geekhack
geekhack Marketplace => Classifieds => Topic started by: theferenc on Thu, 07 July 2011, 13:38:32
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I have 4 currently for sale, with another 3 in process. All prices assume shipping to CONUS. I will ship internationally though, but will have to recalculate shipping costs.
All come with PS/2 cords, unless otherwise noted. All come with all of the keys, as well. There are a couple missing on the first keyboard in the photos, but they weren't dry yet -- denture bath didn't clean them as well as I would have liked, so I had to clean them by hand.
All are grey/white label 1391401s from the 1980s. Specifically, I have:
Bolt modded
- 7 May 1987 -- $65 shipped:
(http://www.cs.indiana.edu/cgi-pub/dmcgrath/sale/DSC04719.jpg)
(http://www.cs.indiana.edu/cgi-pub/dmcgrath/sale/DSC04720.jpg)
As can be seen, there is damage to the support post on the left hand side. The upright peg is missing, and the back support is cracked. This is how the keyboard arrived, unfortunately.
(http://www.cs.indiana.edu/cgi-pub/dmcgrath/sale/DSC04721.jpg)
Shiny metal plate.
(http://www.cs.indiana.edu/cgi-pub/dmcgrath/sale/DSC04724.jpg)
(http://www.cs.indiana.edu/cgi-pub/dmcgrath/sale/DSC04725.jpg)
Not bolt modded
- 2 Nov 1987 -- $50 shipped
- shiny steel plate
- AT cord
- Very few broken rivets -- will count when I clean it up
- 8 Apr 1988 -- $50 shipped
- matte steel plate
- Very few broken rivets -- will count when I clean it up
- Possible corrosion marks, will know for sure when it is clean
Pictures of the last 2 will be posted as soon as they are cleaned. I just took possession of them yesterday, and have not had a chance to disassemble and clean them yet.
The post will be updated with pictures of the 11 Nov 1987 model within the next few hours. Someone is borrowing my camera, but I should have it back shortly.
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Oh, forgot to mention, payment is via paypal, either as gift or buyer pays fees.
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I'm fairly new... what's the advantage of bolt-modding? I'm sure it's a noob question, but I'll never find out if I don't ask.
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It's like kissing a frog which turns out into an awesome princess. There is one small condition: the springs should not be too worn out.
EDIT: Since I just said that, I'm gonna go now and insert my springs into my beautiful 0130.
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Here's an explanation I sent someone else:
Anyway, the rivets are the little pieces of black plastic on the back of the steel plate that hold everything together. They hold enough tension on the barrel plate so that it conforms to the proper shape, and allows the hammers to contact the membrane contacts. Without those rivets, keys stop working.
Over time, the plastic wears out, and the rivets start to snap off. This causes increased ping on the keys, and eventually some keys just stop functioning (it's dependent on which rivets go). You have to lose a lot of rivets around a section of keys to lose them, though.
Bolt modding replaces the rivets with steel bolts and nuts to hold everything together. It allows you to tune your keyboard like a piano, in that loosening or tightening the nuts causes more or less ping from the springs. It involves cutting off the rivets that are left, drilling through them with a really small bit and a high speed rotary tool, and screwing in 50 4mm screws, then tightening down a similar number of itty bitty nuts. Basically, it's a lot of small detail work, but it makes a tank like keyboard basically, well, an actual tank.
I do it because it allows me to modify the physical layout of the keys to my preferred UNIX layout (think HHKB), and it makes the keyboard sound crisper, with less ping. On most keyboards, it isn't really necessary, per se. But it does allow you to completely disassemble and clean the entirety of the keyboard, inside and out -- membranes, barrel plate, and rubber mat included. It also allows you to replace any worn out springs with more uniform versions. Unicomp sells sets of springs for about $10 each, if you buy them one at a time. I only replace them if they feel uneven or particularly mushy, since I feel that the spring wear adds character.
To add to this, the dirtier the keyboard is when it comes to me, the more likely I am to insist on bolt modding. This is just due to the need for cleaning I feel the keyboards need. If the keyboards are pretty clean when I pull it apart as much as possible without cutting the rivets, and there aren't more than about a half dozen rivets missing (excluding the bottom row and num pad edge), I don't usually bolt mod. Unless I do want to change the layout...then I have to.
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Just to be clear, the reason the last two aren't bolt modded is simply time. I'm moving in the near future, and just don't have time to wait for the parts, do the mod, and sell them before I move. Which is something I would prefer to do.
If they don't sell by the time I move, they will be taken off the market and bolt modded. If someone wants one, and specifically wants it bolt modded, we can work something out, as well.
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Wow, thanks for that excellent explanation. Makes sense now. I think Dad might have an old Model M laying around somewhere... I'll have to dig for it.
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Glad to have helped. If you can't find Dad's, feel free to snag one of these.
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Last chance on these. I'm going to take them down in about 24 hours or so, as I have to pack them up. I apologize for not getting pictures up of the non-bolt modded keyboards, but I just haven't had time to clean them.
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Also, I'm open to trades. But you'd have to agree to wait until I move to send me yours. Weird, I know, but it's a sort of hassle to pack up and move lots of keyboards.
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Sorry, Im a bit late replying. I was looking for an IBM model M, and came across this forum. Im trying to source one of these keyboards and cant seem to find one to match my budget. Are these still for sale?
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They are. Kinda.
They are currently packed up and in storage awaiting the movers. If you are interested in them, you will have to wait a couple of weeks until I get them back in my possession and unpacked. I'm not sure what sort of time frame you are working under.
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Can you put a time frame to the clickety click of a model m? I dont mind waiting a little while. Im primarily interested in something pre-90's, dont mind bolt-modded/non-bolt-modded. Can you also give me an estimate for postage abroad. Birmingham, UK to be exact.
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I should have them in about 3 weeks. If you're in the UK, would you want it to be ANSI or ISO? On a bolt modded board, I can do either, if you're willing to remap it in software.
Shipping it should be about $40-45 or so, based on past experience. It may be more though, so I don't want to quote an exact number without a boxed Model M in hand.
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I would prefer a ISO layout, can you recommend any software to remap the keys with? I would have thought autohotkey would have been able to do it, but Ive never had to remap a keyboard before, so a little unsure. If you can keep the cost to below $100 that would be great. Also have you ever had any issues with getting these keyboards over to the UK, i.e. customs?
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Would you be willing to trade a bolt modded ANSI one for my Oki Electric Keyboard? (http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?20234-Oki-Electric-Keyboard)
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If you're using windows, I would go with something like KeyTweak, which does it via a registry hack, or AHK, which does it at an application level.
And no, I've never had an issue with customs. I do label them properly, but no one has ever mentioned having to pay duties on them.
@hawkwind, that isn't something I'm particularly interested in, but we could discuss it via PM. Maybe you can sell me on it.