Model F Keyboards

Bringing back the buckling & beam spring keyboards, built to last for decades but out of production since the 80s, for a short production run ending soon!

[Brian Roemmele @BrianRoemmele]

Why were the early keyboards from the 1970s-1990s “boring beige?

Early computer keyboards weren’t beige because folks lacked imagination.

They were beige because a strict German workplace safety rule effectively outlawed pure black and pure white.

In the late 1970s and 1980s, computers were still serious business machines—descendants of typewriters and adding machines that were expected to disappear into the office background.

Germany, a major market and an early leader in workplace ergonomics, took that expectation and turned it into regulation.

The Deutsches Institut für Normung (DIN) and related safety rules (notably around DIN 66234 and the 1980 ZH 1/618 guidelines for visual display terminals) set tight limits on how office equipment could look and reflect light.

The core worry was eye strain. Office workers spent their days shifting focus between bright white paper and the machines in front of them under harsh fluorescent lights.

A pure black keyboard created extreme contrast: every glance from paper to keys forced the pupils to dilate and contract like a camera aperture working overtime.

Pure white equipment created the opposite problem—blinding glare that bounced straight into the eyes.

The approved solution was a muted, low-contrast middle ground: beige or light gray with a matte finish. Reflectance had to stay in a narrow band neither too dark nor too bright so the eyes could rest.

Because companies like IBM and Apple wanted to sell the same hardware worldwide, it was far cheaper to design one compliant beige keyboard than to tool up separate color versions for different markets.

Europe’s rules effectively set the global palette. Beige also happened to be a manufacturing gift: the plastic was inexpensive to produce in off-white shades, and the color forgave dust, fingerprints, skin oils, and the inevitable scrapes of daily office life that would have looked catastrophic on black.

That compromise held for nearly two decades. Then the late 1990s arrived. Computers stopped being purely office tools and became home appliances. The paperless office began to feel less theoretical.

Manufacturers finally broke free of the old standards, unleashing the candy-colored translucent plastics of the original iMac G3 and, eventually, the silver and black machines that dominate today.

Yet many RGB lit keyboards cause the very eye strain as the DIN rules tried to stop.

So the next time you see an old putty-colored keyboard, remember: it wasn’t a failure of style. It was the visible result of German engineers trying to spare the eyes of a generation of office workers and the rest of the computing world simply followed along.

This is by far the best keyboard ever over engineered and manufactured. The buckling spring IBM Model F (yes it beats the Model M).

[⌨動かない鳥のアイコンの人 @ano_prproj]

俺タイピングゲーム苦手で久しぶりに寿司打やってみたわ。
カメラに映るようダンボールで高さ出してるから打ちづらいのもあるけど打鍵音でかくていいね

[⌨動かない鳥のアイコンの人 @ano_prproj]

ガチ最高
打鍵音やばすぎるけど、打鍵が指に馴染んで本当に素晴らしい。
輸入しようと思ってたけどマジで売ってくれてありがとう。

keyboard: Model F Labs BSSK Keyboard

[Greg Sky @regsky_]

My brand new model F keyboard. Waited 2.5 months for it and I'm glad I did.

[Helscom @helscom]

my wife has been walking around the house with noise cancelling headphones since i got this bad boy

[Model F Keyboards @ModelFKeyboards]

Posting with permission the first user image of the new pad printed Model F keys! I like the F122 with its custom printed keys inside the transparent relegendable keys. The user says there's no wear so far.

[htmx.org / CEO of the Anti-Squeeslop League (same) @htmx_org]

@prilosac if you want travel i can highly recommend the reimagined beam spring keyboard from @ModelFKeyboards

https://t.co/kzGEMcJ3c6

absolutely unique feel and old school travel

[Model F Keyboards @ModelFKeyboards]

Major update: new project web site https://t.co/MVnSVKIMoM

This new site has launched today! Please email me with any issues, errors, and suggestions. I am looking to make the site and the ordering process as helpful as possible for all Model F and Beam Spring fans.

[Model F Keyboards @ModelFKeyboards]

Someone is looking to sell their gently used new Model F Split Ortholinear keyboard - email me if interested!

[Model F Keyboards @ModelFKeyboards]

Brand New Model F Keyboards new factory video: injection molding the 1U keycaps! I like how the machine automatically removes the keycaps from the mold and gently places them down for inspection. https://t.co/yaZgJeAGBf

[niltempus @magnus_nemo]

@ModelFKeyboards Got my B104 R2 last week. I dig.

[Model F Keyboards @ModelFKeyboards]

Sharing with permission a kind review of the Round 2 B104 Beam Spring keyboard:

[Model F Keyboards @ModelFKeyboards]

The Chyrosran22 Beam Spring B104 review video has been posted! https://t.co/PITeTUj5Mc
There was some discussion about the smoothness of the typing experience and I wanted to share some of these reviews, which especially praise the smoothness of the typing (see attached).

[Thomas Ran @chyrosran22]

Modelflabs B104 Round 2 review (beamsprings v2) https://t.co/1XT6c3ouz9 via @YouTube

[Thomas Ran @chyrosran22]

Unboxing a B104 Round 2 Beamspring kyeboard (by modelflabs) https://t.co/rIflp5d7DJ via @YouTube

[adafruit industries @adafruit]

Beam spring B104 keyboards now for sale at Model F Labs

https://t.co/H7EAtvIoOJ

[Model F Keyboards @ModelFKeyboards]

New Beam Spring B104 Round 2 keyboards, now in stock and shipping

"New Model F Labs B104 Beam spring keyboard with solenoid typing test" https://t.co/c0MUqqH9QJ

Plus a nice review! https://t.co/403xM3NcBb

[Model F Keyboards @ModelFKeyboards]

Brand New Model F and Beam Spring Keyboards: the new draft keyboard label design has been completed! While the current keyboard label was based on the IBM 4704 keyboards, the new one is based on the 1984-1986 IBM Model F and Model M labels. https://t.co/ZVxqlO6Peo

[Model F Keyboards @ModelFKeyboards]

After nearly six years of R&D and tooling work, pad printed white text on black keys for the Model M and Model F are finally available to order! They came out great. Well worth the years of effort.

[Model F Keyboards @ModelFKeyboards]

With permission I am posting an interesting photo:

Here is a customized New F122 with third party extras: an IBM badge and LED overlay.

https://t.co/sWuMfvAazp