deskthority

What about individual self-contained PCB solderable modules? _fuck_ no. There's simply no benefit. Capacitive sensing is not better than ohmic with diodes in any way - buckling spring is the benefit, but it needs space (mostly vertical tho), plus most people buy buckling spring for the _sound_, not...

While I am not familiar with IBM (and even less with the kind of amazing work you're doing here), it seems to me that there would be a problem with MX keycaps because they have a specific profile for each row while IBM keycaps all have the same profile. So if a keyboard with a bent plate and these ...

Wasn't easy, but here it is - 19x19mm, MX-mount, LED-enabled, original stem- and flipper-compatible buckling spring assembly, free of that pesky "spring doesn't buckle and requires reseating" bug.

I figured out why unicomp keys are so bitchy about placement. Some surgery was involved (don't worry, it's the worst quality unicomp key from my collection - I can't bring myself to destroying a single-piece one.) a_key_with_a_view.jpg The root cause is a spring not seating properly: instead of bein...

f-barrel-shifted.png Actually, one can just shift the barrel 1.8mm to the side, and everything will fit into 19x19mm module. Yeah, sure, it looks a bit weird - but it won't be visible when assembled. That 30 degree cut is there not to lose the bent plate compatibility. Although, now that I remember...

Okay, now I see what you’re up to. Or so I think. I’d be wary about that little channel, though. Tolerances are real. You know how jiggly these flippers can be when inside a keyboard. There’s quite a bit of rotational play on show in every opened F. It can't be too jiggly. It just looks that way du...

Accurate model allows for more than just reproduction. It allows to look inside with precision not really achievable at home otherwise. f-flipper-up-down.png Here's flipper at rest and pressed down. It's clearly visible that whole 4mm from the pivot point can be freely used for routing, because flip...

I found a place for a pretty huge LED (like, 3528 will fit with a lot of space to spare) without sacrificing stem compatibility. f-barrel-isometric.png Also, flipper will have to be shortened by ~2mm, although there's still a trick up my sleeve to reuse 2mm of space at the back of the key, beyond th...

AndyJ wrote: ↑

13 May 2023, 01:26

It would be interesting to compare those to the "New Model F" parts.

From download/file.php?id=24323 - flippers look OK-ish, but barrels.. my god, those are real ugly and shoddy AF.

So, with heaps of free time, I embarked on modelling model F key assembly in FreeCAD. f-barrel.png f-flipper-isometric.png f-stem.png And let me tell you, model F mold makers were showing off. A LOT. Parting lines in _really_ weird places (they mostly make sense, but, like, **weird**), _huge_ chamfe...

Actually, that is what i was thinking; order 10, one or two for DMA, one for myself, and offer the rest capacitive switch fans in the community. I have 5 of those on my table. I can send one to you, if you want. There's one problem though - calibration pads are showing about 1/4 of the normal pad's...

As for actual Cherry (MX mount) on top… that's a separate endeavour! I'd have to source caps to fit the thing, and how on earth to stabilise the buggers… Of course it will come with plate-mounted stabilizers. If it ever comes, that is. As for sourcing caps - I had an impression that everybody on th...

Great to hear that the Triomate works. Do you think this would work on a 0.4 mm board? Welcome back! Not sure - it's designed for 0.3mm+-0.05mm, while triomate tolerates 0.38mm officially and has wider tolerances. Also 1mm pin pitch worries me a bit - tracks will be quite thin and might delaminate,...

You are incorrect, sir. If you buckle a spring in just the right angle between your thumb and forefinger then it will make its clicking sound! I was really amazed the first time I did it, as it is not entirely intuitive that it would make the sound. This is not an April Fool's joke. I'm serious. Ca...

Ahh apologies, I thought it would be multilayer, since I remembered you mentioned you had a ground layer, but then it must mean that you have small holes in the ground layer where the columns and rows pass over each other, right? Yep. Could've made that with 0-ohm resistors, but it's cheaper with v...

