deskthority

Let's get one of those for the MF launch party!

alh84001 wrote: Interesting. Will the firmware then be compatible with the stock 5LP kit?

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It is. Pin mapping will need to be different - but I'll need to find less tedious way to remap anyway (right now it's LOTS OF CLICKING), so this should not be a problem.
Likely there will be sub-repositories for hardware variants, pluggable to main repository. Or I'll find another way to splice all this into kiibohd (It kind of falls between "chip type" and "Scan module" as I see it now)

__red__ wrote:

DMA wrote: Base of the T has to be on a bottom row... ... And since my editor of choice is vim..

I don't see how these two statements relate.

Arrows must be arrows, not that abomination you're attaching. Up arrow _must_ be _above_ the down arrow.
"My interests are not conventional" etc. Yes, I use vim with normal arrows and can't switch.

Update: found a picture explaining what happens to me on those alternatively-escaped or alternatively-arrowed keyboards. Here it is: https://wtf.jpg.wtf/5e/cf/1487546859-5e ... 326e42.gif

Just got the call that the plates are ready for pickup. Happy times ahead. I will be home this evening for the first time in several days and swing in on my way.

Will post some pics when I have them, and as a reminder... one of the back plates will be raw metal since we wanted to give the Chromate dipper a one time pass before diving in. That is a separate vendor altogether.

Talk about perfect timing

I must admit that I am disappointed I missed out on the MF group buy. I was using deskthority for all the great wiki information and overlooked all the wonderful stuff going on in the forums. I had given a lot of consideration to getting an ellispe F, but in the end decided I didn't want to wait months for a reproduction and bought an F AT instead. A kishsaver would be grand but I just got away from the 60% form factor and don't intend on going back right away. Suffice to say this is where I will be lurking from now on. You guys have some good talent and knowledge gathered here and I'm postive something F-antastic is brewing. Something even my wife can get on board with...Not

Plate pics? Yes, please!! So much anticipation...

Hoaryhag, I know you're hitting it right on the nose with the "F-antastic" comment. This Model MF is just the first phase. I'm really interested to see how far phase 2 flat plate capacitive buckling spring can go. Up, up, and away!

lot_lizard wrote: Just got the call that the plates are ready for pickup. Happy times ahead. I will be home this evening for the first time in several days and swing in on my way.

Will post some pics when I have them, and as a reminder... one of the back plates will be raw metal since we wanted to give the Chromate dipper a one time pass before diving in. That is a separate vendor altogether.

Got a recommended vendor for cutting and bending?

Big Blue Saw appears to be very popular here with flat plates but don't know anyone who can do the bending as of yet.

I found a local HVAC shop do mine. Make sure they have and use a slip roll and not just a break. Also a good idea to run scrap through first so that bend radius is not too much.

__red__ wrote: Got a recommended vendor for cutting and bending?

Depends what you mean exactly by bending. For the beamspring work you were kicking off, the plates are flat and would only need a brake. For the F switches, you will need a roller like WCass pointed out.


For the type of work you are looking at doing for the beamspring plates (at least to prototype), I would be happy to process things you had cut. This will sound a bit crazy, but I originally planned on doing the MF metal work (post cutting) myself with the small numbers we were going to have. The problem with the MF is that silly front lip required an offset bend that I just didn't have high-end enough equipment in my shop for (takes a massive press). As our numbers grew, that also killed the appeal to not farm out.

For the beamspring, you would really only need a brake to recreate those bends for the top plate. The bottom plate of the beamspring would need a proper press though if you were trying to rib for strength (or just use alternative techniques like thicker metal, etc). In MF^2, I might try laminating materials as an example since we won't be required to fit such a tight space.

