IBM Model M Space Saving Mini Love

[kishy]

I have a feeling that Unicomp is producing Industrial Grey housings...

[pfink]

Still waiting for mine (I ordered 5)..but Chuck only charged me $7.50 each. I bet he hates dentistry.

Hmm, Chuck charged me $7.00 each for 5. He must be just quoting prices off the top of his head as the orders come in.

[pfink]

Webby knows the catch.....and he's already let the duck out of the bag.

Yeah, let's call these "Semi-Industrial Minis"...

[skcheng]

Hmm, Chuck charged me $7.00 each for 5. He must be just quoting prices off the top of his head as the orders come in.

He just likes you more than me or Webby  

I'm sure he just makes up the pricing as he goes along.  Too funny!!

[pfink]

I have a feeling that Unicomp is producing Industrial Grey housings...

Close, but no cigar.

[skcheng]

Sorry, if it has Unicomp parts it's worthless to a true collector.

Leftover IBM/Lexmark stash.  Too bad Chuck threw most of this stuff into the dumpster several years back.

[Half-Saint]

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Hehe, I see you did the same as I did here :)

[skcheng]

BTW I coulda saved you all that Model F hammer/spring swapping stuff.  I already had tried that with a Model F spring ClickClack (IIRC) sent me.

Too mushy, not crisp at all even when it does work.

The hardest part was trimming all of these pieces for the bottom row.  I sure felt like an idiot after bolting everything together just to find out that it doesn't work.  For about a minute, I considered taking a separating disc to an AT-F capacitor board and then I just had to stop myself.  So paths are just not worth travelling  

I like the feel of the XT spring/hammer on my Lexmark Mini.  Twangy and bouncy like......

"insert youtube video of choice"

skc

[skcheng]

Hehe, I see you did the same as I did here

Yeah, I stole that idea from you  

I don't know.   I just can't seem to "like" the lavendar WASD keycaps.   I pulled them already.

[JBert]

Went through a LOT of hassle to get Model F, XT springs/hammers to fit:

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Put it all back together and it just didn't work.  Sucks!!  For a while there I had the magic feel of XT hammers/springs.   It's the spring rate that provides the unique feel/twang on those Model Fs.   When I had it all re-assembled, it sounded/felt just like an XT.  Too bad....

The hardest part was trimming all of these pieces for the bottom row.  I sure felt like an idiot after bolting everything together just to find out that it doesn't work.  For about a minute, I considered taking a separating disc to an AT-F capacitor board and then I just had to stop myself.  So paths are just not worth travelling  :)

I like the feel of the XT spring/hammer on my Lexmark Mini.  Twangy and bouncy like......

"insert youtube video of choice"

skc

Had you said earlier that you wanted to do such a mod, I could have warned you that it wouldn't work at all.
The hammers on the model F are made to change capacitance, they can never work in combination with a model M membrane. And most of all: (as Ripster said) the springs don't have enough force to actuate the membrane.

I wonder how msiegel's model F reverse-engineering project is going.

[skcheng]

Had you said earlier that you wanted to do such a mod, I could have warned you that it wouldn't work at all.
The hammers on the model F are made to change capacitance, they can never work in combination with a model M membrane. And most of all: (as Ripster said) the springs don't have enough force to actuate the membrane.

I wonder how msiegel's model F reverse-engineering project is going.

I should have asked first.   No big deal.   Once you have the Model M apart, it's pretty easy to swap spring/hammers.

So JBert, will it work if I swap in XT hammers onto my AT-F board??   They're slightly different and I wonder if it will improve actuation feel?

[skcheng]

My conclusion after all my experiments was that the IBM engineers had tried already every combination under the sun.  The Buckling Spring is a sensitive beast.

The Wooden Model - "BigFoot"

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I don't have an XT though.  The Model F AT layout is weird enough thank you.

The Model AT-F is just fine after some tweaking.  Just sent one of my tweaked AT-F units out to Didjamatic who called it a "speed demon" for typing fast.  

