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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: turbocharged on Tue, 08 February 2011, 22:03:02

Title: What color to dye my IBM Model M?
Post by: turbocharged on Tue, 08 February 2011, 22:03:02

I have a 1989 (gray label) Model M that I am doing a bolt mod and usb conversion to. I decided I also want to dye it....and not just slightly.

I'm pretty sure I want to do the casing black like I did to my Cherry G80-19000, but don't know what to do about the IBM logo and LED indicators. I was thinking about just covering up the IBM logo and only masking the LED "windows" letting the LED legends just be dyed as well. What do you think?

Also for the keys I had two main ideas.

A) Dying all the keys black and going "legendless"

B) Dying all the dark greys keys black and all the white keys yellow with this keyboard in mind.

(http://www.diatec.co.jp/image_prod/NG02Y0_01.jpg)


but with the black/yellow color scheme like this black/red model m

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_UBvHStWkL-U/TEI-UOHklmI/AAAAAAAAANI/I9hid0nEtZI/s1024/IMG_20100717_185750.jpg)

Title: What color to dye my IBM Model M?
Post by: Lethal Squirrel on Tue, 08 February 2011, 22:27:36

I plan on dyeing all the keys to mine in black. I just love the look of a white keyboard with black keys :)

Title: What color to dye my IBM Model M?
Post by: lootbag on Tue, 08 February 2011, 23:00:27

I might be dyeing mine the dark grey found on the Industrial Model M if I cannot locate a case.

To complete the look, I got a set of white/grey blank keys from Fentek-Ind too.
Also, got the RGB Esc, Ctrl, Shift and Alt keys :D

Can't wait to put it all together!

Title: What color to dye my IBM Model M?
Post by: Brian8bit on Tue, 08 February 2011, 23:39:30

Shocking pink with gold and silver glitter mixed in. Same for the keys. Modify the keys so when depressed they play various sound bites of Erasure - A little respect. Consider typing exercises big gay live remixes.

Title: What color to dye my IBM Model M?
Post by: kill will on Wed, 09 February 2011, 00:05:53

dying is ok, but sometimes the space bar and big keys are difficult to get the right color while still maintaining structural integrity.  for big keys or blank black keys i would get from unicomp.

Title: What color to dye my IBM Model M?
Post by: Lethal Squirrel on Wed, 09 February 2011, 08:01:37

I'm just gonna soak my keys in a big bowl of dye overnight. that should make 'em nice and black.
Luckily I work at a store that has rit dye and I can probably get it for free.

Title: What color to dye my IBM Model M?
Post by: turbocharged on Wed, 09 February 2011, 14:48:20

Quote from: Lethal Squirrel;292209

I'm just gonna soak my keys in a big bowl of dye overnight. that should make 'em nice and black.
Luckily I work at a store that has rit dye and I can probably get it for free.

I don't know if that will work. I have found that dyeing at 160F yields much worse results than 180F. I don't know if room temp would do much of anything...even overnight. Black may work differently, but I don't know. Give it a try and see I guess.

Title: What color to dye my IBM Model M?
Post by: turbocharged on Sun, 13 February 2011, 17:38:51

Well I started to mod the Model M.

Decided on Rit Golden Yellow and Rit Black in the same scheme as the red/black one I posted above. I will be making the case black too though.

Check it out....no problems with spacebar color or integrity when it is done right.

http://geekhack.org/showwiki.php?title=Island:15277&redirect=no

Title: What color to dye my IBM Model M?
Post by: turbocharged on Sun, 13 February 2011, 22:52:04

Quote from: harrison;294672

I wonder if packing the keys with clay before dying them would help.  on the space bar and larger keys, it might help the longer sides keep their shape better.

Interesting idea, but if you use a good thermometer and keep an eye on your temps...you shouldn't have any problem. Also, I like to stir constantly and use a strainer to keep the keys off the bottom of the pot.

I like dyeing ABS around 75C-80C. If my thermometer reads greater than the 180F mark (82C) I pull the keys out or don't put them in.

When dyeing PBT, it doesn't really matter since the melting point is so much higher, but I still don't let the water get above 90C usually.

Only time I have warped any keys was when doing my first keyboard (A Dell AT101W) and the temperatures were over 180F.

