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Spoiler:
In the second picture, in the top row, you can see i$'s blank USB F, and the FSSK prototype which looks (and feels) very promising and is, quite frankly, an awesome idea!
In the second row you can see my now-ISO SSK, and a brutally violated M that is shift-less and enter-less for the time being. We were hoping to be able to swap the stabilizer inserts around without too much hassle but unfortunately they are somewhat off-center for the ISO enter, they may look the same but differ by milimeters. This M will either be screw-modded and converted to ANSI or, more likely, be made whole again through donation of a new stabilizer insert and keycaps. But it is not my priority as I have the SSK.
In the third row are idollar's beamspring boards, which were amazing. The first USB one with xwhatsit's controller shows the true marvel of marrying old and new technology. Quite fun to type on, too, and with a solenoid for extra clackiness. You can just turn it on and off with a button, they might as well have labeled that button "FUN ON/OFF"
The second one, while a bit dirty, was also nice because the switches felt even smoother than on the first one. These are of course not the most practical and portable keyboards, and not very ergonomic due to the angle of your hands on the keyboard. But they feel so, so good and the caps on the first one are just mmm-hhhhm-good. Dat black and blue on pearly white sphericals... (unfortunately, the blue isn't very visible due to my phone camera)
Since i$ has a ton of experience he showed me how to properly treat an SSK.... With screws, because SCREW you nuts and bolts users! And what a nice opportunity to swap some hammers around and make it ISO, too!
This is it before the conversion, all QWERTZed up
Spoiler:
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Up next are possibly my second floss mod, because I liked the first one so, and perhaps going full QWERTZ again
The best thing about the screw mod is how much it can improve your SSK/M. Mine was pretty beat up, I had issues with seating some keycaps and some keys would only work after reseating multiple times. But the worst thing was the wobble, since the whole assembly was bent it resulted in the keyboard tipping back and forth because the whole case warped.
After the mod, it is pretty much perfectly straight, and does not wobble anymore.
I want to thank i$ for his time and patience. It was a lot of fun working with you!
The only problem is, now that I have seen what else IBM has to offer, buckling spring over membrane seems so mundane! While I dislike the sharper click of the F, the feeling was far superior and I would actually prefer the lighter touch. Beamspring was also really nice to type on. About regular buckling spring I like the simplicity and availability. But the technical limitiations of membranes and superior typing feel of the F make direct my interest more towards capacitive keyboards... I will definitely have to follow the FSSK project!
