Author Topic: What Unicomp looks like  (Read 3367 times)

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Offline ander

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What Unicomp looks like
« on: Mon, 13 February 2017, 03:50:25 »
Ever wonder what Unicomp, our favorite current manufacturer of genuine buckling-spring keyboards, looks like down there in Lexington, Kentucky?

Tonight it occurred to me that we could at least see it from the outside, courtesy of Google Maps.

From the air, you can see it's a pretty big place:


160301-0


Of course it was built to accommodate IBM's volume of keyboard production, so it's hard to say how much of it Unicomp actually uses. But it probably takes about the same amount of space to make a BS board as it always has.


160303-1


Literally millions of keyboards were loaded up along that rail siding over the years (including some particularly pulse-quickening ones, LOL).

Approaching from the street:


160305-2


160307-3


160309-4


160311-5


Wonder if you can walk in, order a keyboard, and have them make it for you on the spot? It'd be fun to try.
We are not chasing wildly after beauty with fear at our backs. – Natalie Goldberg

Offline Tom_Kazansky

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Re: What Unicomp looks like
« Reply #1 on: Mon, 13 February 2017, 03:58:21 »
Wonder if you can walk in, order a keyboard, and have them make it for you on the spot? It'd be fun to try.

I doubt it  :p , if you can then the hospitality level is too d@mn high  :))

have a tour around the factory will be nice, I guess.  ;D
« Last Edit: Mon, 13 February 2017, 04:00:46 by Tom_Kazansky »

Offline Entropia

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Re: What Unicomp looks like
« Reply #2 on: Mon, 13 February 2017, 05:08:05 »
I expected the building front to be full of bulges and painting defects... and with the Unicomp sign off-centered.

Offline alh84001

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Re: What Unicomp looks like
« Reply #3 on: Mon, 13 February 2017, 09:42:23 »
I expected the building front to be full of bulges and painting defects... and with the Unicomp sign off-centered.

 :))

It's funny to see how it's fully surrounded with residential houses. I wonder what the surroundings looked like 20, 30 years ago.

Offline chyros

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Re: What Unicomp looks like
« Reply #4 on: Mon, 13 February 2017, 10:46:50 »
Has anyone here ever actually visited them? I know some of them live very close by.
Check my keyboard video reviews:


Offline ander

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Re: What Unicomp looks like
« Reply #5 on: Mon, 13 February 2017, 18:30:50 »
I expected the building front to be full of bulges and painting defects... and with the Unicomp sign off-centered.

Aw, they're not that bad... But I wouldn't be surprised if the building creaked a bit.  :?)


Wonder if you can walk in, order a keyboard, and have them make it for you on the spot? It'd be fun to try.

I doubt it... have a tour around the factory will be nice, I guess.

Imagine the aroma of bubbling ABS drifting through the neighborhood on a fine spring afternoon... I wonder what dye-sublimation smells like?
We are not chasing wildly after beauty with fear at our backs. – Natalie Goldberg

Offline SpAmRaY

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Re: What Unicomp looks like
« Reply #6 on: Mon, 13 February 2017, 19:02:02 »


I expected the building front to be full of bulges and painting defects... and with the Unicomp sign off-centered.

Aw, they're not that bad... But I wouldn't be surprised if the building creaked a bit.  :?)


Wonder if you can walk in, order a keyboard, and have them make it for you on the spot? It'd be fun to try.

I doubt it... have a tour around the factory will be nice, I guess.

Imagine the aroma of bubbling ABS drifting through the neighborhood on a fine spring afternoon... I wonder what dye-sublimation smells like?

PBT not ABS

Offline ander

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Re: What Unicomp looks like
« Reply #7 on: Wed, 15 March 2017, 17:59:29 »
PBT not ABS

I was going by what czarek said here:

...Old IBM cases are made from PVC which I think is no longer allowed to be used in keyboards, new Unicomp cases are made from ABS...

...though Esteemed Elder ch_123 also said:

IIRC, Unicomp cases are made of a blend of ABS and PVC...

In any case, whatever they use, you can bet it's got a pungent aroma.
« Last Edit: Wed, 15 March 2017, 18:01:43 by ander »
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Offline SpAmRaY

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Re: What Unicomp looks like
« Reply #8 on: Wed, 15 March 2017, 18:21:48 »
PBT not ABS

I was going by what czarek said here:

...Old IBM cases are made from PVC which I think is no longer allowed to be used in keyboards, new Unicomp cases are made from ABS...

...though Esteemed Elder ch_123 also said:

IIRC, Unicomp cases are made of a blend of ABS and PVC...

In any case, whatever they use, you can bet it's got a pungent aroma.

You referenced dye-sublimatiom in the post I replied to...you don't dyesub a case you dyesub keycaps and you don't dyesub abs you dyesub pbt.

Offline chyros

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Re: What Unicomp looks like
« Reply #9 on: Wed, 15 March 2017, 19:35:36 »
PBT not ABS

I was going by what czarek said here:

...Old IBM cases are made from PVC which I think is no longer allowed to be used in keyboards, new Unicomp cases are made from ABS...

...though Esteemed Elder ch_123 also said:

IIRC, Unicomp cases are made of a blend of ABS and PVC...

In any case, whatever they use, you can bet it's got a pungent aroma.

You referenced dye-sublimatiom in the post I replied to...you don't dyesub a case you dyesub keycaps and you don't dyesub abs you dyesub pbt.
Dell cases were dyesubbed AFAIK.
Check my keyboard video reviews:


Offline rowdy

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Re: What Unicomp looks like
« Reply #10 on: Wed, 07 June 2017, 23:05:17 »
That's what the outside looks like.

What about the inside?
"Because keyboards are accessories to PC makers, they focus on minimizing the manufacturing costs. But that’s incorrect. It’s in HHKB’s slogan, but when America’s cowboys were in the middle of a trip and their horse died, they would leave the horse there. But even if they were in the middle of a desert, they would take their saddle with them. The horse was a consumable good, but the saddle was an interface that their bodies had gotten used to. In the same vein, PCs are consumable goods, while keyboards are important interfaces." - Eiiti Wada

NEC APC-H4100E | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED red | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED green | Link 900243-08 | CM QFR MX black | KeyCool 87 white MX reds | HHKB 2 Pro | Model M 02-Mar-1993 | Model M 29-Nov-1995 | CM Trigger (broken) | CM QFS MX green | Ducky DK9087 Shine 3 TKL Yellow Edition MX black | Lexmark SSK 21-Apr-1994 | IBM SSK 13-Oct-1987 | CODE TKL MX clear | Model M 122 01-Jun-1988

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Offline klennkellon

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Re: What Unicomp looks like
« Reply #11 on: Thu, 08 June 2017, 03:03:37 »
Wonder if you can walk in, order a keyboard, and have them make it for you on the spot? It'd be fun to try.

It would be like Subway except keyboards instead of sandwiches.

Offline SBJ

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Re: What Unicomp looks like
« Reply #12 on: Thu, 08 June 2017, 07:36:44 »
That's what the outside looks like.

What about the inside?
Yeah, that's what I was most interested in.
Would love a tour of the place if I ever get a chance to revisit the US of A.