1 avid collector does excellent work and was driven away from Geekhack twice by people flaming him for his prices.
He uses only the highest quality materials, and has even had styrofoam inserts fabricated for his full-size M reconstructions.
To me, it is very perplexing how some people react to craftsmen.
For example, I enjoy getting my hands dirty at the work bench and the emotional satisfaction of taking a dirty old cast-off and transforming it into something special. Having re-furbished dozens of ancient IBM warhorses, I know exactly what goes into it, and have long since given up attempting to do it for a profit. The time and materials and effort are too great to simply give away.
Although theoretically "a bolt-mod" could be done in an hour or 2, it is really an all-afternoon project when it is all said and done with the cleaning, tinkering, and (usually) multiple assemblies.
$100+ profit after expenses, shipping, etc, is not unreasonable in the least.
Edit: I don't think I could bring myself to open that new coiled cable
One of my Model Ms had about a dozen rivets fall out of the case when I opened it. One side of the keyboard feels tight and right to type on, the other side feels loose and rattly.
One day I would like to try doing a bolt mod, but with the amount of time I have I'd need to have somewhere to store it disassembled for at least a month. For me it would be quicker and simpler to pay someone else to do it, or to simply buy a keyboard that had been properly bolt-modded.
Fortunately I have my other Model M that I am typing this on which doesn't seem to need a bolt mod (yet).
One of my Model Ms had about a dozen rivets fall out of the case when I opened it. One side of the keyboard feels tight and right to type on, the other side feels loose and rattly.
One day I would like to try doing a bolt mod, but with the amount of time I have I'd need to have somewhere to store it disassembled for at least a month. For me it would be quicker and simpler to pay someone else to do it, or to simply buy a keyboard that had been properly bolt-modded.
Fortunately I have my other Model M that I am typing this on which doesn't seem to need a bolt mod (yet).
They can always come live with me............. forever........ in my garage.
I'd need to have somewhere to store it disassembled for at least a month.
One of my Model Ms had about a dozen rivets fall out of the case when I opened it. One side of the keyboard feels tight and right to type on, the other side feels loose and rattly.
One day I would like to try doing a bolt mod, but with the amount of time I have I'd need to have somewhere to store it disassembled for at least a month. For me it would be quicker and simpler to pay someone else to do it, or to simply buy a keyboard that had been properly bolt-modded.
Fortunately I have my other Model M that I am typing this on which doesn't seem to need a bolt mod (yet).
They can always come live with me............. forever........ in my garage.
You live in your garage?
Assuming that this has been accomplished satisfactorily, the tedious and frustrating part is re-assembly. Keeping the springs and parts perfectly in place while screwing 6 layers together is not easy and requires care. Then all the keys stems have to be re-inserted to test, and, if even one of them does not work, they all have to be removed and you do it again.
Everything else is totally simple and straightforward. Even the way that I clean every component spotless, nothing to it.
As you know the barrel plate is full of bumps and irregularities, so it's hard to scrub with a toothbrush
How do you know if your board needs a bolt mod anyway? How can I tell that rivets are broken without having to open the case? I actually have a 7/32 inch nut driver but the head of it is too fat to fit into the recesses in the keyboard where the bolts are, so it's useless.
Opening it up and cutting it apart is pretty easy and straightforward.
From my experience, the fussy technical part is whether you can drill several dozen very small holes clean, accurate, and vertical.
Keeping the bit from "walking" is the truly crucial element. I hold a common Dremel with both hands and go with the slowest possible speed.
Assuming that this has been accomplished satisfactorily, the tedious and frustrating part is re-assembly. Keeping the springs and parts perfectly in place while screwing 6 layers together is not easy and requires care. Then all the keys stems have to be re-inserted to test, and, if even one of them does not work, they all have to be removed and you do it again.
Everything else is totally simple and straightforward. Even the way that I clean every component spotless, nothing to it.
I have no Dremel, for a start. The closest I have is an ordinary power drill that does not have a speed setting, and thus would probably melt the barrel plate, assuming I could even hold it still enough.
What other differences is there for label color (white/blue/others?) for spacesavers other than production dates?
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What other differences is there for label color (white/blue/others?) for spacesavers other than production dates?
Personally, the single component that might seem to make the most difference is the extra-heavy steel back plate. For standard Ms, the first plate weight reduction happened about 1987-88 at different times at different plants.
I have only had one SSK, a 1991 beige label, but I think that they were made at least as far back as 1988. Whether any of them had the heavy plates, I don't know.
You used to be able to get 1390120s cheap, if I could get one now I might cut the plate for my 1991. That mod, along with a white latex blanket from Unicomp (an easy scissors cut compared to the hacksaw nightmare) would be everything I wanted.
thought they all had standard back plates.
They were, The one I did for CPTbadass was 1987 and had an excellent plate. you can see some more in the SSK archive project:
I have only had one SSK, a 1991 beige label, but I think that they were made at least as far back as 1988. Whether any of them had the heavy plates, I don't know.
You used to be able to get 1390120s cheap, if I could get one now I might cut the plate for my 1991. That mod, along with a white latex blanket from Unicomp (an easy scissors cut compared to the hacksaw nightmare) would be everything I wanted.
You used to be able to get 1390120s cheap ...