deskthority

The solenoids themselves already started shipping. I received a few of the production units by DHL Express. The rest of the production batch will be on the second container shipment later this year. If you would prefer not to wait please email or PM me if you wanted to help cover the additional ship...

Solenoid Installation Guide and Sound Test video:

Dye sublimation update - the trial of the dye sublimation jig is set to be completed this week. Second container shipment update - the factory is wrapping up the repairs and expects the shipment to go out before the end of October. In order to continue mailing out keyboards upon request, they will n...

str8away I have found that pandrew's beta utility "auto enter bootloader" checkmark has worked for me, even if the controller is running xwhatsit firmware. I just plug in the keyboard after the check box in the utility has already been checked and it loads the bootloader and displays "AtMEGA32 DFU" ...

I'm on the fence on buying one of these, can somebody help answer a couple questions I have about this keyboard? Is using a function key to access alternate keys annoying? (IE escape, having to do ctrl alt delete) How are the keys that you can buy from the website? What things do you recommend me d...

Some photos:

Dye sub update: Attached is a high res scan of the latest sublimated keys of excellent quality (same as what was posted a few weeks ago with my phone camera) vs. the exact originals they were based off of. The new ones as sublimated by the factory's equipment appear to be a touch wider and thicker, ...

I thought I'd share instructions someone sent me on using the xwhatsit utility and compiling the xwhatsit hex firmware files - someone was asking me about this recently. As always, this would be done at your own risk. Compiling/running the xwhatsit capsense utility on Linux: For Ubuntu: 1. Open the ...

Forgot to mention this earlier but last week I posted the August update on the blog, which summarizes all the progress and postings since the prior update: https://www.modelfkeyboards.com/blog/ Today I provided the factory with detailed tolerance specifications for the dye sublimation alignment and ...

All the remaining controllers were completed and will be on the next container shipment, expected later this year.

Great solenoid test video darkspider!

Stepped 1.75U keys are not available from me as I don't have the mold for that key, just the non-stepped 1.75U mold. Unicomp offers stepped keys though.

As requested here are photos of the production key colors, all in one photo.

Key colors (from left to right:  Pebble, Pearl, Black, Industrial SSK Blue, 60% Dark Gray):

Those making the line art type renderings - feel free to work with the newer photos from this album. The renderings have stepped keys from the prototypes while the new Model F's do not have those keys stepped.

https://imgur.com/a/gw8FOl0

Do you know what the name of the grey is so I could maybe could have my soon to be f77 case sent off and powercoated then in that color. The paint was custom mixed from an original Industrial SSK case part mailed to China. You can take an Industrial Gray case to a paint store and they can match the...

Unicorn all classic case orders will be with the original style powdercoating.

The new powdercoating is not available to order and to keep things simple, I will only consider the alternative powdercoating maybe towards the end of the final round and will not be offering upgrades.

Lagomorph the new USB-C beam spring controllers have card edge connectors that are tighter fitting to the beam spring capacitive PCBs. The fit of one of these new controllers is properly tight to my 3278 beam spring controller. The older controllers were a bit looser fitting, maybe due to using mold...

The beam spring and beam spring displaywriter production samples arrived and I have approved the factory to finish up assembly. I also received a few solenoid production units and posted some more details on the F62/F77 project thread. The solenoids are great, far better than the originals. Solenoid...

Thanks darkcruix for your update on the case powdercoating and on the Model F manual. Interest check: ultra durable modern style powdercoating for classic zinc and/or compact aluminum cases? Just to show everyone how far powdercoating has come: here's a video of me taking the end of a screwdriver an...

Thanks zzxx that is a good first step towards what I was asking about. Ideally I could use a Pro Micro + an xwhatsit solenoid driver to work with the original IBM Model F controller. I understand that there are cheaper alternatives described by kmnov and others to power the solenoid but I'm curious ...

Dye sublimation update - excellent progress: The factory has done an outstanding job with the latest key samples. They seem to have perfected the various variables to get a good quality result. On my Meiji stereo microscope it is almost impossible to tell the difference in sublimation quality (sharp...

Hey, can we apply this setup to model f xt running by pro micro soarer's converter? If yes would you please provide information about wiring? Thanks. No, because Soarer's converter does not have a PIN set to trigger a signal for the Solenoid. And because Soarer's converter is not open source, we wo...

Also a few of the new USB-C beam spring and beam spring - displaywriter controllers arrived! They all have tested good, except one which has a bad row (not sure if a component is bad or if some reflowing will fix the issue - any recommendations from SMT soldering experts out there?). 20200818_185223...

A few of the production solenoids arrived and they are excellent! The solenoids are more than double the weight of the original IBM beam spring solenoid in one of my 3278 keyboards. The adjustable stroke of the new solenoids works well. At full stroke (5mm) the solenoid is at its heftiest. The solen...

FXT the packing slip should have been in the package loose, or outside the package in the clear shipping label pouch. I have noted to send another slip with the rest of your orders. You would need to use the beta QMK site for now, not the official site. Please do post here requesting an invite to th...

Due to the extended lead times for powdercoating in China, the factory is starting preparations for colors for the final round (for both classic and compact cases). Please do post if you would like to order any previously unavailable colors and if there's enough demand (not sure of the minimum order...

Mattr567 - sorry for the delay - just mailed out your solenoid driver! As a general note everyone will receive a tracking number by email when something is shipping. FXT did you see the newly posted manual which discusses suggestions to mitigate the binding of larger keys? Now available at www.Model...

An update - there were some delays with the components. Components with the wrong footprint had to be re-ordered. They will be assembling and DHL Express mailing me a few of each controller for evaluation in the next week or two. I am also getting the first samples of the solenoids themselves in han...

There was a note on space bar compatibility over on reddit that I wanted to post over here: Unicomp offers two 5.5U space bars, one known as "pre-2013" and one known as 2013 onwards. Only one is compatible with the Model F keyboard (don't remember which!). They are physically different designs. http...

I have updated the organization of the new www.modelfkeyboards.com/manual page with sections that are by default minimized and expand when you click on it ("toggle switch"). This way one does not need to scroll through each section to get to the right one.

For quieter mods, please see the new manual section on mods, available on the project web site. The Model F still produces a click sound no matter what so I would not call it a silent keyboard even with mods.