Title: What color to dye my IBM Model M?
Post by: audioave10 on Sun, 13 February 2011, 22:59:44

Looks good but you might find that over time, your ENTER key may fade a little with much use. I dyed my Key Tronic keys and you can see a big difference on the WASD keys already. The IBM keys might be better quality and not do that but I'm just guessing. If your keys were really really clean you might be OK.

Title: What color to dye my IBM Model M?
Post by: Hak Foo on Mon, 14 February 2011, 20:14:52

You might try resurfacing the casing.  I covered one case with fake suede cloth; felt sort of nice, has gone a bit loose after a few years.  It's my office board now.  (dyed the keys red, they ended up two-tone red).

You can try covering the LED panel with car tint film too-- useful if you also install super-bright lights

Title: What color to dye my IBM Model M?
Post by: Tony on Mon, 14 February 2011, 20:21:14

The red alphabetical keys look cool. I wonder how long the dye lasts, with frequent typing.

Title: What color to dye my IBM Model M?
Post by: bettablue on Wed, 16 February 2011, 21:20:58

Quote from: ripster;292111

No dye was used in the pictures....

Show Image

(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4104/5012202980_b4d02fd2b4_z.jpg)

Show Image

(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4136/4761112464_ebd972bcb6_z.jpg)

This is one of the ideas I have for mine.  I was also thinking of replacing just the grey control keys around the alpha characters.  I'm still looking for a complete set of black keys though.

Title: What color to dye my IBM Model M?
Post by: bettablue on Wed, 16 February 2011, 21:23:18

I really like the way the legend shows through the yellow.  Nice job.

Title: What color to dye my IBM Model M?
Post by: turbocharged on Wed, 16 February 2011, 22:15:46

I already did the top of the case in black and I have to say...it looks F'n sick. The black with the yellow just looks so much better than the standard boring Model M colors.

I still have to do the base and the inside, so no pictures yet (will probably have to wait till I do the bolt mod) but I can't wait to show it off when it is done.

Title: What color to dye my IBM Model M?
Post by: turbocharged on Thu, 17 February 2011, 15:33:40

Quote from: kalrykh;296511

poor model m, being molested like that :(

Check out the case...so much better than the white...never molested, only modded with care.

(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=15522&stc=1&d=1297974396)

Title: What color to dye my IBM Model M?
Post by: wcass on Mon, 09 May 2011, 23:56:20

is that black model m case from spray or dye?

if dye, what temp?

i was thinking of ordering replacement badges for my 1391401 model m - same shape, font, and angle as original badge but black text on gold metal. it should look nice on a black case.

Title: What color to dye my IBM Model M?
Post by: Mr. Perfect on Tue, 10 May 2011, 00:02:36

Where do you get replacement labels from?

Title: What color to dye my IBM Model M?
Post by: False_Dmitry_II on Tue, 10 May 2011, 01:43:09

You could just read the mod thread:

http://geekhack.org/showwiki.php?title=Island:15277

Directed at questions of how it was done. I didn't think you could order new labels like that.

Title: What color to dye my IBM Model M?
Post by: wcass on Tue, 10 May 2011, 16:25:42

i was planning on ordering from a label place. from the description, they say it is a metal label available in a number of finishes (brushed, chrome, gold). i selected a "rectangular" tag that is 25mm wide by 18mm tall and corners rounded with a 9mm radius (giving the "pill" shape). i took a published ibm logo and rotated it -35 degrees and optomized for 1200dpi print.

the minimum order is 10 @ ~$2.60 each. like i said, i'm getting gold with black IBM. if anyone wants one, we could share the cost. would be nice to get this for $3 instead of $26

if they turn out nice maybe we can do the back lable also with blanks for model and "born on" date - fill them in yourself with a sharpie. oooh add a line "Customized by:" - perfect for a signature.

Title: What color to dye my IBM Model M?
Post by: wcass on Tue, 10 May 2011, 23:48:11

this is where i was looking to order:
http://www.case-badges.com/metallic-rectangular-custom-labels-1-x-2-max-p-351.html

attached is the graphic i came up with - should anyone else like to do this for another geographical region (black on black makes it look odd here, but background is transparent).

i'm going to check interest in the group buys section, so look for updats there.