I just wonder if the XT-F  hammers will work in an AT-F??  They're a little different.   Eh.....I guess I'll just try it.  Max Lugar, Phoenix and others claim that the XT feels nicer than the AT.   And if that's the case, I would attribute the nicer feel to the spring/hammer assemblies.

[didjamatic]

I'm all ears.  This AT-F is fantastic!  It's reminds me of the key feel ♠in an old IBM terminal board I have (the one with the blue switch above the keyboard) which may motivate me to tear into that one and see what's inside.  But I haven't had that board out for a while.

Great keyboard and it is definitely a speed demon.

[ch_123]

The Model AT-F is just fine after some tweaking.  Just sent one of my tweaked AT-F units out to Didjamatic who called it a "speed demon" for typing fast.  

I just wonder if the XT-F  hammers will work in an AT-F??  They're a little different.   Eh.....I guess I'll just try it.  Max Lugar, Phoenix and others claim that the XT feels nicer than the AT.   And if that's the case, I would attribute the nicer feel to the spring/hammer assemblies.

I'd say it's a combination of build quality and people getting lucky.. It seems to me very unlikely that they'd make any changes to the spring going from one model to another.

[skcheng]

I'd say it's a combination of build quality and people getting lucky.. It seems to me very unlikely that they'd make any changes to the spring going from one model to another.

They're totally different.   I'll post pics of how the barrels/cylinders differ in their orientation pin, and just how the shape/contours of the XT hammers differ from the AT hammers.

[ch_123]

The important question here is - can they be swapped.

[phoenix]

Max Lugar, Phoenix and others claim that the XT feels nicer than the AT.   And if that's the case, I would attribute the nicer feel to the spring/hammer assemblies.

Even though I said that, I also said "if I'm not imagining things" My fingers are definitely not sensitive enough to really tell. Besides the different hammers/cylinders, the XT has a metal bottom. Maybe that's another reason it feels and sounds a little different.

I also have a 5291 keyboard which looks like the XT with a big palm rest. Same cylinders as in the XT. All the springs are still shiny after all these years. The keys are lower-pitched and lighter than those on my AT and feel better, but my AT is much more used so it's not a good comparison.

It reminds me of the key feel in an old IBM terminal board I have (the one with the blue switch above the keyboard) which may motivate me to tear into that one and see what's inside.

Most probably the same kind of construction as the XT.

[ch_123]

3178 keyboard. From Webwit's description, they sound like they use the same internals as the XT.

[JBert]

I should have asked first.   No big deal.   Once you have the Model M apart, it's pretty easy to swap spring/hammers.

So JBert, will it work if I swap in XT hammers onto my AT-F board??   They're slightly different and I wonder if it will improve actuation feel?

You could try.

One thing I noticed is that the back plates of a model F XT are harder to assemble as they need some force to be pushed together again. This in turn presses all the barrels down and makes sure they cannot budge.
When you check this on the AT model you'll see they have some give.

Ultimately, it is a thin line. The main differences between them are the layout and the sound.

[skcheng]

May '88  comptekw2k sourced board.   This board has the following:

1. 2-piece keycaps
2. Darker/bolder font of the earlier boards
3. Dark brown secondary print for the hidden numpad
4. No marks at all on this board including the rubber feet

[OxC0FFEE]

I scoured the net and ebay for SSKs and came up dry. Does anyone here have a spare they could part with? Until recently I had not known the model M came in a mini variety and now I think I'm in love.

[4LI4Z]

Nice SSK, skcheng, looks like new!
OxC0FFEE you should better post that in the Classifieds.

[jwaz]

IBM Model M Space Saving Mini Love
« on: April 07, 2010, 05:58:46 am »

He might not be on too much anymore  

[E TwentyNine]

I scoured the net and ebay for SSKs and came up dry. Does anyone here have a spare they could part with? Until recently I had not known the model M came in a mini variety and now I think I'm in love.

There's one going for $190 in the classifieds right now.

[E TwentyNine]

Nice SSK, skcheng, looks like new!
OxC0FFEE you should better post that in the Classifieds.

For a more recent thread on SSK's, try here.