I know many of you are keyboard aficionados and I wanted to let you know that the Model F keyboard guy is making a 2nd generation of his Beam Spring keyboards. I got one and it is unlike any other keyboard I have ever used: the tactile feedback is precise like a buckle spring but louder and with a more pronounced break. Travel feels longer and obviously the keyboard sits very high compared to modern board. But it's a heck of a typing experience if you are interested.
I've you've never heard of beam spring keyboards, this was the IBM keyboard before buckle-springs (same guy, Richard Harris) took over. It uses a very different mechanism than buckle-spring:
Very cool that someone is working to bring back these older key switches!
From the page:
> What is a Beam Spring Keyboard? Before the Model F keyboard was the Beam Spring keyboard, a keyboard that was designed to be like the IBM Selectric electric typewriters but made to work with IBM’s mainframe terminals. Originals regularly sell for over $1,000 to $2,000 but now you can get one in various “normal” modern layouts and various color options for a fraction of that cost. The new beam spring keyboards are also compatible with MX keycaps (see below for details).
In the meantime, I would remind the people who would like to experience a vintage keyboard to take a look at the Unicomp model M keyboards. They are not Model Fs or beam spring, but are rock solid, reliable, and sensibly priced considering their quality.
My Endura Pro started having issues three months in after arriving to me in 2013; I remember how it was $99 and shipping was $98, and then I had to pay VAT on it.
It died quite quickly after and become parts donor for old IBM Model Ms I bought out from people’s attics. It was a wonderfully repair-unfriendly thing, too.
> This keyboard is not for you if you do not want to spend an hour or more to set it up and time in the future to adjust a key that stops working well. Do not use any beam spring keyboard in a mission-critical environment.
I have his model-f, and while i like it setting it up to flash firmware to it was a bitch and a half and his docs read like a 4th grader wrote it. He should invest some money in cleaning up that side of his business.
It's nice to see human-centered computing making a comeback with the older, robust, and hefty tactile interfaces - and I hope to see more like this as token factories eat wallets and jobs.
Funny hearing that about a $400+ (!) mass-produced keyboard mostly targeting people that already have at least a dozen mechanical keyboards. Making money on pointless overconsumption that borders on obsession is kind of the opposite of being human-centered.
These are definitely not robust. The product description mentions about 5 times that it will most likely be broken when it arrives to you, and will definitely break again in months or years so recommends buying extra first aid kits with spare parts so you can tinker it and keep it working.
I understand they are restarting production from scratch for a product that no longer exists and that nobody actually knows how to make, but being openly unreliable is a significant problem at this price point.
Nah. It's a british sports car, but a keyboard. At this price point the idea that you can have a little pile of parts and take it apart on weekends to fiddle with the springs is its own selling point.
I'm typing this on a Das that's been completely reliable and, to some extent, clackety and 'special' in its own right. There's five other keyboards that came with computers not thirty feet away including an older Das that I wore out: the keycaps are unreadable on that one, the current one's hanging in there.
I'm not in a position to randomly splurge on this new beam spring monster but I understand exactly what it is, and admit to craving it something fierce :) it's exactly the sort of thing I'd get.
The thing is, something like this is way outside of the budget of someone who isn't making a lot of money or has saved a lot in the first place. 438 dollars is a lot of money.
Mine is now at customs. Wondering how fucked it’s going to arrive. But I guess I like pain.
The 104-key model F I’ve got has a dead spring in numpad delete, and I can’t carve out enough time to disassemble and fix it. Mind you, I did disassemble, put in DIY foam, and reassemble a Model F XT, so I’m not afraid to do it.
Between me ordering the beam spring one and getting it, I managed to change my citizenship, name, and house. But it was only a two year wait, the first Model F remake (60%) took three years and I was quite late to that party.
