[GB] F104+SSK+122+62+77+50+Ergo orders now open! Kishsaver+Industrial Model F

[Ellipse]

An alternative is to buy a prepaid Visa/Mastercard/American Express card from a store.  Then you can use the prepaid card to place the order.  That may be a little easier to do.

[3K]

Correct, I no longer accept PayPal.  I accept bank/debit cards, credit cards, and prepaid cards.

Guess I'll have to get a debit card just for this in that case

I for example simply paid by bank transfer, from Germany to US. If i remember correctly there wasn't even a fee, i'd just ask your bank of choice if this is possible!

Edit: Paid by CC, sorry.

[jknight]

I for example simply paid by bank transfer, from Germany to US. If i remember correctly there wasn't even a fee, i'd just ask your bank of choice if this is possible!

What are customs like for Germany? Here in Portugal, they run about 50% of the item value.

[kishy]

I would just like to say:

This thread. I approve. OMG.

[romevi]

I would just like to say:

This thread. I approve. OMG.

 

[Ellipse]

We passed $180,000 in orders today!  The factory hopes to send the updated spring samples before the Chinese New Year holiday.

Great kishy!  If you or anyone else comes across an original Kishsaver for sale please let me know so I can add it to my collection and so I can compare the reproductions against the original.

[pixelpusher]

How about something like this for a "Model F First Aid" kit: https://www.modelfkeyboards.com/product/f62-f77-first-aid-repair-kit/

Everyone feel free to choose free shipping to add this kit to an existing order.  Here's the first draft product description on the web site:

Here is a kit of spare parts for refurbishing your Brand New Model F keyboard years or decades from now, long after production ends sometime this year.  Both kits are compatible with either ultra compact or original case F62/F77 keyboards.

Included:

--1 custom machine-cut inner foam, just in case the original foam loses its elasticity while remaining in its compressed state for years on end, you’ll have a spare.
--10 flippers with springs, in case you accidentally bend a spring out of shape when removing a key or cleaning your F62 or F77 or want to mod your layout and split a shift/backspace on your own in the future to get an extra usable key
--10 barrels in case you spill a sugary beverage in your keyboard and the barrels become sticky.
--Extra set of bumpers in case the originals wear out or you want to change bumper types – please add this store item to your cart if you want this:  https://www.modelfkeyboards.com/product/extra-bumpers/
--2 Extra stabilizer inserts – in case some fail or break when trying to remove them from the barrels to change a layout
--An original Industrial SSK (just kidding!)

Thanks!  I picked up a kit. 

[hoggy]

Ellipse, once boards are shipping and you start to get your life back, do you fancy re-creating the M15 - sorry I meant the F15?

[3K]

I for example simply paid by bank transfer, from Germany to US. If i remember correctly there wasn't even a fee, i'd just ask your bank of choice if this is possible!

What are customs like for Germany? Here in Portugal, they run about 50% of the item value.

Actually I just remembered that I paid with a Credit Card, which i charged by Bank Transfer...

I do not know about Transfer fees unfortunately. Usually it is not that hard to get yourself a Credit Card, sometimes your Bank even offers one along the Bank Account with low activity charge. So I'd try this.

[Ellipse]

What about prepaid Visa or Mastercard gift cards?  Can they be purchased where you live?  The site will treat the gift cards like a debit or credit card.

[HighPlainsDrafter]

Ellipse, once boards are shipping and you start to get your life back, do you fancy re-creating the M15 - sorry I meant the F15?

Or dare we even dream someday, some way, for a low-profile, ANSI-layout beamspring!?

[Elrick]

Ellipse, once boards are shipping and you start to get your life back, do you fancy re-creating the M15 - sorry I meant the F15?

Or dare we even dream someday, some way, for a low-profile, ANSI-layout beamspring!?

First things first - we need the Model-Fs to be done successfully here BEFORE we start insisting upon any type of Beamspring project.

