Beam Spring 104+SSK+122+62 Reproduction Project! Round 1 now shipping

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The beam samples have finally been completed!  Soon they will be on their way to me for full testing.

Below is the first photo of the completed Round 2 Beam Spring sample keyboards:

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Here we have some additional photos of the final beam spring pre-production inner assemblies.  There is a mistake on the B122 in that the 5 extra holes should have been cut out above the cursor area and then covered with tape (the photos show the key spots visible without tape on some of the top inner assemblies).

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The final beam spring sample keyboards arrived this week and have been tested.

They are excellent quality and have been approved for production!  Now everything remaining with the beam spring project has been approved for production. 

We just have some firmware issues including mapping errors on the boards that need to be corrected (the keys register but are not properly mapped). 

I very much like the quality and consistency of the beam module assembly and sounds.  I feel that the additional foam padding and slight enlargement of the top inner assembly module holes (more like the IBM originals but not so large that the keys wobble a lot - like on the IBM originals) refines the beam spring sound and eliminates much of the additional reverberation and higher-pitch sound found on the Round 1 boards. 

Only 1 out of the ~244 modules needed adjustment for the two B122 boards I tested.  And thanks to the change to the press-fit washers, the beam modules can be disassembled and reassembled by hand.  It is far easier and faster to reattach the flyplate with everything out of the module!

Weights without keycaps:  B122 9.4 lbs, B104 8.0 lbs, BSSK 6.8 lbs, B62 4.9 lbs

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Beam spring production update:

The factory notes that they have completed production and assembly of 80,000 Round 2 beam spring modules.

The cases, bottom and top inner assembly plates, foam, PCBs, and other small parts were approved for production last month.

The Leyden Jar (for B122 and B104) and xwhatsit (for B62 and BSSK) controllers are all in stock, ready to be installed. 

The PBT double shot MX keycaps for the beam spring keyboards all arrived to me with last year's container shipment, so they are all ready to ship.  These are the same keys from the same order as was done for the Round 1 beam spring keyboards.

I am hoping that they complete production and assembly of the remaining items over the coming months.

Again I want to reiterate that the quality of the sample beam spring keyboards received a month or so ago is excellent, and most noticeable is the significantly improved consistency of the key press of each beam module. 

For those not following the project closely in the past year or so, the beam module supplier switched and brand new molds were created for the Round 2 beam modules.  These new beam modules, combined with the improved assembly quality, has resulted in excellent production examples. 

Here's a photo showing how the modules are being stored while we wait for the other parts to be completed.  The modules are on layers in trays, with a cardboard separation between each layer of modules.

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Everyone please do share their recommended MX key set options here so that I may share them as requested: 122+ key sets, various international language options, media keys, custom sublimated MX sets, etc. MT3 sets have been recommended but I am not sure if their largest sets are still available to order.

[CaptainFabulous]

I prefer SA caps. Always wanted a set of Dashers but was never able to find them.

[Damage]

AF SA keycaps like these are fitting for the beam spring look, come in 160-key sets with decent kitting, and are offered in various colorways. They’re double-shot ABS with a nice semi-gloss finish. Not bad for about 30 bucks.

https://www.amazon.com/GEKUCAP-Minimalist-Keyboard-Switches-Mechanical/dp/B0CTCCHZ9P/

If you prefer thick PBT in an SA-inspired-but-shorter style, KAT WoB from Keyreative is nice.

https://keyreative.store/products/kat-white-on-black-extensions

If you prefer a high-gloss look, JTK’s HSA (half-height SA) caps might do the trick:

https://clickclack.io/products/jtk-hsa-profile-keycaps

For a retro look in a mid-height profile made from double-shot PBT, check out MTNU:

https://novelkeys.com/products/mtnu-wob

For a lower-profile sculpted PBT set with a similar look and cylindrical key tops, these ISA-profile caps are nice and affordable:

https://www.amazon.com/Womier-Key-caps-Keyboard-Mechanical/dp/B0DCVDY5TS/

For something very much like to the ISA-profile caps but with spherically indented key tops, check out the CXA profile caps here:

https://cannonkeys.com/products/cxa-bow-wob

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Thanks for the recommendations.  Please keep sending them! 

