Unicomp has 1995-made Industrial Model M Cases in stock again! :-)

[ekeppel]

I'm not sure if this is old news, but I was poking around on the Unicomp website the other day and noticed that they have the Industrial Gray Model M 101 Cover Group available for sale again for $30 plus shipping.  I know there was a thread on this a while back, but I believe they sold out quickly.

http://www.pckeyboard.com/page/product/1394942

I purchased one last night (along with a Num/Caps/Scroll Lock sticker) and received shipping confirmation this morning, so it appears that they are indeed in stock.  I'm planning on using this to update the case on one of my regular Model Ms.

It's a shame that the cases have the blue IBM logo on them, but I guess it is what it is.  Would there happen to be anyone here who has a black logo sticker they would consider selling me?  I would really love to have a complete Industrial appearance.  If so, please PM me! :-)

Eric

[E TwentyNine]

It's old news.  https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=83603.0

[ekeppel]

Tough crowd... :-D

Yes, I saw that thread, but the last time anyone confirmed ordering and receiving one was back in August.  Perhaps I should have just added my confirmation to that thread instead.

Eric

[1391406]

I'm curious what the label on the back says.

[yangdaddy]

I purchased a couple of these last month. Had a pristine 1391401 that had a broken case in several areas - cracks in the lower case, and both plate holding studs were broken off. This looked to be a great solution.

Should mention a few things. There is no label on the back. Using a hair dryer, I took the label off the 1391401 and stuck it onto the Industrial Case. Then I placed the 1391401 inner assembly into the Industrial case. Although it fit nicely into the case, it is immediately noticeable that the Industrial case openings for the keycaps are wider and offset to the right than the 1391401 (from 1988). There is a large gap to the right of the alpha area and esp. on the right side of the numpad area.

Overall, I am still happy with the case, but it bugs me a little about the fit. I noticed on another 1995 Model M that I have, that that case is also offset to the right, so I imagine that the Lexmark inherited case stamps had worn a bit by then and did not have the precise tolerances that the earlier Model M cases did.

I tried to take some pics to illustrate, but only have a phone camera and the wide angle lens does not show the gaps accurately.

[Elrick]

Tough crowd... :-D

Nahhh, they love ya, only be careful on what you post here especially anything to do with that scared of all keyboards - The IBM Model-M  .

[ekeppel]

Although it fit nicely into the case, it is immediately noticeable that the Industrial case openings for the keycaps are wider and offset to the right than the 1391401 (from 1988). There is a large gap to the right of the alpha area and esp. on the right side of the numpad area.

Thanks for the heads-up.  I have an '86 and a '90, so I hope that the '90 insides will fit better than your '88.  If not, maybe I will need to hunt down one from the same year and try that, though it sounds like it might not improve things.

Hoping for the best, anyway. 

Eric

[1391406]

I know Industrial cases are getting all of the attention right now, but it's worth mentioning that Unicomp is also liquidating new (regular) 101 key Model M cases made in 1995, as well. These cases were manufactured prior to Unicomp changing the clamshell cover material, so I'm betting they're a lot firmer and lack the case flex of their current M's.

[ekeppel]

Well everyone, I received the case and like YangDaddy mentioned, there is a bit of an offset, but not enough to worry about really.  Love it!

I found that the older controller from my '86 fits this case better, whereas the controller from the 90 is much smaller and only attaches with the two posts at the SDL connector.  I decided to keep the '86 stock and use the '90 innards for the Industrial case even though I prefer the lighter worn in feel of the '86.  I am now searching for a black badge for it to complete the look. :-)

Funny thing just happened though...   I just saw this auction and jumped at it for $99 plus shipping.  It's an industrial Model M, but a UK version.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/291918652524

I notice that it's got some German on it and an ISO layout, but it's still an Industrial, right?  Sure, I'd rather have ANSI, but Industrials are hard to come by, so I'm not going to complain! :-D  Is this a good price or did I just overpay for a keyboard that's common in the UK?   

Anyone know anything about this particular keyboard?  I believe it's similar to the one Chyros has a video of on his YouTube channel, but being a '98 it has the oval label. 

