deskthority

Has anyone created a font or illustrations of any original IBM caps' font?

I don't mean "they used Helvetica or some other font cause it looks close to it"; I mean a painstaking recreation of the original font(s). A good dye-subbing is imperative, but the font needs to be 99% authentic looking as ...

scottc wrote: This is the absolute worst troll keyboard I've ever found...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VINTAGE-AT-T- ... OSwYIxX3yy~

I like that it has "Touch keys" though. I hate non-touch keys.

Chyros wrote: Very 70s xD .

A wood case would actually be pretty cool .

I think a custom wood case on Ellipse's Model Fs would be very nice.

Yes, I'm personally a bit nit-picky about the legends of their key caps, but on their own, they aren't so bad. The alignment is definitely an issue, a common one, that bothers me a lot more.

Here is an RGB set that I purchased from them in January, compared with mods from a 1391401:

http://i ...

Maybe it's an electronic click noise that is activated once the contact leaf is closed, this of course after installing Razer software and making an account to save your beep preferences up to the cloud.

Square badge Model M. Doubt it stays cheap, but certainly nice

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=282138605120&globalID=EBAY-US

Looks nice. I wish I could sell my Ms though. They feel so compromised in their design. The Model F seems like the only proper buckling spring design ...

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That assumes the seller knows white sliders are different from blue sliders. I've dealt with sellers who think "a keyboard is just a keyboard" and there is no difference between a Dell Quietkey and an IBM Enhanced.
This seller definitely knows about white and blue Alps and their relative ...

If your getting into keyboards a proper ( ish) desoldering tool like the ZD-915 is a good investment , you gen get them for about 85 quid on ebay and i know its quite a bit but its well worth it if your going to be desoldering switches from stuff, i mean you can strip down an entire board in a few ...

The DC-3014 was apparently white Alps. I contacted the seller before it was marked sold. He sent me a pic. The slider was white and the switch housing said "Alps". If someone bought this expecting blue Alps, s/he will be in for a shock. I hope the buyer checked first, but white Alps boards, even in ...

You will really really suffer if you are planning on desoldering a full keyboard worth of switches without a desoldering tool. Soldering and desoldering are two different pairs of shoes. Sure you can use a solder sucker and some solder wick to remove 2-3 switches but a full board ...

Too bad the ...

Best way to fix that plate is sinking it in vinegar for a few hours until the vinegar has eaten all the rust, then brush it off really well under clean water and dry it with a towel. Spray some paint on after you made sure it's properly clean & dry.

I really would like to do a full reconditioning ...

For what it's worth, the Dell I have looks, judging by the key-cap wear, used as much or more than this. It may end up feeling much better once I get all the crud out. Also, this and the Dell feel pretty different altogether. I need to do a comparison later, but the Zenith just feels more "straight ...

Ooh, that may not be good. As is oft-repeated, Alps switches are very susceptible to dust and while cleaning (and lubing, if you wish) them will help a bit, you may not be able to restore them to their original smoothness.

Here are a couple of poor close-ups of the inside of a switch. I had ...

Chyros,

Another thing that is a bit worrying to me is that the switches themselves seem a bit scratchy, closer to Cherry smoothness. They don't feel as smooth as the linearised Dell AT-101. I've not taken any of these switches apart yet, but I have a good toothpick technique down for when I ...

A "switchplate" is what people generally call the contact assembly inside the actual switches. What you're referring to is the mounting plate :) .

Unfortunately this isn't easy to fix due to the nature of rust. If you really want to clean the plate properly you'll have to desolder all the ...

I finally found a decent ZKB-2 the other day and it was somewhat dirty. There is a bit of rust on the switchplate. I was wondering what kind a tips people may have on how to recondition the plate. I thought I could touch up the spots individually after cleaning them.

Zenith-ZKB-2_01.jpg

Zenith ...

Can you elaborate a bit more? I can't see the difference if you compare the listed and this one http://i.imgur.com/TTHef.jpg .

The entire album for those interested. http://imgur.com/a/q0c8A I'm not 100% certain, but confident enough to avoid it myself. I can contact Joan (still runs the outfit ...

Why that cost so much for powder coating for Compact version? I've thought the "Classic" version have Powdercoat paint and relatively the same price with compact version anodised?

I would think cork is more for padding than grip. The keyboard is so heavy, it should stay still on a flat surface ...

Back when real designers wore lab-coats!

I love it! Thanks for sharing.

Yes, yes, yes.

We will definitely need to include this scene as well:

The Ducky One has some crazy rattle going on in the stabilizers. Seems like Ducky is going downhill.

Nice. We need to let them know we are going to recreate this scene for an IBM documentary (narrated by Chryos):

It is very pretty. That's the first time I recall seeing a "caps unlock" key.

Yeah... you need a functional S/370 to use this in the original context though.

I've got one of those laying around here somewhere.
I doubt that. If you really had one, you wouldn't need to look for it.

http://sysrun.haifa.il.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/mainframe/images/2423PH3155.jpg

It's ...

y11971alex wrote:Yeah... you need a functional S/370 to use this in the original context though.

I've got one of those laying around here somewhere.

alienman82 wrote:

y11971alex wrote:http://www.ebay.ca/itm/152188332805

falls under the interesting finds not so much great ^_^

It's pretty sad. It's like they have no passion for vintage computing, only passion for ripping off vintage computing enthusiasts.

How much do you think I'd be able to get on eBay for a couple of USB-adapted IBM Model F XT keyboards? I picked up three on a whim, and while I am completely in love, it feels so unbreakably tough that I don't think I'll ever need two backup boards. It would be nice offloading them and putting the ...

elecplus wrote: Well, we have almost enough to populate an entire board now. Yuck! Anybody want some caps, free for shipping?

I may pass, thanks though

Here's a pic to help people's eyes. Sorry it's a soggy potato, but hopefully it helps!

zslane wrote: Double-shot FTW...

They have benefits, but my XTs legends are still pristine after 30+ years with no shine or yellowing in sight. Something just ain't right with these examples.

I just think these election cycles for the US President last far too long. While we've been spending two years devoting so much energy to tripping on the emotional rhetoric of a bunch of pandering figureheads, the world has still been turning. I feel like we've been regressing just because this ...