IT'S ALIVE! Post your xwhatsit-resurrected beamspring/kishy

User avatar
Touch_It

10 Apr 2015, 17:52

andrewjoy wrote: the 107 is growing on me i did not like it at first but now i think about it as a 122 without the top function row , still i think my order of preference for model F is still 62>77>104>122>107>XT>AT and i only have 122 xt and AT :(
I got the 107 as my first F and followed with a 3178. Now all I want is an 122, AT, XT, and XT bigfoot. I would love a 62 and 77 key but I am sure I will never get either, sans a huge find. I still think the 107 will be my all time favorite, its large, in charge and has a metal case. Plus it was my first IBM F keyboard. I was very lucky to stumble into it.

Fake edit. Someday I would like a 50 key F as well.

User avatar
XMIT
[ XMIT ]

10 Apr 2015, 17:56

So, you want all of the Model Fs.

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Touch_It

10 Apr 2015, 18:26

XMIT wrote: So, you want all of the Model Fs.
LOL yes. :cry: :?

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snoopy

10 Apr 2015, 19:02

Touch_It wrote:
XMIT wrote: So, you want all of the Model Fs.
LOL yes. :cry: :?
Unsaver is missing in your list. :mrgreen:

User avatar
Touch_It

10 Apr 2015, 19:04

snoopy wrote:
Touch_It wrote:
XMIT wrote: So, you want all of the Model Fs.
LOL yes. :cry: :?
Unsaver is missing in your list. :mrgreen:
That it is. I will likely never own along with the kish and 77 key.

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Muirium
µ

15 Apr 2015, 01:35

Work in progress:

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The solenoid mostly works, but has a habit of going to sleep until I pull the USB cable. A few keys aren't registering, so I'll be inside cleaning the PCB soon enough. But so far, so good. What a relief compared to my rusty first! So shiny…

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0100010

15 Apr 2015, 03:17

Here are some additional pics of mine from today.

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User avatar
Madhias
BS TORPE

20 Apr 2015, 22:21

I have still one problem with the case of my 3278, that one mount of the bar of the door is broken off and my only plan is now to make some weird installation since glue does not work. I have to post some pictures, maybe someone has an idea.

Meanwhile I have saved some layouts to the controller and played with the buzzer. I made a video with the sound of the keyboard with and without solenoid. I am too lazy to cut it properly, or edit it. I have to say I hate video editing, but could edit a photograph for hours.
Sounds like a machine gun :evilgeek:

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HzFaq

20 Apr 2015, 22:24

Holy shit that's loud! I'd hate to live next door to you!

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Touch_It

21 Apr 2015, 02:05

Ear porn!

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pr0ximity

03 Apr 2016, 06:40

Just found this thread, these are far and away my favorite boards in the community. Always so lovingly restored!

Restored my 107-key late last year and have been using it frequently ever since. My girlfriend loves it as well and has officially claimed it as hers to use when working from home :roll: Luckily I have a 5251 83(?)-key arriving Monday and another xwhatsit for it shortly after :evilgeek: very excited for my first beamspring!

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User avatar
Chyros

03 Apr 2016, 11:40

That's a beam spring? Oo

Vizir

03 Apr 2016, 12:20

Chyros wrote:That's a beam spring? Oo
That's a model f 107. The beam spring is on its way. See Muirium's keyboard with black and white keys a few posts up for beam spring.

User avatar
alh84001
v.001

23 Apr 2016, 11:58

pr0ximity wrote: Just found this thread, these are far and away my favorite boards in the community. Always so lovingly restored!
Image
Do you mind sharing the way you did that blue keycap?

User avatar
emdude
Model M Apologist

23 Apr 2016, 11:59

It looks like an artisan.

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alh84001
v.001

23 Apr 2016, 12:41

Yep. But I wasn't aware there are BS artisans.

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pr0ximity

23 Apr 2016, 18:04

Yup, Hipsterpunks of GH made it, it's called a Blaze Blue Wrapped. Plenty of BS artisans around, but they're a bit less common.

