Note that Ellipse/modelfkeyboards is notorious in the keyboard community for poor quality control and support. The keyboards often come misaligned or damaged in shipping, and it's up to you to fix them. I'm not sure about their beam spring keyboards, but their Model F keyboards come without keycaps installed, meaning that the keys haven't even been tested to actuate properly before the keyboard is shipped. If you have the money and free time, you can usually turn what you receive into a working product with enough tweaking. You just have to keep in mind that you'll be paying over $400 for a keyboard that may arrive broken, and if it does you will have as close to no warranty as what's legally possible. If you dig around on forums and in comments you can find a bunch of examples of this, but here's a decent summary: https://consumerrights.wiki/w/Model_F_Labs
Some keys won’t work right away – you are responsible for making this keyboard work
Do not use any beam spring keyboard in a mission-critical environment.
I can say this is the first time I've seen this in the sales description for a keyboard. Are these assembled from NOS parts?
Having dealt with this vendor in the past he uses verbiage like this to weasel out of INAD claims (eg. if something is defective he’ll just point to this and deny your return) - I wouldn’t trust him with a $400 keyboard
I’m not going to call it dumb, but I will will say… reading that bit, I don’t understand this product at all and could not be further from their target market.
I don’t understand it either and I know people who are in it. Super expensive keyboards are one of the strangest hobbies I’ve heard of!
Woah, how is this legal?! Actually, is it?
Some people have mentioned quality control issues with this keyboard vendor, particularly with the Model F. I have the Model F and it is a bit finicky admittedly. I support the vendor based on their hard work to bring back these classic keyboard mechanisms, but if you want one that "just works" the Model M from Unisys is probably a better bet.
As far as the beam spring goes, this is the second revision of these switches. These switches are a complete modern re-imagination of the original beam spring switches and support Cherry-style key caps. Unlike the Model F, the switches are self-contained and setup just involved putting key-caps on. The keyboard worked flawlessly and immediately.
This is an enthusiast trying to bring back classic keyboard switches that have been out of production for decades, so I am willing to grant him some slack in general, but I'm extremely happy with my board. It's a very different typing experience, but I love it. I understand many people aren't willing to risk $400 on a keyboard, but I also want to let people know about my great experience with it.
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!
Are mechanical keyboards becoming a way to show off like the programmer equivalent of loud truck exhaust?
The sound is satisfying yes, but with other people in mind I am looking for the quietest mechanical keyboard I can find these days. I have become self conscious about typing quietly during phone calls or meetings in case I am unmuted.
I think the "buy a solenoid and a hammer to slap the case everything you hit a key" think most definitely is, like the typists truck nuts of keyboard mods.
I have loud keyboards for selfish fun typing when no one is around, and a silent one for working near others.
I use a switch called Akko Penguins, but there are tons of silent switches out there that people like. Topre keyboards also have a strong following and I think are pretty quiet.
I had to switch to low force choc couple years ago over tendon pain. Ended up on totem for day to day & bad wings for travel. 20g silent nocturnal switches. Silencing mechanism also gives bottom out a rubber feel, worth it just for that
Totem and bad wings are gorgeous, but I'm here to thock.
I'm actually a Topre purist.
"straight pipes save lives" -> "key clicks don't need a fix"
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.
> considering their quality
Has their finishing improved at all? A coworker bought one, maybe 15 years ago. He has to spend time with a file to remove all the remnants of the molding process. I'd expect a nearly $200 keyboard to feel finished and not have sharp pieces poking out all over the place.
I've long thought about getting a Unicomp, but seeing how poorly finished they were always gave me pause and made me question what other shortcuts they took.
Yes, they're way better now! The quality was poor because they were using decades-old original IBM tooling, and injection molds don't last forever D:. But, they made new molds in, I think, 2020? I bought a New Model M in 2021. Mine has a custom-printed layout, and it looks stock, not just some one-off. The plastic chassis is sturdy and doesn't need any sort of filing. It's been my daily driver ever since and is my favorite keyboard I've ever used, so I happily recommend them to any typing enthusiast. Sooo much better than Cherry switches (or, dog forbid, "office" keyboard rubber domes).