Hi HN,
I know many of you are keyboard aficionados and I wanted to let you know that the Model F keyboard guy is making a 2nd generation of his Beam Spring keyboards. I got one and it is unlike any other keyboard I have ever used: the tactile feedback is precise like a buckle spring but louder and with a more pronounced break. Travel feels longer and obviously the keyboard sits very high compared to modern board. But it's a heck of a typing experience if you are interested.
I've you've never heard of beam spring keyboards, this was the IBM keyboard before buckle-springs (same guy, Richard Harris) took over. It uses a very different mechanism than buckle-spring:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFYoh5VcZvg
Very cool that someone is working to bring back these older key switches!
From the page:
> What is a Beam Spring Keyboard? Before the Model F keyboard was the Beam Spring keyboard, a keyboard that was designed to be like the IBM Selectric electric typewriters but made to work with IBM’s mainframe terminals. Originals regularly sell for over $1,000 to $2,000 but now you can get one in various “normal” modern layouts and various color options for a fraction of that cost. The new beam spring keyboards are also compatible with MX keycaps (see below for details).
"Like a Model F, but louder" is a heck of a pitch. I'm interested!
In the meantime, I would remind the people who would like to experience a vintage keyboard to take a look at the Unicomp model M keyboards. They are not Model Fs or beam spring, but are rock solid, reliable, and sensibly priced considering their quality.
Link: https://www.pckeyboard.com/page/category/UKBD
I’d get one if the shipping to EU would be more reasonable.
My Endura Pro started having issues three months in after arriving to me in 2013; I remember how it was $99 and shipping was $98, and then I had to pay VAT on it.
It died quite quickly after and become parts donor for old IBM Model Ms I bought out from people’s attics. It was a wonderfully repair-unfriendly thing, too.
> This keyboard is not for you if you do not want to spend an hour or more to set it up and time in the future to adjust a key that stops working well. Do not use any beam spring keyboard in a mission-critical environment.
Yeah, I’ll pass
I have his model-f, and while i like it setting it up to flash firmware to it was a bitch and a half and his docs read like a 4th grader wrote it. He should invest some money in cleaning up that side of his business.
It's nice to see human-centered computing making a comeback with the older, robust, and hefty tactile interfaces - and I hope to see more like this as token factories eat wallets and jobs.
Funny hearing that about a $400+ (!) mass-produced keyboard mostly targeting people that already have at least a dozen mechanical keyboards. Making money on pointless overconsumption that borders on obsession is kind of the opposite of being human-centered.
These are definitely not robust. The product description mentions about 5 times that it will most likely be broken when it arrives to you, and will definitely break again in months or years so recommends buying extra first aid kits with spare parts so you can tinker it and keep it working.
I understand they are restarting production from scratch for a product that no longer exists and that nobody actually knows how to make, but being openly unreliable is a significant problem at this price point.
Nah. It's a british sports car, but a keyboard. At this price point the idea that you can have a little pile of parts and take it apart on weekends to fiddle with the springs is its own selling point.
I'm typing this on a Das that's been completely reliable and, to some extent, clackety and 'special' in its own right. There's five other keyboards that came with computers not thirty feet away including an older Das that I wore out: the keycaps are unreadable on that one, the current one's hanging in there.
I'm not in a position to randomly splurge on this new beam spring monster but I understand exactly what it is, and admit to craving it something fierce :) it's exactly the sort of thing I'd get.
The thing is, something like this is way outside of the budget of someone who isn't making a lot of money or has saved a lot in the first place. 438 dollars is a lot of money.
100% agree, gives me hope
Mine is now at customs. Wondering how fucked it’s going to arrive. But I guess I like pain.
The 104-key model F I’ve got has a dead spring in numpad delete, and I can’t carve out enough time to disassemble and fix it. Mind you, I did disassemble, put in DIY foam, and reassemble a Model F XT, so I’m not afraid to do it.
Between me ordering the beam spring one and getting it, I managed to change my citizenship, name, and house. But it was only a two year wait, the first Model F remake (60%) took three years and I was quite late to that party.