geekhack
geekhack Marketplace => Great Finds => Topic started by: nubbinator on Sat, 06 June 2015, 00:52:34
-
Probably from someone on here or DT due to the description, but still a fantastic price for a Model F.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-3178-Model-F-Keyboard-with-original-controller-Needs-cleaning-Space-Bar-/281713191316?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item41976a2994
Edit: A couple more with xwhatsit controllers for under $100
http://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-3178-Model-F-Keyboard-with-Xwhatsit-Controller-INSTALLED-Needs-cleaning-/281712863551?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item419765293f
http://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-3178-Model-F-Keyboard-with-Xwhatsit-Controller-INSTALLED-Needs-cleaning-/271891459419?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f4dfe6d5b
-
Probably from someone on here or DT due to the description, but still a fantastic price for a Model F.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-3178-Model-F-Keyboard-with-original-controller-Needs-cleaning-Space-Bar-/281713191316?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item41976a2994
The seller is from here. I have bought 2 xwhatsit controllers from him. Good guy to deal business with. He is located in Iowa, so reasonable shipping times to most places in the US.
-
Thanks for confirming Melvang. Really fantastic prices for a Model F, especially for the two with the controller installed. They must have bought the boards for a song.
-
They must have bought the boards for a song.
Orihalcon seems to have some good sources. Cindy had several of these for sale in the <$50 range a couple of months ago.
These "bad layout" boards would fetch a lot more if they were something that people actually wanted to use.
-
Price is very nice and so is the seller. That said I warn most people to stay away. If Orihalcon can't fix it easily you're not going to find it easy to fix. Trust me, I've taken apart several Model Fs before. I am not taking any more apart.
-
Yep, those are mine. It's not that I can't fix them, it's just that I've been running out of time to get personal projects done so I've been selling more things non-refurbished other than doing some of the more prohibitive parts like installing the xWhatsit controllers for those that don't have a lot of soldering experience. The 3178's here have the absolute best foam that I've ever seen on model F's, I believe because they were factory repaired at some point as some have IBM repair stickers inside, and the foam type for replacement was much better than the originally used foam. Seems like craft foam actually.
Since the foam definitely will not have to be replaced, it will be as simple as removing all of the keys (except space bar, which has the stabilizer on the underside of the board that holds it in), then prying up the tab that holds barrel plate and backplate together, then sliding it apart. Just a wipe of the flippers and PCB with isopropyl alcohol and you should be good to go and assemble in reverse order! Barrels can also be taken out and cleaned along with the keycaps if desired.
This whole process should take less than 30 minutes to disassemble, then it's just a matter of deciding whether to soak the barrels and whether you want to wire brush and paint the top barrel plate. I figure it will need to be disassembled anyway if you want to do those things, so there's not much point of me doing it if it's going to need to be disassembled again for full restoration.
The 3178's use XT style barrels, so if you are looking for spares for something like the Xtant project at a good price, the $54.44 one without controller (which would be $49 shipped with my 10% discount described below) might be a good option for someone since XT's seem to be going for much more than that lately.
Also, note that ALL of my ebay items qualify for a 10% discount if you message me through here and pay by direct PayPal invoice INSTEAD of buying through ebay since this saves me fees, which allows me to pass those savings onto you. Furthermore, I will give a $5 discount per keyboard purchased if you buy multiple keyboards at the same time. All of my keyboard related listings can be found here:
http://stores.ebay.com/Barcode-Maverick/Vintage-Keyboards-Cables-/_i.html?_fsub=7992169018
-
Off topic, but I regret buying a different model f 122 vs the one you have on ebay right now orihalcon :(. You do awesome work!
-
Yes, a complete rehab job on a Model F 122-key for ~$100 labor is closer to minimum wage than a skilled craftsman wage.
-
Yes, a complete rehab job on a Model F 122-key for ~$100 labor is closer to minimum wage than a skilled craftsman wage.
I concur. My labor at work gets billed out at $100 an hour on straight time.
-
Price is very nice and so is the seller.
Yeah Orihalcon is a great guy. Price is good too. I got one of these ages ago to use for parts.
Should probably pick up some more xwhatsit controllers while I'm there.
-
orihalcon has all sorts of stuff, more than seven the eBay listings I believe. Just shoot him a PM to see what he can work out. I've purchased F107s, an F122, xwhatsit boards, a wcass space bar stabilizer wire, and Soarer's converters.
What I really want to see is an SDL to Soarer's converter USB cable made using a thick coiled beige or gray cable. It could look much more like the original SDL cables from IBM.