Thick Spherical Doubleshots and Destruction

[atrere]

After recently picking up a pile of Model Fs and converting them to USB, I've considered my keyboard journey on a temporary hiatus. After all, I had some lovely SKCC Greens with Japanese spherical doubleshots for gaming and any other time I felt like being linear, and a lovely Model F XT for the greatest heights of clicky bliss. So unless I happened upon a beam spring or a Space Cadet, I didn't really have anywhere new to go.
But something bothered me a bit about my Model Fs. I looooove spherical keycaps, having grown up with them on a Commodore 64, and more recently becoming a total snob because of the IBM 6112884 "Pingmaster". And as far as I know, there's no spherical keycaps available for buckling spring boards.
Enter scene left: A corpse.

Why would I brutally tear apart a poor, $8 thrift-store electric typewriter that once, long ago, probably was rather important to someone?
Answer: The keycaps.

Mmm, delicious, delicious sphericals. A few of the keys are a bit odd. The brackets key has a detachable top (the white portion) with a gray engraved legend. And the one key also has a detachable top, but this portion is, sweet tapdancing Christ, doubleshot. Doubleshot detachable legends. Strangely, it's not present on any of the other keys. And the M-R key (known to me as the "Mur" key) is less of a spherical and more of a... horizontal cylindrical.

Now, while the bottom portion of the relegendable keys are single-shots, all the other keys are doubleshots through and through, thick ones, too. This plastic isn't messing around, even if the caps aren't quite as tall as I'd like.

But look at that shine, that curve! That's some wonderful stuff. I wanted to type on these. But how was I going to do that?
Spoilers: A rotary tool, super-glue, and some violence directed at a key stem from my Model M, which resulted in this:

As a test, it totally works. It fits (sort of), it clicks, it operates properly. (Also, look at that THICKNESS!) Admittedly, this is just a test. I've ordered some more black stems from Unicomp, and picked up some epoxy, along with an anti-dust mask (after inhaling far too much plastic) from a local hardware store. The tolerences on this are very tight - There's only a millimeter or two of error in centering the stem that you can deal with before it collides with other keys (as this Mur test key does), and the angle of the key isn't exactly how I want it. Luckily, since these are typewriter keys, they don't really have a profile beyond being spherical, and such should probably work well with the curved backplate of my Model F.
Should.
If I manage to get it all working and put together, I'll post a picture of the finished product.


Edit: PS: A bit of a preview of the end goal:

[CPTBadAss]

I know what I'm doing the next time I go to a thrift store! Thanks for sharing this

[zslane]

I applaud your devotion to sphericals, even if I don't share you affection for buckling spring (or clicky anything) switches. Bravo!

[Trystero]

Spherical Buckling Springs... this is the kind of project I dream of.

Similar keycaps (particularly the large Return key) too my Selectric II. Pretty sharp looking spherical tops. I'm interested to see how you wind up using those more typewriter-focused keys on this board.

Also what was the poor typewriter you gutted?

[zisb]

How do they compare to say SA when regarding the feels?

[E3E]

Being incredibly thick, they must feel a ton better than SA.

[zisb]

Being incredibly thick, they must feel a ton better than SA.

Oh and the sound! I'm a little bit jealous now.

[E3E]

Yeah, seriously. If you could replace every key on that Model F and paint the case black, it'd be sick, but the mods would be tricky.

[SBJ]

I applaud your devotion to sphericals

Yes indeed.

The sound though, that's what makes this for me.

[atrere]

To answer some questions:
The donor typewriter was a Smith-Corona Coronamatic (I think it was the 2200, aka the model Vonnegut was fond of). As for the feeling of the caps compared to SA, while I have a few individual SA caps, I have not acquired a full set, so I can't really compare typing experiences. But, due to the gloss, the Coronamatic caps feel incredibly luxurious on my fingertips.

As for replacing every key and painting the case black... E3E, did you read my mind? The end goal is to do just that, with nothing but doubleshots sphericals and a coat of plastidip, so if the inconceivable occurs and I wish to return it to its original color, I can. Which leads me to the current status of the project:

I've been spending the past week experimenting and sourcing keycaps for the remaining keys. The first batch of conversions went very poorly after the M-R test key, and so I picked up a couple of F XT barrel and spring assemblies from Orihalcon so I could better see precisely what was going on, and now I've figured out what made the M-R key work and the rest not. Over the next week or two I will be re-converting the rest, and hopefully this time it'll all work out proper.
When it comes to the keys not present on the typewriter, I'm going with a few different sources. The numpad keys are coming from an Atari CX85, one of the very few things out there with a 3u plus sign. As a bonus, it has Enter as a secondary legend, and I could plug that in via Soarer's, so it actually does what it says.
The mods are difficult, and I'm taking them from whatever I can get. So far, I've picked up an assortment of Pulse caps in the proper sizes, but a few of the keys are going to be very hard to deal with, namely the 2u lock keys and the 2u period/delete.
The function block could be very fun: I'm thinking that, since the F-block is entirely self-explanatory, the legends don't have to relate at all to the keys... So why not put interesting and odd caps on there? I've picked up Commodore keys from a Vic-20 and a Commodore 16, an Atari key and a Break key from an Atari 800, and I'm looking for more oddities to throw on there. Maybe an artisan cap or two?

And then there's the big problem. Literally big. That gigantic space bar. In my mind, there's three options: Keep it as it is, dye it black, or replace it some crazy custom thing (where would I even find something in that size?) with a custom stabilizing solution.

I'll update this when the initial typewriter keys are attached.

[xondat]

Lol I thought this was the finished product for a second )

[rowdy]

Show Image

Lol I thought this was the finished product for a second :))

The layout could do with a little tweaking ;)

[noisyturtle]

h o t   h a r d   t h i c k   s p h e r i c a l   d o u b l e s h o t s

[Adgar]

I haven't tried it before.But  I think our finger will feel better if you do some on the plate. Such like, preparing a  bigger plate.or Made a smaller keycaps. To be honest, Some old man will be into that .

[atrere]

I've had a number of major setbacks in the project, but it's finally back on track.

The relationship of the stem shape to the underside of the keycap was all wrong in the first batch, but these work. Full set coming soon.
Additionally, I've been ordering components for Project Creamsicle - 60% board with Orange Alps with damped Cream sliders, for times that I don't want to be quite so clicky and clacky.

[E3E]

These look brilliant, man. The keypresses sound so deep and full.

Also, creamsicle is the perfect name for that hybrid Alps switch.

[atrere]

http://imgur.com/a/byTVf

[E3E]

Nice man. Modern Selectric would've looked great hybridized with those typewriter caps, man. It looks good though! Probably feels even better.

[atrere]

Nice man. Modern Selectric would've looked great hybridized with those typewriter caps, man. It looks good though! Probably feels even better.

It feels fantastic. The typewriter caps are extremely slick, like typing on oiled space, and the enter key is so thick that I had to shave it down a bit, which gives each new line a substantial "thunk".