Never start dreaming about something else when the current investment hasn't eventuated yet.  My accountant always reminds me of this vital fact.

[Ellipse]

Sorry, just F62 and F77 as I said before. 

[esquilax]

Obnoxious question: Is it still possible to change my order to a split right shift one?

[HighPlainsDrafter]

Sorry, just F62 and F77 as I said before.

Elrick: Who was "insisting"? Not me. No need to mis-characterize what I wrote and double-down your lecture on obvious points

[Ellipse]

esquilax - replied over PM

[Elrick]

Sorry, just F62 and F77 as I said before.

Elrick: Who was "insisting"? Not me. No need to mis-characterize what I wrote and double-down your lecture on obvious points

Just going with what you posted here sunshine.  If you can not enunciate yourself clearly, why blame others for mistake  ?

[hoggy]

Sorry, just F62 and F77 as I said before. 

Thanks.  Sorry, I probably read it and forgot, or didn't read it or... something - my bad. 

I hope you took the request as a compliment.

[Ellipse]

The new batch of springs arrived this week from the factory, but they are 0.3mm too small and have been rejected.  I hope to get more samples when everyone returns from the Chinese New Year holiday in a couple weeks.

[Elrick]

The new batch of springs arrived this week from the factory, but they are 0.3mm too small and have been rejected.  I hope to get more samples when everyone returns from the Chinese New Year holiday in a couple weeks.

Don't worry they will send the right springs eventually  .

[kmba]

Ordered.  Nearly last minute, but couldn't resist getting a brand new f77 one for myself being a huge model F/M fan.

[Ellipse]

Great thanks tameone!

How'd everyone first discover the Model F or Model M keyboard?

[Elrick]

How'd everyone first discover the Model F or Model M keyboard?

Model-M through work - YEARS ago at my Workshop and the Model-F,  through YOU with the F77  .

[kmba]

Great thanks tameone!

How'd everyone first discover the Model F or Model M keyboard?

Family purchased a PC with a model M board in 1989 that I've used daily every since.  Never had a since thing happen to it through 27 years and countless moves. Still rock solid and flawless.  Also acquired an 1986 shortly after that sits on a shelf. 

[R4WBIT]

I'm so close to ordering one right now. How long will they be up for? Information from the past says that it ends today.

[riotonthebay]

Ellipse, I sent you a PM a little while back about changing my shipping address. Just wanted to confirm that you received it. 

[Phenix]

Great thanks tameone!

How'd everyone first discover the Model F or Model M keyboard?

I met with someone from Deskthority.
He showed me some Model Ms/various other switches, and described the F-SSK project so awesome that I built one. Finished around 5 months ago - Types so nice!
(meanwhile I had Model M)

[Ellipse]

riot I just updated your address - sorry for the delay!

[user 18]

Is it still the plan to allow orders after the first round can test and review?

[Ellipse]

Yep user 18 that's the plan.

Here's the most recent update posted on the www.modelfkeyboards.com blog:

Everyone at the factory is returning for work this week.  We passed $190,000 in orders recently!

The immediate priorities are to get in hand the remaining first-run parts made to my specifications:  buckling springs, top/bottom inner assembly, boxes, and the keys.  After these parts have been approved, production will continue from where it left off (production has finished on the flippers, barrels, original style cases, capacitive PCB, controller PCB, ribbon cable to attach the two PCBs, and USB cables).

I don’t have a shipping deadline but am hoping for these to ship by mid-year from the factory; at this point we are waiting on them to do everything to spec.  I will not approve or send out something that I would not want to use myself, something not to my specifications and level of quality.

[PancakeMSTR]

What is the point of the "have your orders in by XX/XX/XXXX" Date? Everytime the date is reached it moves up by a month... This has been going on since like October, at least.

[Ellipse]

Yep Pancake please disregard the changing target dates listed on the web site.  The deadline must be extended as long as there continue to be factory delays. 

