deskthority

I took delivery of my F104 on Saturday. Right now I have it set up at my WFH workstation, sitting in for my F122 Battleship. Here are some pictures:

https://i.imgur.com/6kto8Pg.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/oJPrn71.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/YA61KcE.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/yRbgpcN.jpeg
https ...

I took delivery of my F104 on Saturday. Right now I have it set up at my WFH workstation, sitting in for my F122 Battleship. Here are some pictures:

https://i.imgur.com/6kto8Pg.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/oJPrn71.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/YA61KcE.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/yRbgpcN.jpeg
https ...

Great photos del20nd! Thanks for posting your review.

The manual mentions that the vertical stabilizers should have the larger ear on the right side for all keys except the ISO enter key, which has the larger ear on the left side. There is a photo that shows the normal orientation (larger ear ...

I am getting inconsistent registrations of my "F" key (oh the irony!). Most of the time it works just fine, but it occasionally doesn't register, or it registers twice. I've already tried twisting the spring around and even swapping it with the spring from another key. The signal level also looks ...

While the setup process was mostly straightforward to anyone that's dealt with rehabbing original Model F's, I did run into one frustrating issue with the black vertical key stabilizers. In the instructions it's explicitly stated that the stabilizer for the ISO enter should be keyed such that the ...

[removed, made mistake with assembly]

Again, I'm happy with what was delivered overall. I understand the reasons for not delivering a fully assembled board, but do wish that, at the very least, the stabilizers came tested and preinstalled, especially if there's undocumented variation in the orientation which they have to be ...

I took delivery of my F104 on Saturday. Right now I have it set up at my WFH workstation, sitting in for my F122 Battleship. Here are some pictures:

https://i.imgur.com/6kto8Pg.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/oJPrn71.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/YA61KcE.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/yRbgpcN.jpeg
https://i ...

I'd love to see a self contained, modular capacitive buckling spring switch design which can be plugged into some kind of standardized circuit board mount, which could feasibly be designed around by a determined hobbyist with an engineering background, using something like PCBWay. That's probably a ...

Last week at the thrift store, I came across this thermal typewriter, a Sharp "Intelliwriter" PA-1000H, which has Alps SKCL greens with some nice doubleshot keycaps:

https://i.imgur.com/ZPHUlTJ.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Plo6f3s.jpg

I've been typing with this little guy for a week, and can see ...

Hitting F3 is no harder than hitting # for me. Fn + 3 versus Shift + 3. Do you ever feel you need a dedicated # key? Or @ or $ or… etc.? ;)

Not that I am immune to this idea , in legends at least!

https://deskthority.net/download/file.php?id=14166

Here's my real point: we all use layers ...

clickandthock wrote: 30 Apr 2023, 05:03 Thanks guys!! Yeah, maybe a part 2! Which switches would you see in there? Nec Oval?

Just for fun, throw a Selectric into round two. Those were technically converted to be used as keyboards on some early IBM terminals so they count.

If you're in the market for a vintage Wang terminal board, there's one on shopgoodwill right now for a very low price, with about 1.5 days left to bid:

https://shopgoodwill.com/item/164649355

https://shopgoodwillimages.azureedge.net/production/2/Items/04-19-2023/2b8c47d9-b371-44e1-85d8 ...

If you're in the market for a vintage Wang terminal board, there's one on shopgoodwill right now for a very low price, with about 1.5 days left to bid:

https://shopgoodwill.com/item/164649355

https://shopgoodwillimages.azureedge.net/production/2/Items/04-19-2023/2b8c47d9-b371-44e1-85d8 ...

That case looks fantastic. It looks like the genuine article at a glance, which will make it a much more effective blunt force instrument than a Model M SSK. Your enemies won't expect the cast aluminum!

I've mentioned that I've had several Model F XTs and Model Ms, from IBM, Lexmark, and Unicomp. This includes new, old stock. I said I prefer the Model M because the Fs felt like they were going to throw a rod or something every time I typed on it. I also strongly hated the extra heavy-duty ...

I think it's just the nature of this hobby to be in and out. I've been a member of GH since 2011, but if I look at my post history there's really only 3-4 periods where I was active on the site.

My nature is to get an itch for a keyboard, look it up, ask questions, (maybe) ultimately buy it, talk ...

Resurrecting this thread because the exact same rant on reddit is among the top google results when you type in "IBM Model F vs Beamspring." I want to respond to that but don't have a reddit account anymore.

The link to that thread is here: https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments ...

Question on the F104:

Does the numpad have live sensors mounted in the "dead" spots (ie- are there two sensors under the '+', 'enter' and '0' keys) for if we wanted to add extra buttons to the numpad cluster?

Might be useful if, for example, you wanted to add tab, backtab, and a comma key for ...

Beam spring or Capacitive Buckling Spring in a full 101 or 104key ANSI layout.

I really like my F77 New Model F, but dedicated keys for ~ and Function keys are more important to me than just the size of the board on the desk.


It makes me so happy to say that this comment has aged like milk ...

Model F does have one material advantage over M for gaming: it is inherently NKRO . The few times I tried using an SSK for gaming didn't go so well thanks to blocking. Ignored keys really are a liability in the heat of the action.


That's a good point Muirium. If you like the feel of BS switches ...

That Tandy board reminds me allot of the stackpole switches that came attached to the original Atari 800. The keycaps look like very similar construction too, with thick doubleshot plastic.

Here's how I'd approach this (spoiler: I'm a wet blanket):

1) What problem are you trying to solve? You say you're happy with your Model M, but sometimes use a controller for gaming. Is this really an issue, or are you just bored with your "old" keyboard and looking for a change? Is the ...

Thanks so much for taking the time to answer these questions about your career and designs!

I have a couple questions to add:

About IBM in general: did the culture change noticeably between the beginning and the end end of your career? Do you have any thoughts about the company today that you'd ...

Was zinc pest ever an issue with IBM model F cases? When I was young, I used to have a bunch of diecast zinc scale models, and that was a big problem with them.


As somebody who collects antiques, my experience is that zinc pest was largely solved by the 1950s. I've only ever seen it on one ...

This is an interesting discussion. del20nd you mentioned your experience in hardware manufacturing? Anything (details, best practices, advice, etc.) you are able to share, if it is appropriate?


Sure! I can talk about the subject generally, without going into the nitty-gritty specifics of how ...

I’m a little shocked there isn’t an Unsaver option.


What is Unsaver?


Basically the same as a 122 key, but tenkeyless (so a 104 key F.) In other words, a tkl board with a 10 key left hand cluster and F13-24. It's a rare variant of F122 battlecruiser that actually predates it by a bit, and ...

^ This.

Ellipse could be a better communicator (it’s often said he sorely needs QA people and a customer support team) but his keyboards are a thing you can actually buy right here in the real world. They are a miracle, with all of the gotchas those entail!

As for feel: F beats M so very hard ...

My understanding is, this company does not accept returns for any reason. A couple of complaints on reddit of people receiving damaged keyboards and the company not making it right.

I know the Model F offers a superior typing experience. But is is "4 times more expensive than a New Model M ...

^ This.

Ellipse could be a better communicator (it’s often said he sorely needs QA people and a customer support team) but his keyboards are a thing you can actually buy right here in the real world. They are a miracle, with all of the gotchas those entail!

As for feel: F beats M so very hard ...