Good work so far! I'm jealous you have the original long bar foot on yours.
BTW, if you didn't want to use the original caps/stabilizers, you can easily install these white inserts with a new unicomp/model M set since they have the leg on all the caps that require stabilization.
Good work so far! I'm jealous you have the original long bar foot on yours.
BTW, if you didn't want to use the original caps/stabilizers, you can easily install these white inserts with a new unicomp/model M set since they have the leg on all the caps that require stabilization.Show Image(http://i.imgur.com/5gHxd1d.jpg)
A few comments about stabilizers.BTW, if you didn't want to use the original caps/stabilizers, you can easily install these white inserts with a new unicomp/model M set since they have the leg on all the caps that require stabilization.Show Image(http://i.imgur.com/5gHxd1d.jpg)
Unless you can verify that this is correct, I think that you are recommending the wrong barrel insert. There are "on-center" inserts for the horizontal keys and "off-centered" inserts for the vertical keys. On all the Model M/Fs that I have repaired, the numpad Enter and plus required an "off-center" insert as shown.
As for the small plastic tabs, they can be removed and replaced, with a "casualty rate" of 10%-30%. You simply push them out with a small flat-head screwdriver from the back to the front. This makes the sanding and painting much easier and more satisfying. And, the paint in the holes improves the force fit which might otherwise have been degraded somewhat.
As for the small plastic tabs, they can be removed and replaced, with a "casualty rate" of 10%-30%. You simply push them out with a small flat-head screwdriver from the back to the front. This makes the sanding and painting much easier and more satisfying. And, the paint in the holes improves the force fit which might otherwise have been degraded somewhat.
popping a few of them out,
Sadly I need the space bar stabs though, as I only have 2, and according to fohat.digs, wire stabs haven't been used since 1989...
I want to start by saying that I did everything manually, with scissors. I have the proper tools somewhere buried in the mess of my workshop, but due to impatience, I did just about this entire process using scissors and a razor blade.
I proceeded to cut out each individual circle. At this point, I was planning on using my drill press to cut out each individual circle. I tried on the first hole, and it tore up the edges of the foam pretty bad, and it also meant I would need to cut out the small notch manually, anyway. The only x-acto knife I had was super dull, so that meant, and like I mentioned, my leather punches were buried, and I had no desire to go dig for them. In the end it took me about an hour exactly to cut out all of those holes. While they don't look pretty, they hold the barrels perfectly, and I didn't manage to screw any of them up.
This part was the most tricky to figure out. I still don't know whether I did this appropriately, but I do know that it works. After installing all the stabilizers in backwards (minus the spacebar) and popping in all of the flippies (including some in the wrong barrels), I needed to find a way to get the PCB onto the plate. The same thread that was fohat mentioned using craft foam, there was also discussion about using clamps for something. To be honest I did not read that entire thread, as carefully as I should. When I got to this step, I knew exactly what they were talking about with the clamps.
After assembling all of the keycaps, I noticed that the top and bottom row keys felt insanely sturdy and were surprisingly not all that pingy. The center 3 rows on the other hand felt very "light", they pinged like a piano, and if you wiggled around the "F" key, R, D, G, C, V, R, and T all moved around with it. I also found out that I put a few flippers in the wrong spots for the stabilized keys, and some how I have managed to lose a single barrel+flipper, with no freaking idea where it went!
Opening everything back up, I found exactly what I suspected. There was not enough foam on the middle rows. You can see by the marks left in the top and bottom row, with hardly anything on the middle 3 rows! I have remedied this by cutting out a second piece of foam for the middle 3 rows.
I will close this project update with a question. I want to update my key layout on this board. Specifically I would like to lengthen the left shift, possibly do a HHKB style right shift, and extend the enter key. I would also like to replace all of the windowed keys. I want nav keys in the first block of 15, and then turn the block of 20 into a numpad, with something like F1-10 in the block to the far left.
What would be the best way to do that? I was originally thinking about just buying a Unicomp keyset for $30, but there is that whole quality issue there. Would it make sense to just buy and strip a Model M, or does Unicomp have decent enough quality? And what about the special size keys. To do the layout changes I am considering, are there any specific keys, not included in a stock layout that I would have to separately source?
One thing I was curious about was, whether or not I should use your clamp method to slide the plates back together? I found what I did, bending back the tabs, clamping, and bending back worked perfectly
I am still working through what I want the layout to be, but I have decided to go with old M/XT caps instead of Unicomp. I think I will really just be going for extending the ANSI Return, and the Left Shift. Leaving everything else as is. I am getting a good deal on a Great White, and possibly an M, so I will use the Great White for spare parts and the keys,
Otherwise, I will have to consider attempting your revised bolt mod method (of only using 2 bolts by enter and F5).
Just got my 107-key in as well, it's got that same great metal foot running the (long) length of the board.
Great thread, I'm really looking forward to how your board progresses in the future. Restoring these is certainly a daunting task. I'll be taking mine slow as well likely over a few months time. I just got done bolt-modding my M so I'm a bit IBM'd out at the moment. One thing I'm very concerned about is not ruining the feel of the board with the trickiness of the foam replacement. It feels great as it is, so I'll be going slow if I replace that foam to make sure it only gets better and not worse.
On a side note, these things are goddamned heavy. I couldn't believe it when I pulled it out of the box, it felt heavier than it did in the box.
is the foot on yours metal? all the 4704 feet I know of are plastic.
One thing I'm very concerned about is not ruining the feel of the board with the trickiness of the foam replacement.
I love the idea of a panel mount Micro USB. I have since gotten my 107 all back together (typing on it now), and all I did was loosely secure the USB cable inside the case. I am however finding that I don't have as much cable length as I would like to have and I would not like to see what happens if this cable were to get caught or yanked, or something crazy :eek:It seems strange, given the large overall size of the F107, but the quarters are actually rather cramped when it comes to installing a panel-mount micro-USB or mini-USB connector. There are also some technical difficulties. For example, I thought of putting the connector near the existing cable outlet, but there is actually not an abundance of space in this area. In addition, I would want it to be mounted in the bottom of the case, but the top part houses the controller. This presents some difficulties if you ever intend to open the case again after installing everything. You would need to provide ample strain relief and cable length to keep from pulling things apart when opening the case.
Where were you thinking of adding the connector? Something like drilling out the existing cable "hole" and mounting it somehow right there?