There have been significant production delays with the factory for this project but we are getting to be in good shape now and only have some parts left to make.

[fanpeople]

What is the point of the "have your orders in by XX/XX/XXXX" Date? Everytime the date is reached it moves up by a month... This has been going on since like October, at least.

Yeah so good to see you read through the thread before **** posting, because that is what this is. If you didn't expect/understand the reasons for the time blow out, you are probably a 12 year old that has his parents bring you the bucket whilst you grind WOW all day and hit your Amazon dash button for more Twinkies. Then complain when the delivery driver comes at the end of the day instead of the morning.

What is the point of your comment? What are you trying to achieve by posting it? How does this contribute to the GB? What answer do you want? Did you read previous answers to more constructive forms of your question?

What do you hope to gain from that post?

Ellipse answers you and tells you delays in factory, parts not up to spec, the fact that this isn't the same as calling up ducky and having them send you 100 boards fresh of the factory floor? In fact its not even the same as having a set of custom key caps made? It is far more complex.

If you just went through a bit of this thread you would probably find that information rather easily and there would be no need for this repetitive bull****, yet you managed to put in a pretty obnoxious way.

WTF do you seriously hope to gain from your post. Have you even ordered anything from this GB or are you just **** posting to get your post count up for a sale or something.


Just explain your intent by posting? Will this magically hurry up the process? Do you need validation for something? Are you annoyed? Do you feel cheated?

Look inside your soul, ask yourself "was this necessary/did it assist in any way, and if not did it contribute to anything" if the answer is no then maybe not in the future kthx.

[PancakeMSTR]

Yep Pancake please disregard the changing target dates listed on the web site.  The deadline must be extended as long as there continue to be factory delays. 

There have been significant production delays with the factory for this project but we are getting to be in good shape now and only have some parts left to make.

As long as I keep seeing the nice progress updates you put together I'll be happy. I understand this stuff takes a very long time and is difficult to get everything working together, right?

By the way, how do I check my order? Just realized I'm not sure how to do that.

Anyway, thanks for the updates and response Ellipse. Good luck, and keep it going!

What is the point of the "have your orders in by XX/XX/XXXX" Date? Everytime the date is reached it moves up by a month... This has been going on since like October, at least.

Yeah so good to see you read through the thread before **** posting, because that is what this is. If you didn't expect/understand the reasons for the time blow out, you are probably a 12 year old that has his parents bring you the bucket whilst you grind WOW all day and hit your Amazon dash button for more Twinkies. Then complain when the delivery driver comes at the end of the day instead of the morning.

What is the point of your comment? What are you trying to achieve by posting it? How does this contribute to the GB? What answer do you want? Did you read previous answers to more constructive forms of your question?

What do you hope to gain from that post?

Ellipse answers you and tells you delays in factory, parts not up to spec, the fact that this isn't the same as calling up ducky and having them send you 100 boards fresh of the factory floor? In fact its not even the same as having a set of custom key caps made? It is far more complex.

If you just went through a bit of this thread you would probably find that information rather easily and there would be no need for this repetitive bull****, yet you managed to put in a pretty obnoxious way.

WTF do you seriously hope to gain from your post. Have you even ordered anything from this GB or are you just **** posting to get your post count up for a sale or something.


Just explain your intent by posting? Will this magically hurry up the process? Do you need validation for something? Are you annoyed? Do you feel cheated?

Look inside your soul, ask yourself "was this necessary/did it assist in any way, and if not did it contribute to anything" if the answer is no then maybe not in the future kthx.

I simply asked a question, as is my right to do so. If you would like to continue this discussion, feel free to PM me. But I'm not interested in getting into an argument, public or private.

[Ellipse]

Pancake, you can check your order by looking through your emails for the order confirmation.  As soon as your shipping label is printed I expect to email out the tracking number along with what you ordered.

