How do I get to the spring assembly on a Model M?

[Shyfe]

Not quite sure how to go about doing this. Although I did break a few rivets.. they're insanely fragile.

[msiegel]

Not quite sure how to go about doing this. Although I did break a few rivets.. they're insanely fragile.

this may help:
http://geekhack.org/showwiki.php?title=Island:6615

[Shyfe]

not at all.

[msiegel]

darn

are you trying to get the backplate off so you can do something to the springs & hammers?

[msiegel]

:lol: yeah, some days are like that

[Shyfe]

yeah i'm trying to get the backplate off.

[msiegel]

ripster used a sharp chisel to cut the plastic rivets, in order to remove the backplate.

i used a dull screwdriver

[Shawn Stanford]

I take it that this is the required first step on the road to enabling the 'dead' keys, a la: the 88-key DIY international keyboard.

[texteur]

Maybe I should post more pictures in my instructions

BTW - it is in English too.

Thank you Ripster for the DIY pics, but after you've screwed bolts and nuts, don't those pieces disturb the keys? I mean, do you have pics of the result (all the rivets replaced) before putting the keys back?

Merci beaucoup ;-)

[texteur]

Maybe it's the structure of a Wiki that's confusing.  If you follow the link it goes to the main page.  Then click on the "Discussion" tab to see the rest of the mod step by step.

Thank you Ripster and... sorry. I'll clean my glasses, take some fresh air and change my mouse. I hadn't clicked that discussion link.

Once again, thank you very much for the great pics and all the job you did to make it comprehensible. I'd like to do the same with a 1988 Space Saver. In fact, when I received it after buying it on eBay, the first thing I did was to open it to remove all the moustache hairs and boogers. What I discovered: half of the rivets were broken (of dryness, ill treatment?). I also felt that the keyboard was too pingy and not very responsive...

But if I decide to start working on this Space Savec, I'll have to take my courage in both hands!

[texteur]

The mod is really not that bad.  With my 122 key terminal board I just said "What the hell" and removed a handful of keys, drove three holes, and inserted the bolts/nuts.

Theoretically you could get shavings into the membrane but last time I did it as an experiment I didn't find any.  Also, one of my minis is only being held together by 9 bolts/nuts and feels pretty good.

The key is a steady hand, a dremel, and a 1/16" sharp drill bit.

Where did you get these magnificent black blank key caps? From Unicomp?

[texteur]

Yep, those are Unicomp blank blacks.  Click on the Unicomp SpaceSaver link in my sig.

Nice! I tried to order (by email) grey and black sets of blank key caps. I haven't yet received a confirmation for my order (they're so damn slow).

As I read in the forum, Unicomp ship the keys in... bags. Great. Transatlantic journeys have always been tiring, even for objects... Only time will tell.

[itlnstln]

The real fun comes when you try to figure out which row of keys the cap belongs to. Good Luck!

[ironcoder]

Oh you tried emailing them?

If you're like the rest of us, you'll be buying Filcos soon enough.

[ironcoder]

Nice! I tried to order (by email) grey and black sets of blank key caps. I haven't yet received a confirmation for my order (they're so damn slow).

As I read in the forum, Unicomp ship the keys in... bags. Great. Transatlantic journeys have always been tiring, even for objects... Only time will tell.

Oh you tried emailing them?

If you're like the rest of us, you'll be buying Filcos soon enough. :Cry:

[itlnstln]

Uh... Buckling spring keys don't vary by row. The Topres and Cherry keys have secret codes stamped on the bottom. I'm just a wellspring of key trivia today.
 
One trick is to slap all the Unicomp blanks in while watching "Lost". Then hold it up to a strong light, locate those little nubile, nubian, nubbly nubs and slap them into the right place.

Shhh!!! I was trying to spread Urban Legends, or at least make him worry a little.

[texteur]

Oh you tried emailing them?

If you're like the rest of us, you'll be buying Filcos soon enough.

That's what I did while waiting (in vain?): I bought two Tenkeyless with Brown Switches. The guys at Elite Keyboards are very efficient. Quickly sent, well packed. Nothing to say. Right now, I'm typing on one of those Filcos. The Model Ms I wanted to mod are back in their cartons, waiting for better days...

[texteur]

Telephone, folks.  They are the nicest guys, really!  And before you overseas people start whining I've bought 10cents/minute telephone cards in 3rd world grocery stores before so don't try to pull one on this Ugly American.  It's a Southern thing - they don't trust that newfangled technology.

I must confess: I like to speak with my hands, like Italian people... But if they don't answer all my reminders, I'll send them a Cuneiform-engraved tablet on the back of a donkey embarked on a sailing ship ;-)

[ironcoder]

Telephone, folks.  They are the nicest guys, really!  And before you overseas people start whining I've bought 10cents/minute telephone cards in 3rd world grocery stores before so don't try to pull one on this Ugly American.  It's a Southern thing - they don't trust that newfangled technology.

Overseas has nothing to do with it. They publish an email address to contact them at, but they don't seem to answer it.

[itlnstln]

I must confess: I like to speak with my hands, like Italian people...

What are you trying to say...