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Enthusiast Resurrects IBM's Legendary 'Model F' Keyboard (popularmechanics.com)
An anonymous reader quotes Popular Mechanics: You may not know the Model F by name, but you know it by sound -- the musical thwacking of flippers slapping away. The sound of the '80s office. The IBM Model F greeting the world in 1981 with a good ten pounds of die-cast zinc and keys that crash down on buckling metal springs as they descend. It's a sensation today's clickiest keyboards chase, but will never catch. And now it's coming back. The second coming of the high-quality Model F (not to be confused with its more affordable plastic successor, the Model M) isn't a throwback attention grab from IBM, nor a nostalgia play from Big Keyboard. Instead, it's the longtime work of a historian in love with the retro keyboard's unparalleled sound and feel, but frustrated by the limitations of actual decades-old tech.
The Model F Keyboards project, now taking preorders for the new line of authentic retro-boards, was started by Joe Strandberg, a Cornell University grad who's taken up keyboard wizardry as a nights-and-weekends hobby. He started as a collector and restorer of genuine Model F keyboards -- originally produced from 1981 to 1994 -- a process that familiarized him with their virtues and their flaws... Working with a factory in China, Strandberg has carefully overseen the reproduction process one step at time, from the springs to the unique powder-coating on the keyboard's zinc case. Despite the expense (Strandberg estimates spending $100,000 to revive the tooling necessary for the production run), it was the only viable option given the kind of abuse your average keyboard takes on a daily basis. "With 3D printing," he says, "the keyboard wouldn't last a year."
The first prototypes have just left the assembly line, and he's already racked up over a quarter of a million dollars in pre-orders. Does anyone else fondly remember IBM's hefty and trusty old keyboards?
The Model F Keyboards project, now taking preorders for the new line of authentic retro-boards, was started by Joe Strandberg, a Cornell University grad who's taken up keyboard wizardry as a nights-and-weekends hobby. He started as a collector and restorer of genuine Model F keyboards -- originally produced from 1981 to 1994 -- a process that familiarized him with their virtues and their flaws... Working with a factory in China, Strandberg has carefully overseen the reproduction process one step at time, from the springs to the unique powder-coating on the keyboard's zinc case. Despite the expense (Strandberg estimates spending $100,000 to revive the tooling necessary for the production run), it was the only viable option given the kind of abuse your average keyboard takes on a daily basis. "With 3D printing," he says, "the keyboard wouldn't last a year."
The first prototypes have just left the assembly line, and he's already racked up over a quarter of a million dollars in pre-orders. Does anyone else fondly remember IBM's hefty and trusty old keyboards?
I figured I would do that to "clean" it. About 500 parts sprung out. I never got it back together again.
How about a moderation of -1 pedantic.
Besides...Gateway made the best keyboards back then.
Yeah, right.
What's next, will you try to claim that a tool from Harbor Freight is better than a Snap-On tool ?
One thing Slashdot always does is bring the idiots out of the woodwork. And yes, I am calling you an idiot, Mister HornWumpus.
Shipping it in a box, in a Styrofoam padding?? WTF, if it can't be shipped straight up, that's not a model F.
You're just mad because your Mac Pro doesn't have a PS/2 port on it.
Without padding and a box it is a hazard to the other items in the shipping center.
Louder sound? That's what I'm looking for! My co-workers will be so happy to hear I'm replacing my Model M!
I'm trying to find out the difference betweent he F and the M....?
I've been having some trouble with that lately too. Back when I was in school the one with a penis was the M and the one with the vagina was the F. But apparently it's a little more complicated than that now. ;-)
What? That's barely more than the list price in 1981. Considering that the original was $670 in 2017-dollars, you're actually getting it at half-price!
And if you think about it as something you can pass down to your children and grandchildren (like a cast iron skillet), the cost ends up being less than $1 per month.
dom