[PancakeMSTR]

Pancake, you can check your order by looking through your emails for the order confirmation.  As soon as your shipping label is printed I expect to email out the tracking number along with what you ordered.

Oh got it. Okay was having some trouble for a second (couldn't figure out who sent the email) there but I got it. Thanks! And sounds good! Looking forward to it!

[Mr_BeastQuake]

Old enough to definitively remember the late 80's - 90's keyboards that were prevalent, young enough to not remember a specific situation. Our first computer was a Mac and my school had even older Apples. However, after the Seattle Reddit meetup, I was motivated to go see the Living Computer Museum and they have a wide variety of keyboards. My girlfriend at least entertained my sitting down at every computer but it motivated me to want to acquire a board.

I know the end date for the buy is TBD but can we get some decent warning before it does? I'm trying to figure out how to work this in and may just dive-in if need be.

[Ellipse]

What kind of warning before the end of the final round would everyone recommend?

[kawasaki161]

What kind of warning before the end of the final round would everyone recommend?

2 months prior:
-Update this thread
-Email
1 month prior:
-Same as 2 Months prior + Post on /r/mk and /r/mm
2 Weeks Prior:
-Another update here
-Another email
1 Week Prior:
-Another post on /r/mm and /r/mk
-Daily bumps on this thread
-Daily emails (include an opt-out link in every one)
1 Day Prior:
-Punch me in the face and tell me to finally f'ing order

[iamtootallforthis]

What kind of warning before the end of the final round would everyone recommend?

Posts here would be great.

[PancakeMSTR]

What kind of warning before the end of the final round would everyone recommend?

2 months prior:
-Update this thread
-Email
1 month prior:
-Same as 2 Months prior + Post on /r/mk and /r/mm
2 Weeks Prior:
-Another update here
-Another email
1 Week Prior:
-Another post on /r/mm and /r/mk
-Daily bumps on this thread
-Daily emails (include an opt-out link in every one)
1 Day Prior:
-Punch me in the face and tell me to finally f'ing order

Yup that sounds like it would do it.

BTW Ellipse I have another question, one that I can't clearly answer based on your website: If I ordered between Oct 30 and Nov 2, What "round" am I in? Can I get a rough (+/- 2 months is fine) estimate from you when I might expect the board ?

[Mr_BeastQuake]

Just a post with a decent amount of time out. Couple of weeks or something.

[Ellipse]

I finished moving the web site to a new hosting service - it should be a little faster and load more quickly now, and with less downtime.

The factory has built the tooling to more accurately make sure all the springs are the correct dimensions - a spring that is even a little too wide may be more likely to fall off the flipper.

[Dodgy]

Nice work so far Ellipse, keep it up. Can't wait to get my hands on this. 

[olijuice]

Awesome work on this project, this looks amazing. About the bezel of the Ultra Compact F62, I was looking at your earlier post of the first run and honestly it's the one I am leaning towards. (I'm procrastinating on putting an order). Do the inner components prevent the bezel from being a bit thinner? I don't think I appreciate the old school enough  and really love the look of the modern style Pokers.

[Ellipse]

Yes oli that is correct.  The ultra compact case has the smallest bezel possible without redesigning the capacitive PCB which has traces on the outsides of the keys.  The bezel looks large but it's about 1cm on the left, bottom and right sides and a bit more on the top due to the capacitive traces.

[olijuice]

Understood. Thanks for the info, can't wait to see the progress of it 

[Ellipse]

Today I tested the very first sample keys from the brand new molds but they are not accurate enough to my CAD files, so they have all been rejected.  The factory will adjust the molds and send updated samples in the coming weeks.

[happylacquer]

Weird question but I'm looking to get stiffer springs than the stock ones for my Unicomp model m and an IBM one as well. Any chance this GB could offer heavier than stock springs? I'd love to buy a bunch.

[Ellipse]

Sorry happy, I won't be offering that.