deskthority

Metalized mylar is supposed to be conductive. If it isn't and you have amazon prime, you could just return it.

Never done that myself, but if I had to I'd first try something like:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003HKRFA8/

+ whatever size hand punch is needed.

It's easy to tell from the existing pics that it's an M - the barrels have 4 corners, which only happens on Ms with a plastic barrel plate.

Flipping it over to check is marginally faster than removing a keycap though :p

Sanyo MBC 550 keyboard, third gen (iirc) fujitsu leaf spring. To remove the keycaps, you just need to be sure that you're not grabbing the stem as well. It's not a huge deal if you rip the stem out as well, as it's made to be removable, but it can be a bit hard to reinsert. You can even remove the p...

Try here:

http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum ... .php?43101

Aye. IBM's best caps were the glorious tall ABS doubleshots they put on beamsprings. So toothy! They knew how to do a good dyesub when they moved to PBT with buckling spring AFAIK Beam springs used PBT, as I recall testing with some acetone a while back. Which would mean that IBM was doing PBT gian...

I'd actually be interested too, as local shop prices here are $arm. I'd be even more interested if they can clean and paint F plates without harming the stabilizers

Muirium wrote: ↑Indeed, so rubbery those domes…

Go on, someone grab it! We've no idea what it could be.

No, we have a pretty good idea

Finding a switch exception (which surprised me!) doesn't mean that the already known keyboards will magically change their switches.

I believe that the original purpose of electronics solder containing a small amount of silver was that it increases intermetallic strength when soldering silver containing parts, due to being able to better dissolve their contact points.

I actually have this thingy with both soldering and desoldering handpieces and tips for both. I no longer need it and would sell off, but I suspect that I couldn't do it for the price point that you're aiming at :( What price? Maybe we could work something out. BTW I looked at your other pics and n...

I actually have this thingy with both soldering and desoldering handpieces and tips for both. I no longer need it and would sell off, but I suspect that I couldn't do it for the price point that you're aiming at

Getting a proper* desoldering station for under $200 is fairly difficult second hand, especially when combined with good soldering. New is pretty much impossible. If you just want a soldering iron, getting one used for around $100 is possible, however. For example: The handpiece + the station itself...

Hmm... interesting... one wonders why it persisted as a separate brand, then.

That IBM unsaver is most definitely a rubber dome, which is why I assumed that this would be too. It just looks like there was an earlier version of this switch, perhaps before microswitch was gobbled up by honeywell, that looks quite similar except isn't rubber dome. So, quite a neat discovery!

Take it apart! Do eeeeet! We must know!

That's basically a honeywell rubber dome. Neat layout though. A bit odd that it 'clicks', I suppose

12 volt SLA battery, like one of them alarm system batteries

Someone should make a note of the IP of the server used to perform the DDoS and contact Amazon to complain. Amazon have a no-tolerance policy on people being dicks on their VMs. http://portal.aws.amazon.com/gp/aws/html-forms-controller/contactus/AWSAbuse#amazon_ec2_abuse They could then have their ...

That script seems a bit peculiar, I was expecting something more sophisticated. That's no DDoS, but a stupid one-on-one wrestling match. I hope his cheap ISP router didn't catch fire. Such a silly attack shouldn't be getting past any firewall. <snip> That's the confusing part to me - these kinds of...

Rather difficult for a regular dealer to compile such an odd list, I think. Some of those are rather obscure additions, which definitely makes me suspect that they're looking for them on behalf of a collector or are a collector themselves.

baked_cake wrote: ↑ If you want to look into the switches, they are called snap action switches with round pin plungers.

Omron D2F-01 and the like is always a great choice.

Isopropyl should work well on the foam remnants - check in some small hidden spot first to make sure that it doesn't harm the paint (it shouldn't). The contamination shield on the keys was in the best shape I've seen yet - usually it's extremely crumbly and in pieces. Storage conditions matter appar...

Looks suspiciously ALPSish. See if the PCB has any identifiable markings, and desolder a switch for disassembly

Kinda hard to tell, but that tip looks like it has tinned solder on the end, so it'll likely still work, if whomever used it previously observed the best practice of putting your tips away with a coat of solder still on them. Regardless, for generic soldering I prefer chisel tips - Pace PN 1124-0013...

The heatwise are older but still nearly-as-good stations compared to the modern intelliheat stations (ST, MBT, etc) with the blue connector. The trick to the heatwises is that they are controlled by these 3.5mm modules that use a set resistor value to set a certain temperature. One can make these mo...

I'm actually rather confused by one of the stations having a cutout with a sponge looking thing inside. That's not normal, and I have no idea what that is. The stand having brass wool and sponge pad is normal though - people like one or the other or both. I prefer just the brass wool myself to avoid...

Two Pace ST30 soldering stations in the UK at a great price: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221774353399 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221774351292 These use the TD100 handpiece (don't bother with PS90), with the tips (around 90 geometries, and last forever with proper care) running around $10 each stateside...

And anyone got a recommendation for a great soldering station with a nice selection of interchangeable tips? My brother's got nothing, and he likes to have as few but high quality tools as possible. It's very difficult to beat JBC in the tool selection and performance, but they are very expensive b...

If buying retail, ZD-987 might be a decent option for Europe, or the ZD-985 with just the desoldering iron.

That is, can you come up with actual technical reasons why the routing is bad, other than the subjective aesthetics? There are many tiny passthrough-holes between layers and there are some traces that are right at the edge of drill holes: and this means that manufacturing requires lot of work and t...