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Posted: 10 Apr 2015, 17:52
by Touch_It
andrewjoy wrote: the 107 is growing on me i did not like it at first but now i think about it as a 122 without the top function row , still i think my order of preference for model F is still 62>77>104>122>107>XT>AT and i only have 122 xt and AT

I got the 107 as my first F and followed with a 3178. Now all I want is an 122, AT, XT, and XT bigfoot. I would love a 62 and 77 key but I am sure I will never get either, sans a huge find. I still think the 107 will be my all time favorite, its large, in charge and has a metal case. Plus it was my first IBM F keyboard. I was very lucky to stumble into it.
Fake edit. Someday I would like a 50 key F as well.
Posted: 10 Apr 2015, 17:56
by XMIT
So, you want all of the Model Fs.
Posted: 10 Apr 2015, 18:26
by Touch_It
XMIT wrote: So, you want all of the Model Fs.
LOL yes.

Posted: 10 Apr 2015, 19:02
by snoopy
Touch_It wrote: XMIT wrote: So, you want all of the Model Fs.
LOL yes.

Unsaver is missing in your list.

Re: IT'S ALIVE! Post your xwhatsit-resurrected beamspring/kishy
Posted: 10 Apr 2015, 19:04
by Touch_It
snoopy wrote:Touch_It wrote: XMIT wrote: So, you want all of the Model Fs.
LOL yes.

Unsaver is missing in your list.

That it is. I will likely never own along with the kish and 77 key.
Posted: 15 Apr 2015, 01:35
by Muirium
Work in progress:
The solenoid mostly works, but has a habit of going to sleep until I pull the USB cable. A few keys aren't registering, so I'll be inside cleaning the PCB soon enough. But so far, so good. What a relief compared to my rusty first! So shiny…
Posted: 15 Apr 2015, 03:17
by 0100010
Posted: 20 Apr 2015, 22:21
by Madhias
I have still one problem with the case of my 3278, that one mount of the bar of the door is broken off and my only plan is now to make some weird installation since glue does not work. I have to post some pictures, maybe someone has an idea.
Meanwhile I have saved some layouts to the controller and played with the buzzer. I made a video with the sound of the keyboard with and without solenoid. I am too lazy to cut it properly, or edit it. I have to say I hate video editing, but could edit a photograph for hours.
Sounds like a machine gun

Posted: 20 Apr 2015, 22:24
by HzFaq
Holy shit that's loud! I'd hate to live next door to you!
Re: IT'S ALIVE! Post your xwhatsit-resurrected beamspring/kishy
Posted: 21 Apr 2015, 02:05
by Touch_It
Ear porn!
Posted: 03 Apr 2016, 06:40
by pr0ximity
Just found this thread, these are far and away my favorite boards in the community. Always so lovingly restored!
Restored my 107-key late last year and have been using it frequently ever since. My girlfriend loves it as well and has officially claimed it as hers to use when working from home

Luckily I have a 5251 83(?)-key arriving Monday and another xwhatsit for it shortly after

very excited for my first beamspring!

Posted: 03 Apr 2016, 11:40
by Chyros
That's a beam spring? Oo
Re: IT'S ALIVE! Post your xwhatsit-resurrected beamspring/kishy
Posted: 03 Apr 2016, 12:20
by Vizir
Chyros wrote:That's a beam spring? Oo
That's a model f 107. The beam spring is on its way. See Muirium's keyboard with black and white keys a few posts up for beam spring.
Posted: 23 Apr 2016, 11:58
by alh84001
pr0ximity wrote: Just found this thread, these are far and away my favorite boards in the community. Always so lovingly restored!
Do you mind sharing the way you did that blue keycap?
Posted: 23 Apr 2016, 11:59
by emdude
It looks like an artisan.
Posted: 23 Apr 2016, 12:41
by alh84001
Yep. But I wasn't aware there are BS artisans.
Posted: 23 Apr 2016, 18:04
by pr0ximity
Yup, Hipsterpunks of GH made it, it's called a Blaze Blue Wrapped. Plenty of BS artisans around, but they're a bit less common.
Posted: 07 Jun 2016, 03:25
by y11971alex
Case still at the powder coating house.
Posted: 07 Jun 2016, 12:55
by ramnes
How much does it cost you to powder coat the case? And which color did you choose?