Eric

[yangdaddy]

Well everyone, I received the case and like YangDaddy mentioned, there is a bit of an offset, but not enough to worry about really.  Love it!

I found that the older controller from my '86 fits this case better, whereas the controller from the 90 is much smaller and only attaches with the two posts at the SDL connector.  I decided to keep the '86 stock and use the '90 innards for the Industrial case even though I prefer the lighter worn in feel of the '86.  I am now searching for a black badge for it to complete the look. :-)

Funny thing just happened though...   I just saw this auction and jumped at it for $99 plus shipping.  It's an industrial Model M, but a UK version.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/291918652524

I notice that it's got some German on it and an ISO layout, but it's still an Industrial, right?  Sure, I'd rather have ANSI, but Industrials are hard to come by, so I'm not going to complain! :-D  Is this a good price or did I just overpay for a keyboard that's common in the UK?   

Anyone know anything about this particular keyboard?  I believe it's similar to the one Chyros has a video of on his YouTube channel, but being a '98 it has the oval label. 

Eric

Holy crap! What a great score! I'm so jealous! Nice job. I definitely think that's an excellent price. It wouldn't be out of line to pay that much for a good non industrial (although I'm sure others would disagree), but for an Industrial out of the UK factory, where the quality didn't slip after 1993 like it did in the US, that's a fantastic find! Industrials strike me as less common than SSKs, and from ebay stalking, I think they generally go for $300 and up depending on condition.

I'm afraid I don't know anything about the UK industrials, other than having watched the same Chryrosan review you mentioned. But I think I can help you with the missing keycap. I'm pretty sure I have an extra F12 keycap. I can send it to you for shipping alone. PM me when you get the board, and let me know if any other keycaps are missing. I have a fair number of spares.

Glad that you are happy with the offset. It has been growing on me and I notice it less and less as time goes by. Eventhough the '86 controller fits better, I think you made the right choice on putting the '90 into the case. It matches the year better anyway, as the '86 label's went on the right. I too like the '86 feel best. My daily driver is a 1390120 from '86 and I LOVE IT!!! That and a '87 SSK get the most desk time out of my far too many Ms.

Enjoy your industrials!

[fohat.digs]

the UK factory, where the quality didn't slip after 1993 like it did in the US

The only 3 "DOA" Model Ms that I have ever gotten were all late-1990s Greenocks.

[E TwentyNine]

the UK factory, where the quality didn't slip after 1993 like it did in the US

The only 3 "DOA" Model Ms that I have ever gotten were all late-1990s Greenocks.

That statement jumped out at me too.  Quality couldn't slip in UK because the quality was already worse...

[ekeppel]

I'd be interested in seeing some more data / anecdotal evidence on the quality from the UK plant.  I know that fohat.digs has posted that same comment about the 3 bad keyboards in a number of threads, but as far as I have seen, he's the only one that's really made any noise about having issues.  @fohat.digs I don't mean to discount your experience... I'm just considering that perhaps you had a bad run of luck on those keyboards?  :-)

I guess so long as this 1394958 is in good shape when I get it, that's what matters, but if there are others who have had bad experiences with boards from that one plant, it would be good to know what to watch for.  I'm relatively new to being a keyboard 'enthusiast' and would like to learn as much as I can.  There is so much that I've been able to glean from folks here and on DT!

Sorry to derail the thread on the topic of the 1394958... 

To get back on topic, here are a few pics of my 'industrialized' 1391401.  You can see in the second and third photos how the numpad is a little tighter on the left side, leaving an approx 2-3mm gap on the right side.  I don't even notice it's there unless I'm looking for it, but thought it would be nice to have some photos here for others considering putting the 1391401 in an Industrial case.

Also note the faux 'silver on black' badge that I printed on my laser printer and tacky glued over the blue logo.    Yes, kinda ghetto, but very surprisingly it looks passable even up close.  Not ideal, but it will get me by until I can get a real one, and the tacky glue is not permanent so it will be easy to remove.

Eric

[fohat.digs]

I don't mean to discount your experience... I'm just considering that perhaps you had a bad run of luck on those keyboards?

