The keyboard photos in this listing are all stock photos.  They are not photos of the item you will receive.  The reason is that I have several of these keyboards and some have already sold.

The items in this listing are all sold AS IS, for parts or not working, due to age.  You will have to solder the included controller to get it working.  I will not be soldering anything for you.  This means that the keyboard will arrive to you in a non-working, non-functional state and you will be entirely responsible to get it working.  You will have to follow the manual on the Brand New Model F Keyboards project web site and use the beta QMK configurator site to get it working.  I am unfortunately unable to offer any technical support on this item so you are on your own.

For this item I am considering best offers.  All best offers under a certain amount will be automatically rejected.  Due to the fees on this platform I will only accept offers that are higher than others I have accepted.  I am unable to reimburse you for these fees or cancel the order if you find this keyboard available on the Brand New Model F Keyboards Project web site for a lower amount.

Shows signs of shelf wear including scuffs and some small areas of missing paint, and has some rust on the metal plates which is characteristic of virtually every Model F I own. To repeat:  as this computer component is around 30 years old, no warranty is offered.  Sold as is.

Recently one of my recycler contacts came across a batch of brand new old stock (NOS) IBM 4704 F50 50-key macro pad keyboards, part number IBM 6019273, 6019318, etc. They are without the original packaging and have wear/some paint loss from storage and handling not in the original packaging. It looks like most were manufactured in 1990. As is common with these keyboards, flippers/springs can be removed to fit larger keys, such as a 2U horizontal or 2U vertical key, so you could even make the rightmost block of this keyboard into the number pad block found on an IBM Model M keyboard.

The keyboards in this group buy will come with a USB-C cable, USB-C Pro Micro, and xwhatsit-based pandrew 4704 controller that you can use to get it working with modern computers (you have to solder this or pay someone to do this as I do not provide a soldering service). You only get what is pictured, no other keys and no relegendables are included. You won’t get the exact pictured keyboard; some are missing the cloth tag, others are missing the little green tape around the cord.

In terms of pricing, 25 new production compact F50 keyboards sold out quickly at the $399 price determined by reverse/Dutch auction, so the bidding for these keyboards will start there, but please do not bid $400 as I won’t be awarding any keyboards near that level.

Original IBM keyboards have become extremely collectible in recent years. An original IBM F62 Kishsaver sold last month for $7,500 on eBay, and other models have sold for $1,000 and higher in recent months: https://web.archive.org/web/20240610005008/https://www.ebay.com/itm/176368326890

I would have liked to keep these in my collection since it is nearly impossible that I will be lucky enough to find these keyboards ever again as most have been destroyed by now*, but the proceeds from this auction will be used to help cover the tens of thousands of dollars in project cost overruns incurred over the years, including prototype costs and many express air mail costs from the factories.

*Many forum members remember all the efforts several years ago to deal with the bank manager who had the room full of original Kishsaver F62 keyboards but was difficult to deal with (for those who have not heard of this story before, the bank manager had the Kishsavers all put in a metal shredder and completely destroyed) – that story stands out most for me. Similarly, another recycler sold me some refurbished/repainted F50s many years ago, but when I had contacted them a year or so later, in the time since I contacted them, they had sadly sent all of the unsold F50 keyboards overseas to be destroyed and melted down for scrap metal.

Original IBM keyboards have become extremely collectible in recent years. An original IBM F62 Kishsaver sold last month for $7,500 on eBay, and other models have sold for $1,000 and higher in recent months: https://www.ebay.com/itm/176368326890

If you are considering this original IBM F50 keyboard, I recommend you consider the Brand New Model F Keyboards which all feature a built-in USB controller with NKRO, fully customizable with function layers, macros, and the option to customize each key and layout.  Any questions feel free to check out the home page and message me.

Recommendations with your keyboard order.  None of these items below are included in this listing:

First Aid Kit – highly recommended since these are custom made foam pieces and I did not order many of them.  Limit 3 kits/foams per keyboard order. 

No keys are included besides the key stems (bottom parts) pictured, so please plan for the most amount of flexibility of how to configure your new keyboard as your preferences will change as you get to using the keyboard:  Full Key Sets in various colors, Transparent Relegendable Keys, and Custom Extra Keys which include various num pad configurations.  You wouldn’t want to order just the standard num pad keys individually for example as you’d be paying just about the same as getting a full key set.

F1-F12 front printed key set

Industrial SSK 12 key set

Solenoid driver with solenoid