I have bought a Unicomp keyboard 7 years ago, had none of those problems, it works as well now as the day I bought it.
I've been twice the past year to buy their keyboards in-person in Lexington Kentucky US. They treated me very well. I can say this much, the full-size keyboard has a slightly nicer feel to it than the 10-key-less version, the key travel that is.
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.
Contrariwise, my unicomp model M has been going strong as a daily driver for at least 18 years. They may have lowered the quality more recently, and I'd recommend something in the cherry mx brown ballpark over it perhaps.
Many people swear by Unicomp, but I had that bad luck that I first paid for the thing, got the thing, and then read that as of recently, there had been problems. Problems with quality, problems with output. Then they went so quiet people thought they had gone out of business, then they resurfaced. By that time, I've had an original Model M and two different OG Model Fs. When I buy old stuff from eBay, at least I have my expectations calibrated to the fact that this shit is real old.
Your unit must have been a couple years older than mine, so it just might be of that more legendary quality. Yours is from at least 2008, right? You may even had got it before markets went bonkers!
Glad to have an original IBM Unsaver so I don't have to rely on sussy reproductions
Amazing keyboard.
This one is good to, and takes MX key caps.
I had a model F, I loved it. Then the H key stopped working. I knew from previous experience that trying to fix them never went well, so it went to the shelf and eventually to the garbage.
They were only about $100 on ebay at the time though.
> 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
Awesome! I'm happy I have a future option in case my 3727 ever wears out (which I somehow can't see ever happening...).
I'm not associated with this project in any way, but I'm excited to see the Beamspring (and Model F capsense stuff) is still ticking along. I keep meaning to redesign my controller for the 2020s but the original crappy design keeps working perfectly for my needs and I can't justify the time to update it. I'd love to do something dumb like throw an FPGA at the problem or try and use the RP2350 PIO. I don't think we ever matched what IBM's original ASIC achieved.
What's the solenoid option used for? Sorry I'm young and don't know any better.
The problem with clicky keyboards like this one is that they annoy everyone sharing the same workspace, but the boss in his office may not hear it. The solenoid fixes that problem.
It's a solenoid that actuates each key press, for the sound and tactile feedback. It's something else, lol.
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 to hear 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.
I have a model F and yes it was tricky to get working. The new beam spring (v2, metal case) was a breeze to set up (just put the caps on, mx style) and works flawlessly.
The keyboard sits very high and it is a very different feel (long travel, very loud) but it is unlike any other keyboard I have used and very inexpensive compared to used original beam springs.
Worth a look if you are a retro keyboard enthusiast.
Thanks for posting this. I've been looking at getting one but this has made me pause.
See my sibling comment: the v2 beam spring keyboard (metal version) worked immediately out of the box and all I had to do was but key caps on.
This is an enthusiast producing these and the beam spring mechanism is entirely redone with modern touches (e.g. support for mx style keycaps) so there is risk, but mine works great. I think that the fully enclosed beam spring mechanism should hold up better during shipping than the spring-and-barrel mechanism on the model F.
Of course YMMV and it is an expensive and rare keyboard, but my experience has been good.
Yeah it's a shame because his keyboards are genuinely good, I just find it strange that he operates like this. If he charged an extra $100 or whatever and acted like a normal company (fully assembling and testing prior to shipping out products, packaging things properly so they don't get damaged in shipping, having a mail-in warranty service, that sort of thing) I think he'd have better sales.
The keyboards look janky. Why buy this over something like Das Keyboard which has mechanical keys as well and is cheaper?
Because it’s a physical mechanism that has a unique feel that modern switches don’t mimic.
I like lots of keyboards and switches but this is a unique switch with deep historical roots that has been brought back to life by an enthusiast. I think it’s worth supporting (if you can afford it) on general principle.