Without a doubt there are large elements of chance - you can flip a coin to heads 50 times in a row.

That said, all had thin light back plates, attached cables, and ABS space bars with that weird grounding wire, as well as the small controller pressure/sticky taped in place, which I suspect was the real deal-breaker.

And although the UK back label is singularly unattractive, it does stand up to a soap-and-water scrub better than the US/Mexico tape-covered paper labels.

[Elrick]

Then I placed the 1391401 inner assembly into the Industrial case. Although it fit nicely into the case, it is immediately noticeable that the Industrial case openings for the keycaps are wider and offset to the right than the 1391401 (from 1988). There is a large gap to the right of the alpha area and esp. on the right side of the numpad area.

So you are saying it's best to actually use a REAL Industrial Keyboard innards instead of any of the pedestrian Model-M series?

After all, this case is made for the Industrial's hence every other plain-jane Model-M keyboard guts, won't fit perfectly.  This would be a horror for anyone with OCD  .

Incredible that IBM would make this type of alteration which is subtle but still noticeable.  Almost like chucking a bird at all of us who collect IBMs, that we must stick to collecting Industrial keyboards in order to swap over components.

[1391406]

Honestly, if you didn't know that the guts of a regular Model M were transplanted into that industrial case, I doubt anyone would give it a second thought at first glance.

[E TwentyNine]

So you are saying it's best to actually use a REAL Industrial Keyboard innards instead of any of the pedestrian Model-M series?

After all, this case is made for the Industrial's hence every other plain-jane Model-M keyboard guts, won't fit perfectly.  This would be a horror for anyone with OCD  .

Incredible that IBM would make this type of alteration which is subtle but still noticeable.  Almost like chucking a bird at all of us who collect IBMs, that we must stick to collecting Industrial keyboards in order to swap over components.

Didn't happen.   While it's possible there was some variation over the years with different molds (square badge/oval/vents/drip holes) or different lines/factories, or simply due to wear, the industrial case was made on the same molds as the standard one in that year.

I took the guts of an early 90's M to put into my industrial case and it fits exactly the same.

[yangdaddy]

the UK factory, where the quality didn't slip after 1993 like it did in the US

The only 3 "DOA" Model Ms that I have ever gotten were all late-1990s Greenocks.

Ah, I was clearly under the mistaken impression that the UK factory did a better job than Lexmark did. I defer to your wisdom fohat and E29 and stand corrected.

Then I placed the 1391401 inner assembly into the Industrial case. Although it fit nicely into the case, it is immediately noticeable that the Industrial case openings for the keycaps are wider and offset to the right than the 1391401 (from 1988). There is a large gap to the right of the alpha area and esp. on the right side of the numpad area.

So you are saying it's best to actually use a REAL Industrial Keyboard innards instead of any of the pedestrian Model-M series?

After all, this case is made for the Industrial's hence every other plain-jane Model-M keyboard guts, won't fit perfectly.  This would be a horror for anyone with OCD  .

Incredible that IBM would make this type of alteration which is subtle but still noticeable.  Almost like chucking a bird at all of us who collect IBMs, that we must stick to collecting Industrial keyboards in order to swap over components.

As far as I know, the industrial inner assembly is not notably different than a regular M. I believe it's that as the years passed, and the case stampings got worn, the openings drifted/staggered a little so I think that later Industrial case shares the same opening dimensions as regular M cases that were stamped at the same time. I haven't done exact measurements, but when I visually compare other later standard Model Ms with earlier ones, they also have a similar stagger as these later Industrial cases I bought from Unicomp.

My OCD has subsided a bit, so the gaps aren't terrible, just maybe modestly distracting. Whether it will bother you or you won't even notice depends on your level of OCD.

[Elrick]

As far as I know, the industrial inner assembly is not notably different than a regular M. I believe it's that as the years passed, and the case stampings got worn, the openings drifted/staggered a little so I think that later Industrial case shares the same opening dimensions as regular M cases that were stamped at the same time. I haven't done exact measurements, but when I visually compare other later standard Model Ms with earlier ones, they also have a similar stagger as these later Industrial cases I bought from Unicomp.

