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

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Thanks for being a part of the project! The updates page on the project web site is the most accurate in terms of the timeline. As noted near the top of that page, the backlog is always about a couple months. There is no progress tracking; the next and final update will be the email with tracking!

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Firmware update:

As per our recent discussions, all of the project's firmware development is now available in one place, Rico's github: https://github.com/mymakercorner/

The leyden_jar branch is current for the Leyden Jar controller. https://github.com/mymakercorner/vial-q ... leyden_jar

The xwhatsit_vial branch is current for the finalized NathanA updates of xwhatsit.

Other branches are for testing.

Additionally, I have attached an untested and unsupported Leyden Jar port of all the various xwhatsit boards, along with a python script that does the porting. I just sent it to Rico. It's provided untested, as is, but any fixes would be helpful. So far the script is extremely preliminary and doesn't properly port over all of the features, the new calibration binning, the ability to check or uncheck in Vial to split or unsplit keys, etc. If you're on Windows, QMK WSL compiles in minutes compared to the hours QMK MSYS takes. This is only for those who have soldered a Leyden Jar controller to one of these other keyboards (F62, F77, F15, F Ortho, F50) and are willing to do some testing.

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Pad printing update:

After nearly six years of R&D and tooling work, pad printed Model M and Model F keys are finally available to order!

https://www.modelfkeyboards.com/product ... f-key-set/

The first production batch of 25 sets has been completed this month, with the remaining sets to be completed over the coming months.

I am working on confirming that the M13 trackpoint (including special G H B) sets can be made. I will post an update after opening those sets up to orders on the project website. If you want one of those sets, you can't order them just yet but keep checking the forums for an update. I should find out next week.

Apologies for the low quality blurriness of areas of the photos; it is just the photo not the keys.

See the product page for additional details.

2026 04 17 pad print production sets (1).jpg (588.3 KiB) Viewed 225 times

2026 04 17 pad print production sets (2).jpg (826.04 KiB) Viewed 225 times

2026 04 17 pad print production sets (3).jpg (883.45 KiB) Viewed 225 times

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A new firmware version has been released for the Leyden Jar controllers (factory installed on F122 keyboards):

https://github.com/mymakercorner/vial-qmk/releases

The calibration binning algorithm has been optimized.

[engr]

Joe,

I am glad to see the pad-printed keysets are here.
A couple of questions regarding these sets:

1. As you noted, the photos are a bit blurry. Could you show a few close-ups of the surface defects you described to make it easier for us to decide if we want to order the hand-selected or the regular sets? Are we talking mold marks on front/side surfaces, or are these defects on top surface?

2. You mentioned that colors other than white would require several hundred USD in setup costs. What about a full set with white printing but in two languages (I.e. two sets of characters in each key, both printed in white) - would that also require several hundred in setup costs? What about a set with three colors (white, red, and blue) - would that even be possible?

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Stolen keyboard alert:

F122, Off-White/Beige, Serial 5 has been reported stolen or missing. Please keep an eye out and email me if you see any F122 Off-White/Beige keyboard.

1. I posted a few more photos on the product page on the project web site. They are zoomed in so much that it's either the camera digital zoom artifacts and/or you can see some individual ink droplets. These refer to the defects in the printing (as described on the product page). The keycaps on the key tops are the same keycaps with the unprinted black sets, so any of those product pages or customer images posted over the years would show those marks. They are not new or unique to the pad printing.

2. Tooling costs are for two things: ink changes and new metal plates for each set of legends. The character count doesn't matter; if it's different even by one key then it's a new plate. They don't want to be bothered with one-off requests so I'd have to make a good amount of each request, and batched together with other requests.

[Green Maned Lion]

Who steals a keyboard?