IBM 6787 Typewriter - (capacitive) Buckling Spring

[guidemetothelight]

My Father recently gifted me this IBM Typewriter he got from a Friend @Work.

IBM67.jpg (2.69 MiB) Viewed 2236 times

He told me:" Its from IBM and it makes Clickity Sounds, is it this like the Model M you´ve told me about ?"
I was very impressed, since he is not into keyboards at all. (He uses an old Chicony with MX Blues I gifted him for Christmas and he IS into Typing on it, but has no knowledge about keyboards otherwise)

Edit:

Spoiler:

He had the Choice between the Chicony KB-5181, a blue Badge Model M and a Cherry G80-3000 HAD.

I confirmed that he was indeed right, its a Buckling Spring Keyboard Assembly.
But I was wondering, are those Typewriter´s capacative like Model F´s or "normal" Buckling Spring like the Model M ?

I am also wondering if i should go through the hassle of converting it to a usable keyboard like here:
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=27724
Probably only will do that if the assembly is capacitive.
How can I check if this is the case ?


Since my Christmas Present was a 3D Printer, i want to get into designing my own cases for various typewriter assemblies i have in my possession.
Also wondering if I should add the IBM Typewriters to my Typewriter Switch List which can be found here:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=27648

happy typing

Nick

[kmnov2017]

That specific model has a model M type keyboard - a quick feel test will confirm that. There were a few older models that had the F style keyboard (IBM 85 for example).

[guidemetothelight]

That specific model has a model M type keyboard - a quick feel test will confirm that. There were a few older models that had the F style keyboard (IBM 85 for example).

thanks for the info.
Its not the news I wanted to hear , but well


Edit: I cant seem to find IBM 85 boards

The only one I could find that isnt a Selectric (which should be Beamspring compatible, right ?) or something from the 6xxx series is this one:
https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-anz ... 2-168-2119
Is this a 8xxx series ? I dont think so, since it is labeled IBM 3000

[kmnov2017]

Thats an example with a model F type keyboard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IemSc--XKA
I believe there were 3 typewriter models with F type keyboards.

[JP!]

Thats an example with a model F type keyboard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IemSc--XKA
I believe there were 3 typewriter models with F type keyboards.

They are pretty obscure but the 65, 85, and 95 had the Model F assemblies.

[TNT]

That's so sweet of your dad

The 6768s are really cool. Very capable machines ... for a typewriter that is.

Like kmnov and JP said, the ones with the capacitive assembly are not very common. Would love to get my hands on one of those. I remember there was an interest check for a case for these modules some time ago viewtopic.php?f=2&t=27391

What are your plans for this monstrum, since you're probably not going for the conversion job?

[guidemetothelight]

They are pretty obscure but the 65, 85, and 95 had the Model F assemblies.

Thank you very much ! Do you know if they have been sold in germany (under the same name) by any chance ?

[guidemetothelight]

That's so sweet of your dad

Yeah , it was such a sweet surprise.
He just gets my hobby of tinkering with & collecting hoarding of keyboards.
Maybe its because he is deep down the Hi-Fi Rabbit Hole and has more pairs of speakers then I have Keyboards.
And I accumulated quite a few over the short span in the hobby

Like kmnov and JP said, the ones with the capacitive assembly are not very common. Would love to get my hands on one of those. I remember there was an interest check for a case for these modules some time ago viewtopic.php?f=2&t=27391

Sad to see them be so rare, would be a good way to get a small & (relatively) cheap way of getting a compact capacative BS board.
The Case Project also looks promising , but it seems to not have gained enough traction.

What are your plans for this monstrum, since you're probably not going for the conversion job?

I dont know yet.
Yesterday I took it apart & disassembled & cleaned the Keyboard Assembly. Almost all of the plastic rivets where broken, so I decided to remove the remaining ones to really deepclean the board.

Will post a few pictures when I get home.
Edit: sadly didnt have time for a few pictures, as I was in quite a rush.

IMG_4013-min.jpg (748.72 KiB) Viewed 1937 times

well, thats how the projects looks for now. I ordered some 2,2x6,6mm Screws to screw-mod the Board. After that, ill see what I will do with the project. I spotted a crack in the barrel plate, while its very thin, its also quite long. I planned on fixing it with superglue, maybe ill try to plastic weld it together with my soldering iron.

[guidemetothelight]

Update: Just scored an IBM 95
Someone actually put it up for free yesterday on Kleinanzeigen. ( perfect timing, as usual)
Was just local for pick up , but a small fee and some kind words later i convinced the very nice seller to send it to me.

[TNT]

Update: Just scored an IBM 95
Someone actually put it up for free yesterday on Kleinanzeigen. ( perfect timing, as usual)
Was just local for pick up , but a small fee and some kind words later i convinced the very nice seller to send it to me.