My OCD has subsided a bit, so the gaps aren't terrible, just maybe modestly distracting. Whether it will bother you or you won't even notice depends on your level of OCD.

Thanks for letting us know.  Trust me, there are a lot of OCD-type Geekhackers here so we all know the misery of something not looking quite right when it confronts you.

Think only Realforce has eliminated any irregularities when it comes to their keyboards, all their keys are situated perfectly upon their thorpe housings which I find incredible, especially now.  Not trying to promote Realforce here but out of all the keyboard manufacturers out there they are the only ones that concentrate on the basics, getting their keyboards done right with no errors.

[0100010]

-snip-

To get back on topic, here are a few pics of my 'industrialized' 1391401.  You can see in the second and third photos how the numpad is a little tighter on the left side, leaving an approx 2-3mm gap on the right side.  I don't even notice it's there unless I'm looking for it, but thought it would be nice to have some photos here for others considering putting the 1391401 in an Industrial case.

Eric

That just looks like you have the entire inner assembly shifted to the left a couple mm.

[ekeppel]

That just looks like you have the entire inner assembly shifted to the left a couple mm.

Yeah, of course that's the root of the problem, and I'd have moved the assembly over if I could have.  Unfortunately the metal back plate on both assemblies I've tried is hard up against the new case in the right hand side, a couple mm shy of allowing good alignment. 

The only way I see to move the entire assembly over more would be to remove a little material from the two keyed posts and then also remove a couple of mm of steel from the donor back plate along that right edge.  Not really something I feel like messing with, lol.

Eric

[1391406]

The only way I see to move the entire assembly over more would be to remove a little material from the two keyed posts and then also remove a couple of mm of steel from the donor back plate along that right edge.  Not really something I feel like messing with, lol.

A Dremel would take care of it.

[ed_avis]

FWIW, I have a fair few UK-layout Model Ms, some accompanying PS/2 computers (which I used to collect) and some picked up from the insurance company EIG in 1999 when they were upgrading.  I would expect that they are all made in Greenock - at least, I do not remember seeing any label that said otherwise.  Some have blue label, some grey.  Some have two-piece caps, some one-piece.  Some have detachable cable, some have it attached.  At least one is rubber dome.  The one with two-piece caps, grey label and detachable cable seems to have the nicest feel.  So I wouldn't assume there is anything particularly off about the Greenock ones; more likely they have the same gradual tail-off in build quality from older to newer boards.  But I have not often opened them up.

[ekeppel]

Well, the 1394958 industrial I nabbed on eBay arrived a few days ago, and it is in good overall condition.  I noticed immediately that there was an offset in the case at the right side of the numpad, much like my Industrialized 1391401.  Stabilizers were also visible on the numpad '+' and 'Enter' keys, so I suspected an old board swap. 

Opening the case confirmed my suspicions and I found this inside:



It's the guts of a 1989 board with the same thick backplate as my US-made 1390131, but of course ISO layout.  There is no ground strap on the spacebar.  I also noted that the springs on this keyboard feel especially stiff and clicky.  Perhaps is didn't get a lot of use.

The controller is this part number:



I even found this little barcode/sticker floating around in the case when I opened it:



So, I guess someone swapped the insides with another keyboard at some point.  I don't really blame them since this board was originally German QWERTZ layout if I'm not mistaken.  Hopefully this won't diminish resale value too much in the future, because I go through keyboards pretty regularly and always seem to be buying and selling something. 

Eric

[fohat.digs]

Stabilizers were also visible on the numpad '+' and 'Enter' keys, so I suspected an old board swap. 

1989 board with the same thick backplate as my US-made 1390131,

Wire stabilizers and heavy plate in a 1989 model?

That surprises me, I would have expected those to be over by mid-1988.

[chyros]

Stabilizers were also visible on the numpad '+' and 'Enter' keys, so I suspected an old board swap. 

1989 board with the same thick backplate as my US-made 1390131,

Wire stabilizers and heavy plate in a 1989 model?

That surprises me, I would have expected those to be over by mid-1988.

The Greenock-made models might not have changed manufacturing standards synced with the US-made ones. My 1987 '1406 still has the rainbow plate, even.