Here are the first professional style photos of the Round 2 classic style beam spring keyboards and F122 keyboard:

To see the high res photos, please go to the bottom of the post of all the newer F and Beam models: 
https://imgur.com/a/brand-new-model-f-beam-spring-keyboards-new-models-EIebi75

The photos show each available layout with the factory keys:  ANSI, ISO, Split Shift and 2U Backspace, and Split Shift and Split Backspace.

Here is one photo of each available layout:

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Random question:  Does anyone know the font that IBM used on their F122 keyboard labels?

Production update:

The factory reports that they completed another 20,000 modules in the past few weeks, bringing the total to 100,000 out of the ~150,000 for the current production batch, but they still need to finish the case and the top/bottom inner assembly plates.  They are hoping to finish up production and assembly this year as noted earlier. 

Here's a video posted a while back on how the cases are made:

Given the low volume of the beam spring project (about 1,500 keyboards for what may be the only production batch), all of these modules have to be assembled by hand, including the attachment of the thin metal part to the white part of the module.  Buying and setting up automation machines would far exceed the size of the project, for such a relatively small project.  Even the Model F barrels are installed by hand on the plates.  There still are many machines that help the factory workers, but these keyboards take quite a bit of labor to make.

I know things have taken longer than expected but the factory and I want to make sure everything is as good as possible. The latest examples from a couple months ago are excellent and they used modules from this completed production batch.  The modules are the most important part of the beam spring keyboard to get right and I'm glad that I did not approve mass production and assembly until they met my requirements.

[CaptainFabulous]

Is the font of the F122 different? Pretty sure the F and M font is Helvetica.

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Apologies for missing your reply; IBM used a custom drawn font for the sublimated keycaps, but I am not sure which font was used for the F122 labels on the bottom of the keyboards.  Was it Helvetica, or some variant?  There may have been quite a few Helvetica TTF variants out there so I was wondering if it was a specific font, such as one that would have been offered for a word processor in the mid-1980s.

We have not had a factory video post in a while.  This above video shows how the factory adjusts the torque of each bolt for the beam spring keyboard inner assembly.  The tool they are using is a torque screwdriver, which allows you to specify the torque and it will let you know if the torque is too high and if the screws are too tight.  The purpose of this process is to optimize how tightly the bottom and top inner assemblies are attached to each other.  In our research over the past few years to get these keyboards to be in line with IBM's standards, we have found that having a slight looseness to the assembly, as shown in this video, results in a far nicer sound and typing experience.  You don't need a torque screwdriver for your own maintenance of these keyboards; you can just back off the tightness a few turns by eyeing it and keep things loose for optimal sound and performance!  In general, it should be looser than the point where the plates would start to bend unevenly around the areas of the bolt, where you would see some unevenness of the flat bottom plate.

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Production update:

The factory notes that they are finishing up production of the B104 next month, with assembly finishing up in mid-June.  They are going to check that everything is good with the B104, and then they will make the remaining 3 models, with assembly finishing up around the end of July, assuming no issues that require remaking parts.  They don't want to make a mistake and have to throw out all the costly aluminum sheets used to make these parts.

That would mean that the keyboards will be shipping from the factory all at the same time in August (not split in two shipments).  An early August shipment would mean that the keyboards would arrive to me around the end of September or early October.

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Production update:

The factory has completed the lasering and bending of the B104 top and bottom inner assembly plates (shown below); the next step is the coatings to finish these parts.

After they are coated they expect to start assembly, as early as the next week or so.  During the time of assembly they will be making the cases, which is a quick process now that they have all of the laser and bending settings worked out.  This is done to optimize warehouse space (another reason they order the boxes and protective foam as late as possible before shipping).

As I mentioned before, after the B104, they will work on the remaining 3 keyboard types (B62/BSSK/B122) and hope to finish up as planned. 

It is great to finally see the beam spring keyboards coming together!
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