Here’s an F77 with a TrackPoint IV and some other fun things. I didn’t really take many pictures, but there’s some info here in case it helps anyone.
The things we need are a Brand New Model F from modelfkeyboards.com (although F AT’s should work the same way; no clue about other F’s), a trackpoint module and controller stolen from a Lenovo 6-row USB keyboard, and 3 switches of some sort (I like MX-style since I’m used to using a TeX Shinobi). The big cable isn’t necessary, but it it has at least 4 pins inside, and it’s absolutely massive and heavy, so it fits the the Model F well, I think.
We can make MX-shaped slots in the chassis by drilling a .5” hole, and then broaching it to shape (roughly 0.57x0.52” I think, I just measured the switch housing). We can make them further apart for using keycaps larger than 1u, or use totally different switches, whatever works.
Here’s how a switch sits. It’s really tall, I’d imagine most people would prefer something shorter, but I like it.
Three in total, for left click, middle click, and right click, of course. I made a really small scratch near the corner of the middle switch :’( But fortunately the keycap keeps it out of sight during use.
The legs are just about tall enough to touch the front plate, so after soldering wires to them, I bent the pins back, and put a tiny bit of epoxy putty to insulate them (also helps hold them in a little more, but I don’t think it’s really necessary). Can always just chisel it off later.
So, I used a little bit of epoxy to attach the trackpoint module to the front plate. Can always snap it off later. Unicomp’s pointing sticks from their EnduraPro keyboards have a much cleaner way of being attached with screws, but they use force-sensing resistors instead of strain gages, and they really suck. I don’t like them at all. I also epoxied a 4-40 lock nut upside down on top (not permanent! the trackpoint module has an intermediate black plastic piece, to which the nut is glued; and I have dozens of those from random thinkpads). I did this so that I could adjust the height of the trackpoint easily, and see what feels best. See next page:
Filing the head of a 4-40 bolt to a square shape, the trackpoint cap snaps on tightly enough for me. I imagine it would be even tighter if the bolt had a longer head, but it doesn’t budge even when I press it really hard, so it’s fine for me.
Popping the cap off, you can use a screwdriver to raise or lower the bolt a fair bit, and it doesn’t affect the feel/tightness since the end of the lock nut is like a rubber clamp.
Solenoid (from modelfkeyboards.com, cost was $60 for solenoid and controller board) can be isolated with a little toggle switch. I couldn’t figure out how it works via software since I’m really dumb, but the physical switch is kinda more fun, and fits perfectly.
On the trackpoint controller board, note the area circled in red; the four rightmost pins there are labeled ML, MR, MC and MM. ML = left mouse switch, MR = right mouse switch, MM = middle mouse switch, and MC is common. The switches will be wired up to those
The trackpoint controller board is a little too big to fit a cable on, so soldering directly to it saves space. You can do the same for other connectors to save space. A thin layer of epoxy makes sure that they won’t fall off when you inevitably drop the keyboard.
The cable from the trackpoint modules goes underneath the keycaps. It was kinda tricky, but I managed to fold it so that it doesn’t interfere with the caps. Used small pieces of kapton tape to make the folds as flat as possible. The cable goes straight up, above the top plate, and pokes out inside the keyboard.
Here’s the inside of the keyboard. It looks messy, but it all fits. Solenoid is on the far left, and the solenoid controller is next to it. I taped its cable down so it doesn’t get in the way when closing the keyboard. Everything else was just packed in wherever it fits. It could be cleaner, but I’m lazy, so I used removable cables for most things.
Since the F77 from modelfkeyboards.com uses a USB-C connector, I figured I’d wire the trackpoint controller board to a USB-C connector too, and then get some cheap magical USB splitter, below:
It was like $8 on Amazon, and lsusb says it’s a USB 2.0 hub. The keyboard controller and trackpoint controller go into the female ends, and the USB-A end goes into 4 wires inside that big cable, since it’s more fun than a normal USB cable. Haven’t had any issues with it yet, but it’d be nice to not have the USB hub.
So there it is, replacing the Shinobi. The G/H/B caps on the Shinobi are really mangled, I was kinda hammered when I did them, but the Model F ones came out a lot nicer (used a curved file).
Cable and switch fit nicely.
Here’s a crappy video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0h9oJjtxHvY
I think my way was kinda hacky, but it’s solid as a rock (I can swing the keyboard around by the cable! And I don’t think anything will break when I beat it around), and the TrackPoint IV is sooooooo much nicer than a Unicomp FSR trackpoint or an IBM TrackPoint II, in my opinion. It’s more sensitive than it originally was on the Lenovo USB keyboard it was stolen from, since it’s much taller; but I prefer that too. I ended up turning down the sensitivity a bit.
Quite a bit bigger than my two other favorite keyboards, the ThinkPad s30 and 235 :)