Mechanical Keyboard Corner

Went to Goodwill today.


Pretty good day.

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Are those alps switches?

SMK gen 2 inverse cross mount whites.

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Thank you!

:smile:

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In theory the Unicomp keycaps will fit a vintage Model M, correct? The Model M at work is missing a couple caps.

Also, anyone know how durable the plastic case is? It looks like it has tar buildup from somebody smoking over it, so it needs a very strong bath.

I have both model Mā€™s from IBM and UNICOMP and yes they are interchangable.

Different models though might be 1-2 piece keycaps.

1987 terminal keyboard and a 2017 Unicomp version.

Except for buttons like enter and shift as the older IBMā€™s use wire Stabilizers and the UniComp uses rod stabilizers.

Isopropyl alcohol will clean it up nicely or soap and water.

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Awesome, dziękuję ci!

Itā€™s missing the tab keycap and a couple others are mislabeled or blank, so Unicomp will save me some struggle.

Assuming the keyboard can be taken apart without too much fuss Iā€™m thinking Iā€™ll give it a bath and a good scrub with a couple mixtures.

For US$130, Leopold FC900R, Matias Quiet Pro or something else entirely?

Hey, thought Iā€™d share my recent find at the local dump/recycling center.

Norwegian IBM Model M, 1986 production. Iā€™m pretty sure itā€™s pre-PS/2.

I canā€™t really find any information on this model, as itā€™s both missing the model number.
But the internal parts are also impossible to get any info on, 0 hits on google.

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@Big_Al_Tech

Do you know anything on this keyboard ?

I have already ordered the missing keycaps from unicomp.
Otherwise all the keys work flawlessly, and the keyboard has never had any liquid inside it.

Probably uses an SDL connection, you can get SDL / PS2 or SDL / Soarerā€™s usb converter.

Oh, Iā€™m already using it on a PS/2 to USB converter and it works just fine.

It came with the connector in the keyboard with just a cut cable, just opened it up and soldered a normal PS/2 cable onto it.
Mostly for testing, new cable is on the way.

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The lack of lock lights makes me think itā€™s an ISO 102 key terminal keyboard, not like that observation is really helpful though.

If it were a terminal keyboard, there would be a non-standardised numpad.

IBM Model M Terminal keyboards range from 84-122 keys and a few specialized industrial keyboards have over 122 keys.

There are those variants too.

Got the keycaps in the mail the other day, also fixed the badge.

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What are you looking for? Iā€™m sure somebody in here can help :slight_smile:

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You know what, thatā€™s an awesome idea! Thanks!

Okay, here is my conundrum:
Up until now I have been using cheap Logitech keyboards and my current one is slowly dying. I have thought about mechanical keyboards for a while now but if I pay that much money for a keyboard it has to be pretty much perfect and I have not found it yet. If I keep using cheap keyboards I at least have saved some money and know why itā€™s far from perfect.

I am not sure if what I am looking for exists or if I could afford it but this would be a rough description of my dream keyboard:

  • I am using my keyboard almost exclusively for typing (papers, programming, console navigation, ā€¦)
  • I like strong tactile feedback (I kind of like cherry blue and clear or something similarly)
  • I donā€™t like loud keyboards
  • custimizable macro keys would be great, otherwise I use my hacked together python and bash scripts
  • I like very simple looking keyboards, one colour, no gimmicky gamery look
  • very important: It should be easy to find the ā€œhome positionā€ for my hands without looking. And the ā€œedgeā€ of a key should be easy to feel.
  • Are there keyboards with a numpad on the left side? Otherwise Iā€™ll continue using a separate one.
  • a small build in USB hub for a flash drive or something else would be nice to have

In case I happen to have too much time on my hands in the future I am building it on my own. This is going to be an interesting blog post. :grin: