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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: Lagomorph on Wed, 17 October 2018, 06:42:16

Title: IBM 5251 stabilizer mount 3D printed replacements
Post by: Lagomorph on Wed, 17 October 2018, 06:42:16

I'm an idiot and I need your help.

This year I restored a 5251 (it came out great and I love it) but I managed to lose the plastic mounts that the key stabilizer bars attach to. The spacebar stabilizer brackets are the ones that actually impact the typing experience.

I know this a complete long-shot, but does anyone know of an STL design out there that could be used to have these 3D printed?

It might be cool for other 5251 owners too since you'd be able to order replacements in any color, and wouldn't have a mismatch of white and black plastic mounting brackets.

Thanks for reading.

(https://i.imgur.com/mAF542P.jpg)

Title: Re: IBM 5251 stabilizer mount 3D printed replacements
Post by: Leslieann on Thu, 18 October 2018, 03:05:53

www.tinkercad.com
You can design them yourselves in a short time, Tinkercad is almost like working with Lego, and you can learn it in minutes.

Honestly, that's the easy part, getting them printed is not hard either. The hard part you will run into is getting the tolerances dialed in. Because of their size, I would also recommend a resin or powder printer, not a common FDM if you want it to work well and last. If you do go for FDM, you will want these printed on their side, probably for resin as well.

If you are sending them to a place like Shapeways, make several each with different tolerances, the setup and shipping fees will kill you otherwise.

Title: Re: IBM 5251 stabilizer mount 3D printed replacements
Post by: Layer_Shift on Thu, 18 October 2018, 17:23:25

I dont have an STL for you, but I am currently working with someone in Germany to make adapters for Cherry MX style caps for an IBM Beamspring.  If you have a clip and some calipers I can likely model something up for you.  OR  if you are willing to ship one to me I can probably get something together that would meet the need. 

Title: Re: IBM 5251 stabilizer mount 3D printed replacements
Post by: Lagomorph on Thu, 18 October 2018, 19:04:00

Thanks for the replies!

Unfortunately I lost all of the brackets, so I don't have a lot to work with in terms of building a model. I guess I could measure the mounting holes in the case and try to use photos online to estimate the dimensions, but based on what Leslieann said, it seems like getting it right might require quite a few prototypes.

If I wind up giving it a shot on tinkercad, I'll post how it turned out. Thanks again to both of you for the replies (and the offer to help, Layer_Shift).

 :thumb:

I'm lucky that I use my right thumb to hit the spacebar, since that's the side the switch lives in. Hitting space anywhere left-of-center often doesn't trigger a keypress unless you really mash the bar.