The Not So Space Saving Keyboard Thread!

andrea-i

26 Nov 2018, 13:28

Just finished the epoxy job on my Model M, success!
Photo 26-11-2018, 12 59 51.jpg
Photo 26-11-2018, 12 59 51.jpg (597.13 KiB) Viewed 4732 times
It's a bit bigger than a standard SSK, definitely cheaper, and a lot could be done chopping more here and there, but I'm not going to venture past this first chop job.
Still a lot to be done, took some guts to start, but the worst part is over, hopefully.
Last edited by andrea-i on 21 Dec 2018, 14:06, edited 3 times in total.

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ThePillenwerfer

26 Nov 2018, 14:30

Nice job, though I'd prefer to get rid of the nav keys you've kept and move the num pad across. The beauty of doing things yourself is you get what you want.

andrea-i

26 Nov 2018, 14:49

ThePillenwerfer wrote: Nice job, though I'd prefer to get rid of the nav keys you've kept and move the num pad across. The beauty of doing things yourself is you get what you want.
That would be my ideal layout too, even better if the num pad has 3 columns like that of the F77, but, a job like that would require a lot more work in getting the chopping right and I'm not even sure what should be done with the membrane layers.
In the case of a tkl or a 60% (there's a few around called happy buckling : ), the membrane can be folded or cut and then easily taped with copper.

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Quartz64

27 Nov 2018, 10:47

andrea-i wrote: Just finished the epoxy job on my Model M, success!
the worst part is over, hopefully.
The worst part is just ahead if you are planning to hide these cuts: sanding, applying putty, sanding, primer, primer, more sanding, paint, paint, paint again…

andrea-i

27 Nov 2018, 13:00

Quartz64 wrote:
andrea-i wrote: Just finished the epoxy job on my Model M, success!
the worst part is over, hopefully.
The worst part is just ahead if you are planning to hide these cuts: sanding, applying putty, sanding, primer, primer, more sanding, paint, paint, paint again…
Cutting my beloved M and putting it back together was the scary part, that's what I meant : D
The rest is just painful, but not much in the way of surprises...actually, the screw-mod might be annoying too.

andrea-i

06 Dec 2018, 09:37

All chops done, seams sanded flush, screw mod done, all is ready for the paint job!
Photo 06-12-2018, 09 19 41.jpg
Photo 06-12-2018, 09 19 41.jpg (606.38 KiB) Viewed 4500 times
I did an experiment with a water-based resin for floors.
I just used it on my bathroom, might sound funny and a bit inconsiderate, but the stuff is top notch!
It's made to be resistant, thin, perfect coverage of color on any underlying color...and as it turns out, works great on plastic too.
I've pigmented it with some resin colors I had, but I'm not happy with that color yet.
I won't try and match industrial gray, but I want this to be more green-ish.

I can still see a lot of sanding scratches, I'm hoping a lighter sand beforehand and another light sand before second coat will make everything smooth and hopefully still keep some texture.

andrea-i

06 Dec 2018, 20:28

Freshly bathroom-resin-coated : D
(read previous post for an explanation)
a.jpg
a.jpg (95.71 KiB) Viewed 4449 times
The texture comes from applying the resin by gently pushing the tip of the brush against the surface at a 90 degree angle, rather than brush-stroking.

This is just the first coat and the finish is pretty good already, tomorrow I'll finish the whole thing, it dries pretty fast and than needs to properly set for a few more days.

Excelso

07 Dec 2018, 16:47

andrea-i wrote: Freshly bathroom-resin-coated : D
(read previous post for an explanation)
a.jpg
The texture comes from applying the resin by gently pushing the tip of the brush against the surface at a 90 degree angle, rather than brush-stroking.

This is just the first coat and the finish is pretty good already, tomorrow I'll finish the whole thing, it dries pretty fast and than needs to properly set for a few more days.
Y had a doubt about "epoxy-painting" an old broken chasis I have for a future project. This looks great and I'm happy to see it works as expected.

Excelso

07 Dec 2018, 16:48

Excelso wrote:
andrea-i wrote: Freshly bathroom-resin-coated : D
(read previous post for an explanation)
a.jpg
The texture comes from applying the resin by gently pushing the tip of the brush against the surface at a 90 degree angle, rather than brush-stroking.

This is just the first coat and the finish is pretty good already, tomorrow I'll finish the whole thing, it dries pretty fast and than needs to properly set for a few more days.
I had a doubt about "epoxy-painting" an old broken chasis I have for a future project. This looks great and I'm happy to see it works as expected.

andrea-i

07 Dec 2018, 16:58

bare in mind this stuff is water based resin, much thinner than epoxy and contains very opaque pigments.

andrea-i

08 Dec 2018, 09:08

Not even close to being perfect, but I'm so impatient to put this on my desk that I will just take it for a spin as it is now : D
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andrea-i

21 Dec 2018, 14:04

After some serious wrestling to perform the screw mod, a total recolor of the case because the whole resin pot did dry on me before the last touches.
After a few broken traces on the membranes, probably due to me fiddling during the screw mod.

So, after a *lot* of screw ups, it's finally done.
Funny thing is, while my M was unusable, I switched to a replacement cherry 1800 with vintage cherry blacks I had but never really used before. And now, I'm so used to those delicate vintage blacks and the awesome 1800 compact layout that I don't feel like switching back my "new" NotSoSpaceSaver!
Oh life is strange : )

I leave you with the photos:
Photo 21-12-2018, 13 31 46.jpg
Photo 21-12-2018, 13 31 46.jpg (515.71 KiB) Viewed 4276 times
Photo 21-12-2018, 13 32 43.jpg
Photo 21-12-2018, 13 32 43.jpg (535.52 KiB) Viewed 4276 times
Photo 21-12-2018, 13 31 27.jpg
Photo 21-12-2018, 13 31 27.jpg (580.25 KiB) Viewed 4276 times

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digital_matthew

21 Dec 2018, 18:31

Inspiring and beautiful. I'd like to tackle this myself one day, especially when Ellipse releases his MOPAR keys.

hansichen

21 Dec 2018, 18:44

Nice "mint" colourway, works well with the black badge. I really like these well executed mods, IBM cases are perfect for it due to its design.

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OldIsNew

22 Dec 2018, 00:19

Wow nice! Great job for sure! BTW if you don't feel like using it because you like your replacement cherry 1800 with vintage cherry blacks is better, you can send it to me and I'll take it off your hands for free!

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scottc

22 Dec 2018, 01:38

Wow, excellent work! That looks so clean, I love it.

andrea-i

22 Dec 2018, 11:58

eheh thanks for the advice on how to get rid of it, OldIsNew : D

To be honest guys, it's absolutely not as clean as it looks from the photos, it is still a garage job and once you have it in your hands you can tell.
Thing is, if one is to do such jobs for oneself, then it's totally worth it, the end result is something that ends up being very personal, this is my M and it's unique now : )

I think in order to make it "perfect", one would have to butcher at least a couple of those to get skilled enough with the screw or bolt mod and membrane mods.

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OldIsNew

22 Dec 2018, 23:36

perfect.jpg
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