ITT: Lessons you've learned firsthand

[Bry]

Hi GH

I thought it would be funny to make a thread where we can post the useful or stupid things that I'm sure somebody has tried at one point or another, with their keyboards. This could have been an idea you had that worked out brilliantly, or failed miserably!

I'll start-

I had spilled some Monster onto a mj2 with mx browns I have. A bunch of the keys got really sticky so I took a syringe and started pumping distilled water through each switch individually with a syringe to clear them out, and then followed up with some rubbing alcohol. I left it sitting on a window fan for like 4 days, but then I realized some of the switches were still a bit sticky. So I was really impatient and decided I would just shoot some sewing machine oil into a few of them and see what happened. Yah... don't do that. The oil didnt stop them from being sticky, and in order to get them all cleaned out I had to repeat the water/alcohol process like 5 times and some of the switches to this day still feel different because of the oil in them. All the switches work fine and feel pretty close to normal, but I'm sure for anyone who uses a keyboard with browns and is very used to them, would notice a difference.

So lesson I learned is that Monster + keyswitch = bad. Water + alcohol + Patience = keyswitch - Monster. And last and most important, keyswitch + Oil = irreversibly bad

Lol, what are some things you've tried with your mech board. Did it work out? Did it fail miserably?

[wetto]

It's not really something I've tried out, but a theory me and Hyde came up with. "The uglier you think the keyboard is, the better it is".

Example:



This is a godlike keyboard:





And this is a piece of ****e:





Though I'm sure there will be exceptions and it's all a matter of personal tastes, but anyway, the real lesson is, "Don't buy keyboards for how good they look, but rather, how good they are".

[fohat.digs]

Are you saying that the circus freakshow at the bottom is NOT ugly, and that the classic beige beauty at the top IS ugly?

So my antediluvian behemoth has got to be beyond hideous, right?

[AKIMbO]

Paint job at your F122 is nice.  Reminds me a of a rat rod...flat paint with the tiniest amount of flash.

[fohat.digs]

I used "Dupli-Color Vinyl and Fabric Coating" from the auto parts store instead of paint, and the color selection was about 4. I used half a dozen very thin coats. These cases are brittle plastic, and came to me broken, so I had to repair them with JB Weld, and the charcoal gray is a perfect match.

They have held up perfectly for a year, but I have not abused it.

I have another one with a nice green plate that I think looks better, but it isn't flossed and I have really come to like the flossed sound 1000% better.

I wish I had a blank beige key to dye red for "Escape" since the gray one does not come out as bright. I will order some "real" colored caps from Unicomp one of these days.

The pretty keys were made for me by my teenage daughter when she was doing a similar job on her fingernails.

[wetto]

Are you saying that the circus freakshow at the bottom is NOT ugly, and that the classic beige beauty at the top IS ugly?

So my antediluvian behemoth has got to be beyond hideous, right?

As I said on the bottom line, "Though I'm sure there will be exceptions and it's all a matter of personal tastes, but anyway, the real lesson is, "Don't buy keyboards for how good they look, but rather, how good they are".

It's all a matter of personal tastes, but yeah, as you said, I'd be lying if I told ya I didn't find yours ugly...  No offense intended. 

Unfortunately, I can't deny that I'm part of these new***s who got around mechanical keyboards due to gaming keyboards. And we're all already used to seeing ridiculous visuals, such as the Saitek Cyborg keyboards, which are by far more of a freakshow than the Razer Blackwidow.



But the truth is, whether we "new***s" find them "cool" or not, these old keyboards MUST be respected. They're not "toys" like most of these Logitech G15/G19 or Saitek Cyborg or Razer Blackwidow keyboards are. The IBMs and other vintage keyboards are not disposable, rather, they're tools for professionals who wanted an equipment that was built to last and increase their productivity, they're not products made just for making your computer "cooler" and then throwing them away after 2-3 years when they just don't work properly or when a new model comes in.

Thus, what I said, "Don't buy keyboards for how good they look, but rather, how good they are".

[Hyde]

It's not really something I've tried out, but a theory me and Hyde came up with. "The uglier you think the keyboard is, the better it is".

LOLLLL I do remember saying it but now I can't remember where.  Good job for still remembering it though 


EDIT:  Wait I found out where it was lol.

[dorkvader]

I haven't learned this personally but I have read that if you do dishwash your keyboard, don't use heated dry.