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y11971alex

07 Jun 2016, 03:25

Image

Case still at the powder coating house.

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ramnes
ПБТ НАВСЕГДА

07 Jun 2016, 12:55

How much does it cost you to powder coat the case? And which color did you choose? :)

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seebart
Offtopicthority Instigator

07 Jun 2016, 13:11

y11971alex wrote: Case still at the powder coating house.
Can't wait to see it. :P

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y11971alex

07 Jun 2016, 15:54

ramnes wrote: How much does it cost you to powder coat the case? And which color did you choose? :)
It was around $100. And since this is a restoration, there isn't really a choice of colour. :geek:

User avatar
photekq
Cherry Picker

18 Jul 2016, 23:29

Image

Crappy pic will have to do for the minute, but I think this is my new favourite keyboard to use :mrgreen:

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y11971alex

20 Jul 2016, 10:05

photekq wrote: Image

Crappy pic will have to do for the minute, but I think this is my new favourite keyboard to use :mrgreen:
What shocks me is the virtually identical layout of the 3278 above compared to my 3101. I can't spot a single difference other than the legends on the keys. Of course, the 3101 has a rounded case, which seems to be a stylistic choice rather than a technical one. The 3101 keyboard sat in front of the terminal, which had a detachable base and a monitor, whereas the 3278 had an integrated base and the keyboard tucked under the monitor.

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It makes me wonder, if the internal assembly is identical too... :geek:

If so, this would mean IBM didn't cheap out on the keyboard, even when the terminal it went with was marketed as cheap at that time, at only $1250.

hypkx
Chasing the Dream

06 Jul 2017, 11:11

Finished my 5251 Beamspring yesterday.
Potatoe picture of the internals:

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After restoring the keyboard it works now like a charm and the solenoid is a very cool feature.
photos-f62/beamspring-refurb-ibm-5251-b ... beamspring

Thank you seebart, for the keyboard.

For lazy people is a the layout file attached (because I dont found one and had to assign every key by myself).
http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?fi ... 4860190548

User avatar
seebart
Offtopicthority Instigator

06 Jul 2017, 11:30

hypkx wrote: Thank you seebart, for the keyboard.
Your very welcome, I knew you would restore it the way it should be. Thanks for sharing the layout file.

User avatar
JP!

23 Jul 2017, 04:51

This white whale of a keyboard arrived on my doorstep this morning :D Lucky for me I had already ordered a Model F Xwhatsit which was customized by Orihalcon to work with the DisplayWriter. Being somewhat new to the Xwhatsit I had a little bit of trouble as I was using an incorrect current threshold value. I found that a value of 120 was the sweet spot for this particular keyboard. I just need to solder the pins for the expansion header so I can hook up the solenoid driver. Also I am still working on the layout for some of the keys. Overall it is in very good shape, no rust but lots of dust bunnies. It was well used as some of the keys have some shine to them. Eventually I will clean the case and wash the keys.
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Born in 1983
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Original speaker, controller, and cable.
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Installed solenoid, Xwhatsit, and solenoid driver
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Here I have the ground wire attached to the case.
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004.JPG (127.12 KiB) Viewed 26925 times

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seebart
Offtopicthority Instigator

23 Jul 2017, 13:12

Nice JP!, so how do you like those Beamspring switches? I see you decided to keep the original contamination shield in place.

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JP!

23 Jul 2017, 18:32

seebart wrote: Nice JP!, so how do you like those Beamspring switches? I see you decided to keep the original contamination shield in place.
Oh these Beamspring switches are terrible ;)

I started pulling the keys and then decided to do a full tear down while I was at it. I am glad I tore it apart though. The foam is completely broken down so it is like having no foam at all to hold the switches in place. I had to do away with the contamination shield as it completely disintegrated. So yeah, I resurrected this keyboard, then murdered it, and will be bringing back to life again.

User avatar
y11971alex

24 Jul 2017, 12:18

Image

hypkx
Chasing the Dream

03 Aug 2017, 13:31

Here a album from installing the Xwhatsit in my IBM 3178:
http://imgur.com/a/JaR94

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