Author Topic: Model F-XT score  (Read 12157 times)

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Offline ander

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Model F-XT score
« on: Tue, 25 July 2017, 18:37:01 »
Hey guys,

Rather than telling you about a "great find" that's available, as I usually do, this time I'd like to share a "find" I just found—this IBM Model F-XT, apparently in very nice shape:








Since Chyros posted his positive review of this classic board, people have been bidding well over $100 for them. So I thought I'd better grab one while I could still afford it (e.g. stay married). The buyer accepted my offer of $70 w/free shipping.  :?) 

There were no photos of the back, so I'm hoping there's no obvious wear or damage there. If the original cork "feet" are gone (as is often the case), cork sheeting is readily available at hardware and craft stores, so I can make some convincing-looking ones of my own, as on this one:


174217-0


I'm quite looking forward to comparing its build, feel and sound with the F-AT and F-122 I'm also lucky to have.
We are not chasing wildly after beauty with fear at our backs. – Natalie Goldberg

Offline JP

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Re: Model F-XT score
« Reply #1 on: Tue, 25 July 2017, 19:38:15 »
I scored a mint one as well a while back for $70 with shipping. I would highly recommend the cork feet that Mintcraft sells. Search for Mintcraft FE-50702.

Replaced cork feet:
174219-0

174221-1
About Me | The Collection
Therapy is expensive so I buy keyboards and bike parts.

Offline OldIsNew

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Re: Model F-XT score
« Reply #2 on: Tue, 25 July 2017, 19:49:07 »
... I would highly recommend the cork feet that Mintcraft sells. Search for Mintcraft FE-50702.

Yup, the right size, used them too.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000KL0ABS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


Offline ander

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Re: Model F-XT score
« Reply #3 on: Wed, 26 July 2017, 01:28:42 »
Thanks for the tip about the feet. While most peeps wouldn't mind buying them, I'm among the masochistic minority that would rather make their own—mostly just so I can look at them now and then and think, "I made those!"

And when you get to be my age, you want to do all the crafts stuff you can, too, before they stop letting you handle sharp objects.

What I especially like about Model F's is the musical note they make when you type on them. Model M's can sound springy (especially the earliest ones), but only F's produce a ringing, music-like tone. What is it about their construction that makes them so different? Does the M's membrane absorb more vibration and prevent the metal plate from "singing"?
We are not chasing wildly after beauty with fear at our backs. – Natalie Goldberg

Offline ander

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Re: Model F-XT score
« Reply #4 on: Fri, 04 August 2017, 17:36:18 »
In case anyone's interested: I've picked up my XT. It's in very nice shape---lightly used, but whoever owned it took good care of it. And woo hoo, it has the original feet.


175073-0


175075-1


175077-2


175079-3


175081-4


175083-5


175085-6


Here's a brief audio demo. (Love that ping!)
« Last Edit: Sat, 05 August 2017, 05:05:24 by ander »
We are not chasing wildly after beauty with fear at our backs. – Natalie Goldberg

Offline JP

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Re: Model F-XT score
« Reply #5 on: Fri, 04 August 2017, 19:57:21 »
Glad to hear you found a nice one. It never hurts to see more pics.
About Me | The Collection
Therapy is expensive so I buy keyboards and bike parts.

Offline ander

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Re: Model F-XT score
« Reply #6 on: Sat, 05 August 2017, 05:06:44 »
Glad to hear you found a nice one. It never hurts to see more pics.

Thanks! BTW, does anyone know what the data on the label means---other than the p/n, obviously? I'm guessing the pen marks were put there by inspectors, the way Model M's have little coloured dots on their labels.
We are not chasing wildly after beauty with fear at our backs. – Natalie Goldberg

Offline Voixdelion

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Re: Model F-XT score
« Reply #7 on: Tue, 08 August 2017, 02:29:17 »


Here's a brief audio demo. (Love that ping!)



Sweeeet!  Like music =) 

That is the sound I associate with Turbo Pascal and madly trying to throw together an essay in the free period before my paper was due back in the computer lab in high school.  It was a very satisfying sound of productivity under pressure....   I have gotta make that USB thing so I can use my XT - I just never seem to get around to it, but that audio clip has made me want to get back on that project ASAP.  I also have an F-AT, but that one doesn't have the same lightness to it, I think.   
 
There has never been another keyboard quite like that, though the cherry Blues come close to the sound.  Unfortunately they seem a lot more fragile and temperamental about getting dirt and debris in the works whereas the XT was always as smooth as butter even with crumbs in it ....


"The more you tolerate each other, the less enforcement will happen."-iMav

Offline ander

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Re: Model F-XT score
« Reply #8 on: Tue, 08 August 2017, 04:04:40 »

Here's a brief audio demo. (Love that ping!)


Sweeeet!  Like music =)  ...  That is the sound I associate with Turbo Pascal and madly trying to throw together an essay in the free period before my paper was due back in the computer lab in high school.  It was a very satisfying sound of productivity under pressure....   I have gotta make that USB thing so I can use my XT - I just never seem to get around to it, but that audio clip has made me want to get back on that project ASAP.  I also have an F-AT, but that one doesn't have the same lightness to it, I think.   
 
There has never been another keyboard quite like that, though the cherry Blues come close to the sound.  Unfortunately they seem a lot more fragile and temperamental about getting dirt and debris in the works whereas the XT was always as smooth as butter even with crumbs in it ....


Thoroughly enjoyed your post! It's always been a cool thing about GH, the range of ages and experiences that seem to cover the entire history of keebs (ha, I said "keebs")—all the way from us old-timers, who clicked and clanked away on the original mechanicals; to the younguns who are discovering the joys of modern MKs, and then, if they're lucky, opening their minds to vintage ones too.

Re your comparison of buckling springs to MX Blues: I've no doubt Cherry was inspired to some extent by buckling springs. (MX Greens are probably the closest they came to them.) But the sound you describe is much more than a switch; it's the whole board. Those fat springs are part of the chorus, but there's that big ol' Model F plate, ringing like a gong in that impractically heavy case (which, in some F's, are partly metal themselves).

It's a sound from the days when computers were still so relatively uncommon—and of course, costly—they weren't required or expected to be modest, toned-down. If you had a computer, you wanted people to know about it. Clackity clack!

BTW, I gotta ask:

...whereas the XT was always as smooth as butter even with crumbs in it ....[/size]

Was that a deliberate food metaphor, with the butter and crumbs?  :?)
We are not chasing wildly after beauty with fear at our backs. – Natalie Goldberg

Offline ptrouton

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Re: Model F-XT score
« Reply #9 on: Tue, 13 July 2021, 04:12:30 »
Useful info, thanks for sharing
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Offline Katlicious

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Re: Model F-XT score
« Reply #10 on: Wed, 11 August 2021, 10:55:09 »
In case anyone's interested: I've picked up my XT. It's in very nice shape---lightly used, but whoever owned it took good care of it. And woo hoo, it has the original feet.


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omg, what a find !

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Here's a brief audio demo. (Love that ping!)