Foghat.digs's keyboards are awesome. I want to tooth-floss my model F, Can you post a quick howto? I eventually want to extract all the excellent IBM Model F modification information out of his mind and put it into a wiki article for everyone to profit thereby.

[Mlex]

I wear out the stock Filco keycaps very easily. Need to get that PBT set already...

[DesktopJinx]

I learned that sometimes smokers shoot their old keyboards with Febreeze before selling them.

[fohat.digs]

Dorkvader, you make me feel embarrassed and guilty. I need to write a couple of wikis.

The floss mod is simple, if not easy. Allow an hour but it might be less. I love what it does to the sound and will do it to every Model M/F I take apart from now on.

It is possible to do with an intact keyboard (several people have said that they did it) but I think it must be far far easier to do with the springs loose and held in your "other" hand. Naturally, when you turn them over to re-assemble the keyboard, 5%-10% will fall out, but deal with it.

The type of dental floss that you will want to use comes in individual portions that are perhaps a foot long overall, with hard plastic string sections for the last couple of inches at each end, but with a fluffy non-woven center. That center section is what you want. Each piece will do about half a dozen springs. A $5 pack of floss will do about 3 boards.

Use a very sharp (very important) pair of scissors. I like to use the full (remaining) piece and thread (push) it into the spring, cutting it off after insertion. Some people like the floss only 2/3 as long as the spring, but I go all the way. There is probably more dampening of both sound and feel with more floss.

Handling the floss is the tricky part. It will fit easily as long as the cut is clean and you go straight in. If the cut is frayed, or you have failed and bent the floss, it bunches up and is very much more difficult to insert. Sometimes you can lightly moisten your fingertips and straighten up the end, but that is hard and often fails. Cut off a few mm and start over.

You can use tweezers and toothpicks to fix and adjust your mistakes, but clean cuts and careful alignment at the beginning is your best bet. 

If you don't like it, you can quickly and easily pull the floss out with tweezers without taking the board apart.

[fohat.digs]

Dorkvader, you have made me feel guilty about not passing along my experience to help others.

I will plan on writing a wiki over the Thanksgiving break on my technique of converting an IBM Model F 122-key terminal board to a near-ANSI layout, including my version of the bolt mod.

Thank you fro prodding me to do it (do it again, that is, my first one was lost to R00TW0RM) and, hopefully, do it better!

[Bry]

I learned that sometimes smokers shoot their old keyboards with Febreeze before selling them.

LOL that is disgusting.

[wcass]

somthing i might add to the floss mod wiki ...

like most jobs, it is all about using the right tool. fingers are too big for this. use a hemostat to insert the floss. just pull the keycap, insert floss, return keycap.
http://www.widgetsupply.com/product/BLW94.html?gclid=CLef4qPizLMCFQmCQgodRXYAaA
tweasers will work too and you probably have those already.

[Internetlad]

not technically about keyboards, but I accidentally put an IDE drive into one of those sata drop-in enclosures without checking first.

few minutes later "What's that funky sme-OHGOD"

Luckily there was a spare drive with a similar circuit board that worked, literally just laying around the shop. Didn't even realize how incrediblylucky that was until about a year later when I was reading that in almost all cases a board swap like that doesn't work because of fine tuning and formatting.

saved my bacon though.

[fohat.digs]

somthing i might add to the floss mod wiki ...

like most jobs, it is all about using the right tool. fingers are too big for this. use a hemostat to insert the floss. just pull the keycap, insert floss, return keycap.
http://www.widgetsupply.com/product/BLW94.html?gclid=CLef4qPizLMCFQmCQgodRXYAaA
tweasers will work too and you probably have those already.

Where do you get hemostats that small ??

I would love to have something that would go inside!

[Bry]

Thats what she said?

[fohat.digs]

Whenever I discuss the floss mod it is very difficult to avoid the sexual implications of the cutting and inserting, regarding the limpness of the floss vs the diameter of the spring, as well how many times you can try before you have to give up and start over.

This is a family forum, after all.

[Internetlad]

Whenever I discuss the floss mod it is very difficult to avoid the sexual implications of the cutting and inserting, regarding the limpness of the floss vs the diameter of the spring, as well how many times you can try before you have to give up and start over.

This is a family forum, after all.

And never mind the fact that the whole thing is done by hand, and let's not even get into the lubes.