Around the middle of September i embarked on a great project restoring My vintage IBM 107 key 4704 keyboard from an IBM banking system. I acquired this keyboard with its thick metal shell by contacting a vintage electronics surplus seller who spams ecyclers around the country to save vintage IBM mechanical keyboards. See, long ago IBM created a system called the displaywriter. And with the display writer came the beamspring keyboard. The beamspring keyboard Is A god-tier collectors keyboard as well as one of the rarest and most sought after mechanical keyboards in the world. They literally weigh about as much as a small child and are one of the most glorious keyboards to type on! Sadly ,as time went on, IBM looked for a more cost effective keyboard and thus came along the model F's and then the model M. The model M is a legendary keyboard that created the ansi layout, tkl form factor and is hated by bill gates because it forced him to implement ctrl alt delete. My keyboard is what one would call a "Model f". In-terms of tactility It puts every single mechanical keyboard produced in the last decade and a half to shame. Typing on this has actually made me despise how weak cherry switches are!
In the condition I received my keyboard It needed alot of work. So far I have gotten so far as that is is nearly complete and working over usb with full nkro. I began to tackle this feat by doing months of extensive research, followed by the purchase of an atmega32u2 based capacitive sensing controller made by xwhatsit and the fabrication of a replacement internal foam mat to restore the keyboards feel. I then had to desolder the original controller, replace the foam by cutting almost 120 holes with a leather punch and hammer, remove the rust/corrosion and solder the new controller in. After all this work, I still had extensive programming to do to the keyboard.I had to set a correct voltage threshold so the capacatance was sensed correctly, which involves trying each number below 150 one by one untill each key registers. Then I had to assign what each and every key is and remember to save it to the eeprom. $220 later here I am half way through the restoration of an amazing keyboard. All I have left to do is complete the layout in the software, get all the correct keycaps I want, build a custom usb cable, have the metal body powdercoated along with optimizing the controller to take advantage of a faster scanrate. Then this 15lb beast will be one of my end game keyboards along with a beamspring and a select few model m's and an alps board or two. In-fact im typing on the beast now!
Oh, And I officially declare everyone else here mechanical keyboard plebes not 1337 enough to join the mechanical keyboard illuminati!
/rofl
Here's a picture of the keyboard in its current state, and some of various other stages in the restoration.
