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Group Buys and Preorders / Re: [GB] F104+SSK+122+62+77+50+Ergo orders now open! Kishsaver+Industrial Model F
« Last post by Ellipse on Fri, 06 November 2026, 18:21:03 »Based on some recent conversations of mine, here is a recent writeup for folks who are unsure why to consider the new Model F instead of the many other choices out there.
How did other folks on the forum come around to the new Model F, if I may ask?
Your typing requirements would best be served by a Model F with solenoid driver and solenoid, which helps round out the sound and add the same added tactile feedback that IBM had on many of their original keyboards. I would not use a Model F for gaming, which often requires extra-light switches and near-silent operation for chatting and hearing sounds in the game. The whole point of the Model F is that it provides sufficient audible and tactile feedback to maximize typing performance and comfort according to IBM's research. There are many gaming keyboards with standard mechanical switches that can be purchased for a fraction of the cost and that all have a similar level of gaming performance to each other. Any compromise of trying to find one keyboard for these two purposes would be unwise. You can even change out the Model F's USB cable to be a USB-C extension cable so you can switch keyboards quickly, if space is limited and you can't have both connected at the same time.
Model F keyboards prove themselves after typing on them for months, and then trying to type on other keyboards and noticing almost immediately that something is missing. Every board has tradeoffs, whether in time, reliability, or financial cost. If considering restoring an original board: 2 out of 10 original boards may sound preferable to you, but not to someone else, so you could luck out or buy 10 boards to find your favorite (as I used to do in my collecting of IBM boards) or buy something new. These boards do have a ringing sound by design, characteristic of all Model F keyboards, as part of the buckling spring feedback while typing; you'll learn to like that sound or use the solenoid to mask that sound and enhance tactility (a popular option with two thousand sold).
After using a Model F for a couple months you'll realize that a pretty common objective of quiet operation is not as important a factor as you thought, and the feeling and sound feedback far outweigh the prospect of sound volume that you thought you wouldn't be able to get used to. You may have previously written down a list of features that you want in a keyboard, but many folks don't know their priorities about what products (or any life choices) would actually be best for them, because they are not asking the right questions, which can come from experience, conversation, and thorough research. The question should not be "which board is most similar to what I currently have (but better in some ways) so that I have zero theoretical risk of not liking it" but instead "what is the best board for reliability over decades as well as comfort and performance during long typing sessions, that is worth getting used to or changing my preconceptions of what I think I want." At the worst you can resell the board. I track resales and estimate that 97%+ of boards are never resold, which should tell you something about whether folks like the board (at such a high production cost for the board, you'd think people would resell to recoup the cost if they didn't like it).
Your best option to meet the above requirements is to order a new Model F and spend the least amount of time and cost possible to get the end-game board that many folks only end up with after trying out and fixing up many other keyboards. Not too many people choose to downgrade to another keyboard or restore an original after setting up a new Model F from what I have seen. As always, please read the project website for the full details to understand what you are getting, and don't assume anything. Just reading the tabs on the homepage should answer most questions.
How did other folks on the forum come around to the new Model F, if I may ask?
Your typing requirements would best be served by a Model F with solenoid driver and solenoid, which helps round out the sound and add the same added tactile feedback that IBM had on many of their original keyboards. I would not use a Model F for gaming, which often requires extra-light switches and near-silent operation for chatting and hearing sounds in the game. The whole point of the Model F is that it provides sufficient audible and tactile feedback to maximize typing performance and comfort according to IBM's research. There are many gaming keyboards with standard mechanical switches that can be purchased for a fraction of the cost and that all have a similar level of gaming performance to each other. Any compromise of trying to find one keyboard for these two purposes would be unwise. You can even change out the Model F's USB cable to be a USB-C extension cable so you can switch keyboards quickly, if space is limited and you can't have both connected at the same time.
Model F keyboards prove themselves after typing on them for months, and then trying to type on other keyboards and noticing almost immediately that something is missing. Every board has tradeoffs, whether in time, reliability, or financial cost. If considering restoring an original board: 2 out of 10 original boards may sound preferable to you, but not to someone else, so you could luck out or buy 10 boards to find your favorite (as I used to do in my collecting of IBM boards) or buy something new. These boards do have a ringing sound by design, characteristic of all Model F keyboards, as part of the buckling spring feedback while typing; you'll learn to like that sound or use the solenoid to mask that sound and enhance tactility (a popular option with two thousand sold).
After using a Model F for a couple months you'll realize that a pretty common objective of quiet operation is not as important a factor as you thought, and the feeling and sound feedback far outweigh the prospect of sound volume that you thought you wouldn't be able to get used to. You may have previously written down a list of features that you want in a keyboard, but many folks don't know their priorities about what products (or any life choices) would actually be best for them, because they are not asking the right questions, which can come from experience, conversation, and thorough research. The question should not be "which board is most similar to what I currently have (but better in some ways) so that I have zero theoretical risk of not liking it" but instead "what is the best board for reliability over decades as well as comfort and performance during long typing sessions, that is worth getting used to or changing my preconceptions of what I think I want." At the worst you can resell the board. I track resales and estimate that 97%+ of boards are never resold, which should tell you something about whether folks like the board (at such a high production cost for the board, you'd think people would resell to recoup the cost if they didn't like it).
Your best option to meet the above requirements is to order a new Model F and spend the least amount of time and cost possible to get the end-game board that many folks only end up with after trying out and fixing up many other keyboards. Not too many people choose to downgrade to another keyboard or restore an original after setting up a new Model F from what I have seen. As always, please read the project website for the full details to understand what you are getting, and don't assume anything. Just reading the tabs on the homepage should answer most questions.