PS... just opened up one of the packages. Couple of very minor things I am going to want them to mind in greater detail (completely expected), but all and all... very pleased. I will take more pics and should be able to start testing sometime tomorrow. Love how the blue and texture turned out. It really is such as curious color that has so many different looks based on lighting and the surface angle (similar to the keys). In person... it is VERY close (more so than the pic shows).
EDIT... reminder, the back plate still needs to be blasted and hot dipped. So don't judge

Look at that perfect color and fitment! {Drool}

Omg... The color combination is perfect.

I wonde how the red.plate looks with a beige SSK

I never thought it would look this good. Funny to see what a you can get for that money!

That is a wonderful blue!

Hmm, maybe I should have gone with blue instead of red but I guess it's too late to change that now...

Nuum wrote: Hmm, maybe I should have gone with blue instead of red but I guess it's too late to change that now...

I am thinking the same, but hopefully lot_lizard also has a red plate example on hand

Looks good, but shiny and chromate was the way to go. WITNESS ME!!!!!!!!

It's funny, cyan/orange has been a colorway favorite for a long time, I think if you put a few orange keys on there - maybe esc or some modifiers, it'll look even better.

It looks awesome. Now I'm even more glad that I ordered one with blue backplate.

lot_lizard wrote: For the type of work you are looking at doing for the beamspring plates (at least to prototype), I would be happy to process things you had cut.

I smell opportunity...

So, if I were to send you a PCB directly compatible with DMA's firmware which may look like a HHKB with Model F switches... do you think you could cut + bend a plate and back for me?

derzemel wrote:

Nuum wrote: Hmm, maybe I should have gone with blue instead of red but I guess it's too late to change that now...

I am thinking the same, but hopefully lot_lizard also has a red plate example on hand

Certainly no bad choices... Feel safe

Suddenly the chromate version must appear a bit dull - but they won't have any rust the next 200 years...

lot_lizard wrote:
Certainly no bad choices ....

Boy-oh! those are nice!

I am not even sure what I finally settled on, but I have both beige and industrial cases so I am bound to have good options.

POTV wrote: Suddenly the chromate version must appear a bit dull - but they won't have any rust the next 200 years...

They will pop too in the right lighting. We are going bead blast everything I think. Cleans up the metal and gives it a nice satin "glow". Again... no bad choices. If they were bad ideas, they wouldn't have even offered up in the first place

__red__ wrote: So, if I were to send you a PCB directly compatible with DMA's firmware which may look like a HHKB with Model F switches... do you think you could cut + bend a plate and back for me?

If you wanted to have it cut ahead of time (I unfortunately don't have a laser cutter strong enough to get through steel), I would be happy to bend it up. Friends in town could cut it for me (people making our plates), but I want to keep things out of there queue . BBSaw is a great service, and price really reasonable because they are basically just an assembly line of cutting and do BIG volume. They cut the original plates for me in 3Q last year. Seems like they were 40-50 per plate? The machining is the expense of all of this stuff. Rolls, bends, countersinks, and threads add up quick

POTV wrote: Suddenly the chromate version must appear a bit dull - but they won't have any rust the next 200 years...

On the bright side, if there ever is such a thing as buckling spring-compatible artisan keysets, you'll have a much easier time coordinating colors with the chromate than those who chose red or blue barrel plates.

Thanks, just_add_coffee - but I'll just cry my self to sleep tonight. It should be good for the mental health, sigh...

Ordered chromate top and bottom... no regrets

That blue turned out great, glad i picked it up for the top plate. Can't wait to see this all come together.

There's a black version too, right?
I originally wanted chromate but changed my mind to black in the end. I do really like the look of the blue one though.

002 wrote: There's a black version too, right?

There is. It is actually the back plate of the full size in the picture if you can see it peeking through the LED cutout. I think we will go with a different finish on it though in the end. This is a "Delta Armed Forces" type of texture. I like textured mattes (semi-matte pending color) for sure, but this is just too rough and would hold dust like a sponge. Certainly looks tough, but we'll find something more ideal

Nice
Full faith in your judgement from my end.

Same here