No way hahahaha !

Is in in Qwertz? What is the german product name? I did a little bit of searching around and I couldn't find any records that it was marketed and sold around here.

Could you post the link to the (deprecated) Kleinanzeigen-Listing? I wanna take a peek

[guidemetothelight]

No way hahahaha !

Cant believe my f*cking luck either
In the morning I set up my "search terms" for ibm 65, 85 and 95 and in the evening i get a ping

Is in in Qwertz?

Oh yeah it is

Spoiler:

ibm95.jpg (187.47 KiB) Viewed 1863 times

Could you post the link to the (deprecated) Kleinanzeigen-Listing? I wanna take a peek

https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-anz ... 1-192-6670

[TNT]

Oh man that is so cool!

Maybe you can somehow incorporate the big toggle switch on the right, the power switch and also the left panel in your build. Shame the plastic safety hatch of the power switch is gone. There's so much potential here! I'm excited to see what you're going to do with this one.

Oh, and before you toss any of the remains out (if you're planning to even do that, that is), please drop me a quick message before.

[SunshineRag_DT]

If you build a 3D printed case for the Wheelwriter or Series 95 please post a link to them. FYI dont forget to design in an area to place the IBM badge if you build a 3D case. I don't know if anyone has made something like the xwhatsit for the Series 95, but it should not be overly difficult to adapt.

For the Wheelwriter, if you get a bluepill, print the MSTAR pcb (pretty cheap), and get a couple of 16x triomates it is pretty simple to get the Wheelwriter configured as it will be all through hole work and no additional components needed as the bluepill is doing all the heavy lifting. The PCB is not even needed as you can just wire the triomates directly to the bluepill per the MSTAR pin diagrams if you just want to hack something out quickly.

[guidemetothelight]

Oh man that is so cool!

Still cant believe it fully to be honest.

Maybe you can somehow incorporate the big toggle switch on the right, the power switch and also the left panel in your build. Shame the plastic safety hatch of the power switch is gone. There's so much potential here! I'm excited to see what you're going to do with this one.

Would be pretty cool , I´ll try to incorporate as much as possible , but I´ll have to see how much is feasible. The plastic part can be 3D printed if need arises.

Oh, and before you toss any of the remains out (if you're planning to even do that, that is), please drop me a quick message before.

Will do !

[guidemetothelight]

If you build a 3D printed case for the Wheelwriter or Series 95 please post a link to them. FYI dont forget to design in an area to place the IBM badge if you build a 3D case. I don't know if anyone has made something like the xwhatsit for the Series 95, but it should not be overly difficult to adapt.

I´ll hope to get it working but that sounds do-able

For the Wheelwriter, if you get a bluepill, print the MSTAR pcb (pretty cheap), and get a couple of 16x triomates it is pretty simple to get the Wheelwriter configured as it will be all through hole work and no additional components needed as the bluepill is doing all the heavy lifting. The PCB is not even needed as you can just wire the triomates directly to the bluepill per the MSTAR pin diagrams if you just want to hack something out quickly.

That sounds also very do-able, if you dont mind, could you share some ressources to what I´d have to do ?
This should be what you mean , correct ?

This is the controller I´d have to use ?
https://store.level1techs.com/products/ ... ersion-kit
Which pin connector layout do I need ? / How do I find out ?

[SunshineRag_DT]

The Wheelwriter uses 2 15x trace membrane connectors so I actually used the Mini M version because it had 2 16x triomates, and I actually had one for my Mini M. But they only have presoldered ones left which are $95, a bit pricey.
https://store.level1techs.com/products/ ... -kit-26kk9

That said you can still use a 16x8 or a 16x12 from the other kits you referenced. The Wheelwriter has 2 15x trace membrane connectors for the matrix. The column connector uses all 15 but the row connector only uses 7 or 8 traces. So in you are able to cut the row connector membrane to fit the 8 traces into a 8x or 12x triomate, it is very obvious what traces go all the way and which ones are dummies. All you need to do is cut a notch in row connector to fit the 8x triomate at the end of the valid line of traces.

Oh and you are going to have to build your own QMK using the MStar code in github. That is because those controllers come mapped for a "normal" Model M or Mini M not for a Wheelwriter. You will have to use the keymap that I provided, it *should* be the same for your Wheelwriter, but you never know if there were membrane changes so you would have to verify.

MStar QMK Code in gitlab
https://gitlab.com/esr/m-star/-/blob/ma ... assic.adoc

I dont know if the code I used for the Mini M controller also works for the Classic controllers they might use matrix pins differently. I think the pin list for the different versions 16x8 16x2, etc are in the headers. Their git repo also has the Gerbers for the PCB so you dont even need to order if you can get PCBs made and source the bluepill and triomates locally.