaver's teeth! Nothing made compares. Personally, I love the wear... and when people are over to my office I have them hold the keyboard and they are blown away at the heft. I replaced the cork feet pretty early on, I had a pretty aggressive desk mat that shed that cork in a week, I put rubber bumpers on and never looked back. After I get my BeamSpring I am gonna buff this model-f to a high gloss and enjoy the nickel in it's natural beauty.