deskthority

wcass wrote:Yep, those are plastic spacers. Most of the KS owners i hear from report that these are damaged. The two black pieces of plastic in the picture are my originals - the tops are completely broken off and both are split between the top two holes. The two white ones are copies and there are copies mounted in the Kishsaver (only one shown).

I think IBM put them in there for some good reason (Parak believes these help prevent damage to the barrels and PCB), so I'm all for replacing when damaged. They are just slightly over 1cc each, so only about $1.50 each plus handling and postage.

They fit fine, but I can't speak for durability yet. I'm still in and out of the case, so will have lots of opportunity to check them for wear over the next month or so. I'll let you know.

Cool, glad you're onto it.

I actually just hold my Kishsaver together with the four hex bolts that go into the bottom. It has no spacers. Like I said earlier, I have opened up another one (Soarer's in fact) and it had extra interior bolts that I remember adjusting, and likely those spacers too. Don't think I'm doing any harm to mine keeping it without, but I've no way to "dial in" an alignment, as it were, it just goes together one way and that's that. Right now this is dead centre, but in the long run who knows? So I'm on the lookout to see what you've managed.

My gratitude to the kind Texan who sent me a couple of buckling spring stabiliser inserts! I'd PM you my thanks if I could find the original message, for your user name… (not the first time I've requested PM text search, but here we are.)

Lol, it was me. Should have jotted down my DT user name.

Thanks man!

Two spare flip plates and barrels arrived today. Thanks a lot, Game Theory!

Same here. Brilliant!

quantalume wrote: ↑Lol, it was me. Should have jotted down my DT user name.

A belated thanks from me as well. I just got through a backlog of packages in my work office and found the barrels and flippers that you sent. Much appreciated!

I just got mine from Game Theory. Thanks a lot!

Mine reached me as well, thanks GT!

I went inside my Kishsaver yesterday to investigate how the broken space bar stab clip attaches to the plate. Going inside a Kishsaver is a cakewalk, fortunately, besides of course the traditional Model F flaky foam. Once I pulled it up, I found the foam itself is crumbly, beneath what looks like a vinyl film that covers its surface and remains in better shape. So I was pensive while poking around, with foam crumbling out, and while I found the underside of the cream coloured stab, I couldn't figure out how to remove it. I aborted that mission and installed one of Game Theory's spare flippers instead, so my Kishsaver now has an ISO length left Shift and an extra key. Not as neatly symmetric, but a handy key to have back again, I'm giving it a test drive.

I also considered shortening right shift, but the only cap I have to fit the 1.75u portion is stepped Caps Lock.

As for the space bar stab clip, Game Theory sent me two spares of those, so now I was done inside, I grabbed some glue and stuck one in position beside its broken ally on the plate. I didn't cut it down to the right height, as I'm still experimenting, but it does stabilise the space bar. The only problem with this quick hack is that my space bar leans down at the left, as the right stab is a millimetre or so too high. I won't leave it like this, long term, but it's great to have a stabilsed space bar on both sides again.

Muirium wrote: ↑I went inside my Kishsaver yesterday to investigate how the broken space bar stab clip attaches to the plate. Going inside a Kishsaver is a cakewalk, fortunately, besides of course the traditional Model F flaky foam. Once I pulled it up, I found the foam itself is crumbly, beneath what looks like a vinyl film that covers its surface and remains in better shape. So I was pensive while poking around, with foam crumbling out, and while I found the underside of the cream coloured stab, I couldn't figure out how to remove it. I aborted that mission and installed one of Game Theory's spare flippers instead, so my Kishsaver now has an ISO length left Shift and an extra key. Not as neatly symmetric, but a handy key to have back again, I'm giving it a test drive.

I also considered shortening right shift, but the only cap I have to fit the 1.75u portion is stepped Caps Lock.

As for the space bar stab clip, Game Theory sent me two spares of those, so now I was done inside, I grabbed some glue and stuck one in position beside its broken ally on the plate. I didn't cut it down to the right height, as I'm still experimenting, but it does stabilise the space bar. The only problem with this quick hack is that my space bar leans down at the left, as the right stab is a millimetre or so too high. I won't leave it like this, long term, but it's great to have a stabilsed space bar on both sides again.

What is the length of the KS space bar? If it turns out to be the same length as that of a Model M space bar, you could consider using two of the larger clips and replacing the F space bar with an M space bar, which has a larger-diameter stabilizer wire.

Wcass kindly sent me the appropriate wire stabiliser to adapt a Model M space bar to Model F. The Kishsaver's space bar is 7 units, incidentally.

But I doubt that's an advantageous route to take, unless I misunderstand Model M stabiliser clips, which is likely!

Muirium wrote: ↑Wcass kindly sent me the appropriate wire stabiliser to adapt a Model M space bar to Model F. The Kishsaver's space bar is 7 units, incidentally.

But I doubt that's an advantageous route to take, unless I misunderstand Model M stabiliser clips, which is likely!

In your case, if you already have one intact clip on your KS that is the right size for a Model F stabilizer wire, it probably would be better to replace the broken one rather than replacing both, as long as you can get them to be symmetrical.

Yeah, I'm looking back at earlier ideas like this:



Before I glued my spare stab in position, I held it down with a screwdriver while installing and pressing the space bar to confirm the tolerance. Doesn't seem to have to be especially accurate. Although I had hoped to simply pop out the broken one from the inside and swap in one of Game Theory's. I should go ask him how he harvested his…

Not my picture! Besides, I'd rather do something nice and clean in there. But function ultimately beats form, when hidden under caps…

Muirium wrote: ↑Not my picture! Besides, I'd rather do something nice and clean in there. But function ultimately beats form, when hidden under caps…

In Nature at least, form ---> function.

That old maxim holds true until you study a little embryology. My goodness, can nature be a kludge sometimes. The way that body and especially brain parts migrate around in utero, following ancient evolutionary ancestry we can only assume, is more than mind bending. And the consequences are very real when any step goes wrong in the dance.

Yes, in embryology it does appear that ontogeny follows phylogeny. And in evolution, ancient forms and pathways are often retained unless their retention has sufficient negative effects on selection pressure to cause them to be discarded. Thus, some species go extinct, while others remain and flourish for a time. Fundamental biochemical components for basic pathways worked out in bacteria might persist essentially unchanged in humans. Thus, the 3D structure of enzymes such as manganese superoxide dismutase is virtually identical in bacteria and in man. There is no particular need to change it if it works and doesn't get in the way, even if there might be more efficient ways to do the same job. Rather like QWERTY on keyboards....