Isn't the bump in the middle what presses the membranes together? I'd think the keyboard wouldn't work without them. Yes, but who needs membranes :D The click does not come from the flipper hitting anything but from the spring when it reaches its "catastrophic buckling" state. Then the flipper and ...

The following video shows shortened Ellipse F flippers. I feel like Ellipse ones are a little less brittle than old Model F ones, so for original ones it may not even be possible to successfully cut them like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCyeUnfHsnA Heh. Didn't know you did that already :)...

So I have about 100 Unicomp model M flippers laying around that I'm not ever planning to use, and I decided to do some constructive vandalism in the name of !!SCIENCE!! PXL_20230420_164003729.jpg Turns out, M flippers produce much louder and *crisper* sound than even F, if you file off that central ...

This post is here should anybody try to understand how capsense actually works and how sense card looks like, capacitance-wise (and that I'll be able to later find what I did and what results I've got). You're welcome to ask questions or ask me to measure something specific (if I still have the rig ...

Come on, do it for the sweet, sweet curves . ;) I'm actually thinking now that a buckling spring keyboard with flat plates and 19x19mm modules (with MX stems) would be _way_ better than blindly copying a design from fifty years ago (inventing an unnecessary PCB bending machine along the way). ESSK ...

Got the boards. PXL_20230404_023029554.jpg The good: * the triomate mates to 0.6mm PCB without apparent damage, and I've got the footprints right. The bad: * triomate insertion force is, like, 2 kg, and removal is just a tiny bit less. The holes on the edge of the board (why did I even?) probably di...

The rest of that post has a lot of talk around the fact that raw material cost is never what you end up paying as an end customer of small batch niche products. Except half a million items isn't, by any definition, "small" or "niche". Also note how he uses all the opensource stuff - and nags for fr...

The comment about modelfkeyboards.com makes me wonder: has anyone tried fitting an F77 inner assembly inside an SSK case? If they fit, then making an FSSK becomes a much easier process! Nope. At least there will be holes on top where Esc and F-keys are, plus you'll need to cut out the plastic above...

Muirium wrote: ↑

28 Mar 2023, 17:56

What comes to mind if I just go ahead and say: 3D printing?

It will be even more expensive, plus you'll need to source springs from somewhere. And the plates must be metal, no way around that.
They can be flat - but the problem there is that barrels are 19x21mm, so there will be gaps between rows.

wufishy wrote: ↑

28 Mar 2023, 14:50

I think you can buy spare barrels, springs, and flippers from the new Model F project. IDK about plates, I know a few laser cutters but IDK if they can bend plates as well.

$1 per key? that's fleecing. Looks like laser cutters won't bend the plate for you tho

This looks incredible! Does unicomp still make cases for these? Or do we have to make our case somehow if starting from scratch? If so, can you share the external dimensions so I can get a head start :D ? Problem isn't case - it needs curved metal plates and model F barrel assemblies, and if you ha...

Could you plot the matrix so we can attempt naïve Xwhatsit controller on this for ourselves? If the signal to noise ratio is as improved as you and I think it’ll be, that may even work! :lol: Matrix is exactly the same as FEXT PCB - the only material change is that keys are now components - which a...

groupbuy when? PCB - couple weeks to get it, then couple days testing. Controller - I don't think anybody will be interested in NiMH AA-powered one, so it will take some time to assemble the battery management (I have an LTC3558-based working prototype somewhere in this room, but LTC3558 is a bit t...

Everybody knows that capsense requires good grounding of all the metal parts inside keyboard. However.. what if.. what if you bring ALL YOUR GROUND WITH YOU? wcass did it for his CSSK using 4-layer board. But 4-layer boards don't bend that well.. So I spent 3 days of my unemployment and drawn this (...

Oh, so somebody actually types from their lap! Where's your notebook when you do that? What do you use instead of the mouse? I'm not trolling - I'm really trying to understand the usecase. Collecting "user stories", if you will. Mostly out of curiosity - however I look at it today, making controller...