Made an interesting buckling spring find this weekend....

[mmcdowell]

Genuine IBM buckling spring...

Ibm actionwriter by Micah McDowell, on Flickr

But, not a keyboard per se...

Ibm actionwriter by Micah McDowell, on Flickr

It's a 1985 IBM Actionwriter 1. Found at the thrift, and it works like new. I might try flipping it online to buy something more directly useful, but it sure is nice to type on. Thought that you all might find it interesting.

[seebart]

Wow nice find. Thanks for sharing.

[Halvar]

Interesting. If you happen to open it, it would be interesting if it is a capacitive or a membrane keyboard.

[mmcdowell]

Interesting. If you happen to open it, it would be interesting if it is a capacitive or a membrane keyboard.

The case is rather easy to remove (two screws). What would be the tipoff of the different type, short of disassembling the keybed itself?

[fohat]

And it has the elusive "Code" key as well.

[XMIT]

Yep, there are a few variants of these. All of the ones I know are membrane based buckling spring. Some variants also have an arrow cluster at the lower right.

[Halvar]

Interesting. If you happen to open it, it would be interesting if it is a capacitive or a membrane keyboard.

The case is rather easy to remove (two screws). What would be the tipoff of the different type, short of disassembling the keybed itself?

If it's a membrane board ("Model M" tech), it should have a membrane "cable" coming out of the keyboard and connecting to the controller, kind of like this:

[mmcdowell]

I took a look; it has the ribbon cable as you pictured, so it is indeed a membrane switch keyboard. It plugs directly into the main PCB of the device.

[Compgeke]

I have a stack of boards from wheelwriters\actionwriters myself and they're all membrane. Unfortunately most are missing some keycaps but there are some cool keycaps such as triple legends or black letter with a blue or green function text.

[vivalarevolución]

These are fun, the feel seem like between an M and F, and I think a couple people have made them work.

[False_Dmitry_II]

All you'd need to use on a computer is a case and a controller.

[dorkvader]

All you'd need to use on a computer is a case and a controller.

yeah sethstorm converted his WW.

the actionwriter arrived in '85 but the wheelwriter was available before Q4 1984 (source). XMIT has a WW keyboard from mid 1984, showing that the buckling spring over membrane design did not originate on the enhanced keyboard. This might be the earliest known buckling spring over membrane KB as the source says the Wheelwriters were "new" in mid-december of '84, and his is from much earlier (though it's just an assembly and *might* have come from a different typewriter. THis is why I want to explore the early-to-mid 1980's IBM typewriter design)

Now I wan to see what KB the IBM electronic typewriters (65,85,95) used in ~1982 as they are a fusion of selectric and something else. I only see one youtube video on these and it doesn't have a good shot at the KB. All I do know is that it appears to have a PCB and *might* be capsense (model F).

These are fun, the feel seem like between an M and F, and I think a couple people have made them work.

interesting. They are pretty much identical to a model M, though some have o-rings around the barrels, possibly to help bottomout. When I bolt-modded my Wheelwriter KB (10 series II) the take apart shows almost identical construction to model M (though I believe the shifts are linked on the WW KB). I am happily using my bolt modded WW KB with the WW it came attached to. I mainly use it for addressing envelopes.

[vivalarevolución]

Yea, I know the internals are identical to an M, but when I play around with the Wheelwriters at work, it has its own unique feel different than an M or F. Maybe it is the lack plastic case bottom, different springs, or thicker metal plate. I don't know.