deskthority

My beloved beautiful chic Lea Choc by Ukrainian manufacturer splitted.space.

Low-profile Kailh pink pro switches and cool shiny rotary encoders.

Here we are with my son's rig: Keychron K2 HE, hall effect acquired on Kickstarter after getting 3D Amber.clear keycaps by Oshid : The First Mechanical Keycaps Set with 3D Legend. Orange theme.

Current work setup. Have the keyboard setup to for Quick Books.

Has anyone seen these black keys. Found two sets on ebay that were taken off Model M keyboards used in the late 80's on a
point of sale terminal. I bought all the keys to recreate the layout which I will do at a later time. Had some strange keys on them.
The guy selling the parts was parting them out. Think I got enough keys to make one complete board. Post pictures later of
that layout.

New ModelFKeyboard Model F 104 "Ultra Compact"
עברית / English

Model F 122
עברית / English
(Yes, I know I don't have the "Industrial" keys in the right place, but I'm just going to use them for media keys)

Haven't put the solenoid in yet; it took me a while to set up because I had to open the inner assembly.

thrillscience wrote: 29 May 2025, 23:21 Model F 122
עברית / English
(Yes, I know I don't have the "Industrial" keys in the right place, but I'm just going to use them for media keys)

Haven't put the solenoid in yet; it took me a while to set up because I had to open the inner assembly.

Bruh wtf happened lol, why is this gap so jaggedy and well, big…

wobbled wrote: 01 Jun 2025, 01:29 Bruh wtf happened lol, why is this gap so jaggedy and well, big…IMG_3538.jpeg

Thomas' review units also have a big gap under the function key row. I can't stop noticing it in his review.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yzcEtwSFz9I

Yes. It's definitely not the same fit and finish as a real model F (which I have two of). But I greately appreciate the project, and the keyboard is a dream to type on.

Thanks for the feedback; I have noted to try to keep tighter case margins for the forthcoming Model F designs. Since the cases may be 3d printed or laser cut, this may be easier to achieve.

It seems like most folks like the case margins to go about 1mm just over the bottom of the unpressed keys, and to keep the case margins at most 1mm away from the keys? Because of the Model F's usage of a curved plate, case design is a bit more limited.

Regarding the case margins, the F122 and Model M cases' function keys can be closer to the keycaps because (with the former) the case tops do not have a "wall" that goes down to and just about contacts the top inner assembly. This wall would contact a key when it is pressed down, if there is not enough margin, since the wall is at a different angle than the key (the case is die casted straight and it is best to have a good few degrees of draft angle and avoid undercuts). Without this wall the case could be closer to the keys if preferred. And in the latter case, PVC (IBM Model M plastic case material) has a 0.5% shrinkage rate while aluminum shrinks by as much as 5-7% and it can shrink unevenly, similar to PBT. Better to have too much margin than for keys to get stuck when pressed down. Maybe I should remove all such walls for future designs, if it will allow for tighter margins.

Another way to reduce the margins is wcass's 4 layer Model F PCB innovation, which would reduce the PCB area by moving the traces to another layer. This may make the forthcoming compact designs even more compact.

When I'm sitting at the keyboard, I don't notice it. You see it when people take pictures of the keyboard from above. It doesn't bother me at all.
I love these keyboards. It was a tremendous tour de force recreating the Model F and it was an exciting project, well worth the wait. (I'm thinking about a beam spring!) I first heard about it from your Google talk that I saw on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajnDFJPBays).

My first IBM PC that I bought in 1982 had a proper Model F and the AT after that did, too, and I still have a few so I've had a bit of experience with them. I've tried cleaning up and using the old keyboards (and I've tried the Unicomp Ms), and I can say that the New Model Fs perform better than any original.

I changed my van's desk setup a bit since my last post. I changed keyboards; its a Model M 122 with a 1988 1392145 sticker on its back, but that is clearly not what it is; I have another such keyboard on my home computer, and they have a DIN180 plug and 1988 style mounting plate; this one has a gold anodized mounting plate, is considerably heavier, and a lot of 1985 date codes on its interior. I had ClickyKeyboards screw mod it, and I added some clear relegendable keycaps from Elipse. I am in the process of attempting to order custom caps from Unicomp for both this and my home office setup, for the lower row of F-keys and the side F-keys; sticking with relegendables for the top row and the "New Note" key, because I don't know if I'm going to keep those functions as labeled or change them.

I also replaced my POS-style monitor mount with one I built myself using some 10-series 8020 and a cheap RV quick-mount TV mount (the kind some RVs use to allow you to move the interior mounted TV to the outside wall of the RV). I still have more work to do on that, but another order of components from TNutz got held up at the Canadian border for customs inspection. I love this keyboard, and its feel. Crazy expensive project to use a screw-mod M122 in my van, but its worth it for the typing feel.