Author Topic: Beam Spring 104+SSK+122+62 Reproduction Project! now shipping  (Read 416221 times)

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Offline Ellipse

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  • Location: New York
    • Brand New Model F and Beam Spring Keyboards
Re: Beam Spring 104+SSK+122+62 Reproduction Project! now shipping
« Reply #200 on: Fri, 05 June 2026, 12:07:03 »
The Chyrosran22 new Beam Spring trailer was just posted!


Offline PlsCrit

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Re: Beam Spring 104+SSK+122+62 Reproduction Project! now shipping
« Reply #201 on: Fri, 05 June 2026, 14:00:08 »
Been using my B104 R2 for a couple weeks now and I love it  ;D! What an amazing project to come together... But damn did I not realize how truly big this thing is, I've (gently) placed my daily driver, which now lives at my office, on top for scale.

So far have been blessed with little to no issues, with one exception: small bits of plastic flake off some part of the beam spring module which settle down onto the pcb and cause keys to not register correctly. Has happened 3 times now which requires opening up the case and removing the debris. Not sure exactly what part they are from, but if I had to guess, the "beam barrel part B", or the keycap stem, or maybe even the bottom of the keycaps? The flakes are all white and plastic. I didn't want to mess with the module too much but in hindsight I should have attempted to locate the module the flake came from and inspected it to see which part is the culprit. Next time it happens Ill try to document it.

During keycap assembly some caps were harder to put on than others and required more force, this could have caused some plastic part around the stem or keycap to break off?

Edit**
Just re-read this part of the manual:
Quote
When putting the press fit washer back on the module, it is important that the module is pressed all the way down with a minimal amount of force; not so much force that you break one of the plastic legs of that white part inside the beam module.

Broken white “leg” on the beam barrel part B:  you may notice a broken off white part when removing a module for adjustment.  Sometimes this is hinted at when you can’t press a module down all the way. 

This might be the same issue, however the broken off flakes I observed do not resemble the legs, it is possible its a sliver of the leg though.
« Last Edit: Fri, 05 June 2026, 14:57:32 by PlsCrit »

Offline Ellipse

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  • Location: New York
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Re: Beam Spring 104+SSK+122+62 Reproduction Project! now shipping
« Reply #202 on: Fri, 05 June 2026, 15:23:23 »
Yes, you may have cracked or fractured parts of the legs when installing many of the keycaps (I have done this before, in my earlier testing of the early new beam spring keyboards years ago!).  You can sometimes detect it if the key module without an installed key wobbles a bit more than the other keys. 

Absolutely little to no force is needed to install the project keycaps, as mentioned in the very first sentence of Action Step 6 Keycap Installation:
"Be extremely gentle when pressing each key down to install it; you can easily break or fracture the white part of the beam module if you press too hard."

Now to think how to fix what was done:  I recommend trying to more quickly expose which keys are bad, to avoid you having to keep fixing things as they make themselves known.  What I might do is take a large sturdy flat object (something like the key set box, protected on the bottom side with a cotton towel etc.) and use it to press all of the keys down gently many times, maybe 100 times or more, and then manually press each key a bunch of times from slightly different angles, taking note of which ones don't feel right or produce an inconsistent signal in the Level Monitor screen of the diagnostic tool.  Then replace those modules with some of your spares from the first aid kit.  As always be extremely gentle with this method so as not to break or scratch any keys.
« Last Edit: Fri, 05 June 2026, 15:37:35 by Ellipse »