5251 beamsprings - should I take them?

dzhoou · 03 Jun 2015, 04:36

Recently I came across a guy who has some 5251 beamsprings lying around. They look like the picture posted below. The price is okay; the thing is, all of them have one or two nonclicking/jammed keys, and one of them is missing a letter key.

So... could the bad keys be fixed in general? Are they rare enough to be worth keeping despite the defect? Thanks!

Redmaus · 03 Jun 2015, 04:45

I might be interested in one. Exact price would narrow it down. I think on the jammed keys could be fixed by opening them and reinserting fly plate, but I can't be sure of that.

Missing key might be a problem. I don't know of any places where you can get replacements.

Nuum · 03 Jun 2015, 05:11

Go get them! Depending on price I might be interested as well. Missing keycaps is a minor problem to me, you could jam a MX keycap on there or 3D print one. Irrepairable switches is a bigger problem.

Ratfink · 03 Jun 2015, 06:30

My Displaywriter board has two switches with broken beam springs. It's possible that the non-clicking keys in these are similarly broken. In any case, the switches are quite modular, so if you have n keyboards you can certainly get n-1 fully working ones. And if that last one becomes a parts keyboard, I might like to relieve it of two of its switches.

Touch_It · 03 Jun 2015, 06:58

Price would definitely be nice but definitely get them. Assuming price isn't crazy people will surely buy them.

idollar · 03 Jun 2015, 07:21

Depending on the details of the deal, I may also be interested.

seebart · 03 Jun 2015, 08:03

I am interested. Info on the price would be helpful. An offer like this does not show up often. How many are there?

Muirium · 03 Jun 2015, 09:09

Add me to the interested. Even just for caps and parts.

andrewjoy · 03 Jun 2015, 10:41

add me as well , possibly.

i would even be interested in a set of caps and some spare switches if one is too far gone

matt3o · 03 Jun 2015, 10:55

I need the caps for you know what.

jeighsun · 03 Jun 2015, 12:57

Here they are:
http://imgur.com/Jssx3EP,blqPW47
http://imgur.com/Jssx3EP,blqPW47#1

the one keyboard the 'U' button is missing, it still clicks but doesn't have the key, the large 0 and field + keys don't spring back either. Other than that everything else functions.
The other keyboard the field + and back key (above the right hand side numbers) don't spring back, they click but no spring back. The space bar also seems to be jammed.

please e-mail me if your interested in purchasing the keyboards.

Redmaus · 03 Jun 2015, 14:44

Are these the ones on ebay?

dzhoou · 03 Jun 2015, 15:45

Hi guys, I patched in jeighsun, the seller, so he could address with you directly on these keyboards.

I do not wish to make a profit by flipping them

Muirium · 03 Jun 2015, 15:49

Good stuff. How many are there? Is there one in real bad shape? I'm thinking about spare parts.

dzhoou · 03 Jun 2015, 15:53

There are 3. I took one so I assume there are two left.

andrewjoy · 03 Jun 2015, 16:15

i will step out on this one , was only interested in spare parts . caps

Redmaus · 03 Jun 2015, 18:18

I am gonna try my luck in elecplus's thread, that large ISO key is bugging me.

XMIT · 03 Jun 2015, 20:15

Anything can be fixed. Everything has a buyer for the right price. I say take them!

jeighsun · 06 Jun 2015, 04:33

I found another keyboard, which is missing a few more keys than the others, take all 3 and you'll have 2 full keyboards!
I have had a lot of e-mails, and I think i've replied to them all but no one has followed through yet. So there are still 3 of them available.

http://imgur.com/pXz1xCe,UhYe7RU#0
http://imgur.com/pXz1xCe,UhYe7RU#1

XMIT · 06 Jun 2015, 04:41

It would help if you mentioned where you are located. Please put your country in your profile!

Nuum · 06 Jun 2015, 08:41

He is in Canada AFAIK. Is the price mentioned including shipping? If not, the price seems a bit high for an incomplete keyboard.

dramsey · 09 Jun 2015, 06:21

Just out of curiosity, how would you even use these keyboards with modern computers?

Redmaus · 09 Jun 2015, 07:00

dramsey wrote: Just out of curiosity, how would you even use these keyboards with modern computers?

xwhatsit beamspring controller.

dramsey · 10 Jun 2015, 02:26

I'm not sure if I could handle it. When I first started with mech keyboards-- completely forgetting that the Apple //e and Apple /// keyboards I'd used back in the day were mech-- I thought Cherry key switches were incredible.

Well, they are, really, but then I became a Model M fanatic and used a Model M for years. I'd heard the Mod F was actually better, but there wasn't any way to hook the XT model up to a modern computer, and the AT model was super rare.

Then I stumbled across an AT version on eBay, rebuild it with new foam, and now I'm in typing nirvana.

Could a beam spring actually be better? I'm not sure I could handle it if it were. However, I would be...willing to try.

andrewjoy · 10 Jun 2015, 14:33

You will never know unless you try it.

The are smoother , but its all about the build quality with a beamspring , nothing is made like that anymore. Nothing.

seebart · 10 Jun 2015, 14:39

andrewjoy wrote: You will never know unless you try it.

The are smoother , but its all about the build quality with a beamspring , nothing is made like that anymore. Nothing.

I'm ready !

atrere · 17 Jul 2016, 06:20

I might be interested as well, depending on the price. I literally typed this message on two separate kinds of IBM keyboards. Who am I to say no?

Hak Foo · 17 Jul 2016, 08:03

It would be nice if someone would "steward" the worse condition unit as a community resource.

The people who got QWERTZ boards cbut speak English ould use the two different caps, and the intact switches could always be parted out for boards that are damaged during cleaning. There's a potential for a modest profit by parting it out, but it would likely take some time to realize.

y11971alex · 20 Jul 2016, 09:49

dramsey wrote: Could a beam spring actually be better? I'm not sure I could handle it if it were. However, I would be...willing to try.

Beam spring has certain technical elements that make its feel a little comparable to a rubber dome, especially a very high quality one (i.e. Topre), but not even the highest quality rubber domes will match the beam spring switch in terms of tactility and the sharpness and cleanness of that tactility, because the "dome" on the beam spring is made of metal. It's a truly fantastic switch type, but the Model F does a good job approximating it. The primary difference, I contend, is the post-click travel feel; whereas the Model F's collapsed spring continues to resist travel noticeably, the collapsed beam spring simply collapses, and the resistance offered by the coil spring is quite minimal. It's next to impossible to avoid "bottom out" on beam springs, since the spring collapses so suddenly and completely.

The Model F, to me, is a little livelier and bouncier, and the beam spring is a little more mellow and gentler. If beam springs were to get a 10/10 rating, the Model F gets at least a 9.5/10 if I'm savouring its feel and a 10/10 if I'm not. The Model F's, being significantly more tactile, is somewhat preferable to beam springs when typing very hard, very quickly.

andrewjoy wrote: The are smoother , but its all about the build quality with a beamspring , nothing is made like that anymore. Nothing.

A well-maintained Model F (as my allegedly new in box XT shows) is about as smooth as my beam spring, which can still get rough on deliberately bad presses, such as when I pushed the buttons completely horizontally. Centred presses, though, are as mentioned, extremely smooth, arguably smoother than Blue Alps. Build quality of beam springs is certainly first rate; however, at a given point, additional mass stops translating to quality; I like to refer to this as an instance of the law of diminishing return. My 3101 weights around 14 pounds, and I'd be just as happy if it weighted only 10. Being the single heaviest item on my desk, the IKEA desktop is literally bowing under its tremendous mass!