Posted: 07 Jun 2016, 13:11
by seebart
y11971alex wrote: Case still at the powder coating house.
Can't wait to see it.

Posted: 07 Jun 2016, 15:54
by y11971alex
ramnes wrote: How much does it cost you to powder coat the case? And which color did you choose?

It was around $100. And since this is a restoration, there isn't really a choice of colour.

Posted: 18 Jul 2016, 23:29
by photekq
Crappy pic will have to do for the minute, but I think this is my new favourite keyboard to use

Posted: 20 Jul 2016, 10:05
by y11971alex
photekq wrote:
Crappy pic will have to do for the minute, but I think this is my new favourite keyboard to use

What shocks me is the virtually identical layout of the 3278 above compared to my 3101. I can't spot a single difference other than the legends on the keys. Of course, the 3101 has a rounded case, which seems to be a stylistic choice rather than a technical one. The 3101 keyboard sat in front of the terminal, which had a detachable base and a monitor, whereas the 3278 had an integrated base and the keyboard tucked under the monitor.
It makes me wonder, if the internal assembly is identical too...
If so, this would mean IBM didn't cheap out on the keyboard, even when the terminal it went with was marketed as cheap at that time, at only $1250.
Posted: 06 Jul 2017, 11:11
by hypkx
Finished my 5251 Beamspring yesterday.
Potatoe picture of the internals:
After restoring the keyboard it works now like a charm and the solenoid is a very cool feature.
photos-f62/beamspring-refurb-ibm-5251-b ... beamspring
Thank you seebart, for the keyboard.
For lazy people is a the layout file attached (because I dont found one and had to assign every key by myself).
http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?fi ... 4860190548
Posted: 06 Jul 2017, 11:30
by seebart
hypkx wrote: Thank you seebart, for the keyboard.
Your very welcome, I knew you would restore it the way it should be. Thanks for sharing the layout file.
Posted: 23 Jul 2017, 04:51
by JP!
This white whale of a keyboard arrived on my doorstep this morning

Lucky for me I had already ordered a Model F Xwhatsit which was customized by Orihalcon to work with the DisplayWriter. Being somewhat new to the Xwhatsit I had a little bit of trouble as I was using an incorrect current threshold value. I found that a value of 120 was the sweet spot for this particular keyboard. I just need to solder the pins for the expansion header so I can hook up the solenoid driver. Also I am still working on the layout for some of the keys. Overall it is in very good shape, no rust but lots of dust bunnies. It was well used as some of the keys have some shine to them. Eventually I will clean the case and wash the keys.

- 001.JPG (264.33 KiB) Viewed 28878 times
Born in 1983

- 001b.JPG (52.96 KiB) Viewed 28878 times
Original speaker, controller, and cable.

- 003.JPG (184.24 KiB) Viewed 28878 times
Installed solenoid, Xwhatsit, and solenoid driver

- 003b.JPG (162.32 KiB) Viewed 28878 times
Here I have the ground wire attached to the case.

- 004.JPG (127.12 KiB) Viewed 28878 times
Posted: 23 Jul 2017, 13:12
by seebart
Nice JP!, so how do you like those Beamspring switches? I see you decided to keep the original contamination shield in place.
Posted: 23 Jul 2017, 18:32
by JP!
seebart wrote: Nice JP!, so how do you like those Beamspring switches? I see you decided to keep the original contamination shield in place.
Oh these Beamspring switches are terrible
I started pulling the keys and then decided to do a full tear down while I was at it. I am glad I tore it apart though. The foam is completely broken down so it is like having no foam at all to hold the switches in place. I had to do away with the contamination shield as it completely disintegrated. So yeah, I resurrected this keyboard, then murdered it, and will be bringing back to life again.
Posted: 24 Jul 2017, 12:18
by y11971alex
Posted: 03 Aug 2017, 13:31
by hypkx
Here a album from installing the Xwhatsit in my IBM 3178:
http://imgur.com/a/JaR94