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Author Topic: Oh lord, this is going to take forever. Modding typewriter caps!  (Read 2352 times)

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Offline Awful

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Oh lord, this is going to take forever. Modding typewriter caps!
« on: Wed, 28 January 2015, 14:23:59 »
So I made a thread about these caps awhile ago. I have decided to mod them to work. Yeah, mainly because I have a lot of free time.. and I'm poor and can't buy keyboard stuff for the time being hah! So, here's what I've got going on. I realize this isn't going to be easy. I also realize some of the legends don't line up but they're the right profile to the others around them so the legend being incorrect doesn't bother me. I'm 90% sure these are turbo thick double shot abs. I'll throw a picture of that later. I guess this will become a progress thread within the next couple days. There's a picture of some "extra" caps if anyone has a suggestion on where to use those... Or! If you want those (for free) pm me.  :thumb:

Don't hate on my desk my kiddos are putting their random stickers on it... I also can't fit my legit ass desk in this small ass place we're living in...  so it's living at my dad's house lols
« Last Edit: Wed, 28 January 2015, 16:41:25 by Awful »
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Offline nubbinator

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Re: Oh lord, this is going to take forever. Modding typewriter caps!
« Reply #1 on: Wed, 28 January 2015, 14:30:45 »
3D print some inserts, then mold and cast them.  That should expedite things.
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Offline Awful

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Re: Oh lord, this is going to take forever. Modding typewriter caps!
« Reply #2 on: Wed, 28 January 2015, 14:32:49 »
Quote from: nubbinator on Wed, 28 January 2015, 14:30:45
3D print some inserts, then mold and cast them.  That should expedite things.

Not even being a tool, how would I go about doing that? Is there somewhere online I could get these 3d printed?

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Offline nubbinator

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Re: Oh lord, this is going to take forever. Modding typewriter caps!
« Reply #3 on: Wed, 28 January 2015, 14:40:19 »
TinkerCAD and Shapeways.
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Offline Awful

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Re: Oh lord, this is going to take forever. Modding typewriter caps!
« Reply #4 on: Wed, 28 January 2015, 14:51:37 »
Hm, I may try that. Although being poor was a reason behind my plan to brute force mod them ha... Probably a bad idea that will lead to me throwing them in the yard and yelling profanity..
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Offline fohat.digs

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Re: Oh lord, this is going to take forever. Modding typewriter caps!
« Reply #5 on: Wed, 28 January 2015, 17:25:17 »
With your Dremel (if you don't have a Dremel, then forget any modding, seriously) you may be able to ream out the insides of your heavy caps and epoxy in stems that are compatible with the receiving keyboard.

The problem will be getting them consistent and aligned.

 
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Offline jacobolus

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Re: Oh lord, this is going to take forever. Modding typewriter caps!
« Reply #6 on: Wed, 28 January 2015, 18:23:59 »
Didn’t you already have a thread about this? Anyway, those tee Alps switches from the early 80s are nicer than any MX switches; I still think you should try to convert the whole typewriter keyboard with a Teensy. The typewriter is Panasonic, or maybe Sharp? The keycaps are indeed great.

Edit: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=67718
« Last Edit: Wed, 28 January 2015, 18:27:18 by jacobolus »
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Offline hwood34

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Re: Oh lord, this is going to take forever. Modding typewriter caps!
« Reply #7 on: Wed, 28 January 2015, 20:09:12 »
Quote from: jacobolus on Wed, 28 January 2015, 18:23:59
Didn’t you already have a thread about this? Anyway, those tee Alps switches from the early 80s are nicer than any MX switches; I still think you should try to convert the whole typewriter keyboard with a Teensy. The typewriter is Panasonic, or maybe Sharp? The keycaps are indeed great.

Edit: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=67718
Yeah, Tee alps are definitely solid switches, on the heavy side though. I have an M0110 with them and it feels pretty solid.

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Offline jacobolus

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Re: Oh lord, this is going to take forever. Modding typewriter caps!
« Reply #8 on: Wed, 28 January 2015, 20:35:18 »
Quote from: hwood34 on Wed, 28 January 2015, 20:09:12
Yeah, Tee alps are definitely solid switches, on the heavy side though. I have an M0110 with them and it feels pretty solid.
I think there are a few different spring weights of tee Alps switches, though I’ve never seen any kind of complete summary. Not too hard to do a spring swap on them though, either way.
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Offline Awful

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Re: Oh lord, this is going to take forever. Modding typewriter caps!
« Reply #9 on: Wed, 28 January 2015, 21:33:17 »
Quote from: fohat.digs on Wed, 28 January 2015, 17:25:17
With your Dremel (if you don't have a Dremel, then forget any modding, seriously) you may be able to ream out the insides of your heavy caps and epoxy in stems that are compatible with the receiving keyboard.

The problem will be getting them consistent and aligned.

 

I may try that. I've been thinking about that with a random key that I'm not using to see how it comes out.

BTW,
I don't have the board at all. I shanked the caps before it was trashed. I didn't know/think about taking the rest and tbh converting that is probably beyond my realm of know-how.
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Offline Oobly

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Re: Oh lord, this is going to take forever. Modding typewriter caps!
« Reply #10 on: Thu, 29 January 2015, 08:33:09 »
You'll have to grind out the crossbar supports (so they don't hit the MX switch case when the key is pressed) and then use tape or paper to make the holes tight enough for the MX stems, but it's doable.

Pleas post your progress... :)
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