deskthority

Hey everyone!

I am fairly new to the keyboard scene and have been exploring the world of IBM recently, more specifically, the aftermarket for their boards. I have just finished adding my new unicomp keycaps to my Model M and I got thinking if there was any other vendors other than unicomp that did runs of IBM parts, particularly shells/cases past or present.

I am aware of the efforts of the new Model F project these past few years that have made new shells for Model F's and that unicomp can potentially sell the black shells for their new Model M's individually, but haven't seen much aftermarket support beyond that. So my question is there any aftermarket shells out in the wild? Or will I have to resort to painting my pre-existing pearl shell a different tone of grey.

I apologize in advance if this is not the right place in the forum to post such a question!

Welcome to the forum and to modding IBM.

As far as I know, you are indeed limited to painting what you've already got, or similar used parts. I myself would be wary to repaint a particularly nice case, if that's what you have, and I'd try to find a scuffed up alternative to mod. But then again, some people pull off really nice spray jobs on their rare IBMs, let alone the common stuff.

Ellipse is definitely worth considering if you want fancy caps. His remakes are vintage 80s IBM quality—with occasionally iffy fit, as I gather—which is a cut above current era Unicomp. His keyboards don't tempt me (typing this on my Kishsaver) but his caps do…

Ah I see, I admit I am a bit reluctant to paint my case and that's why I was hoping if there were shell alternatives out there, that and paint chips anyway. I might actually just brush up on my CAD and design an an entirely new STL for a replacement shell. Now that I think about it...if I could pull that off what would the legality of sharing it online be?

IBM’s not going to chase you, so long as you leave their logo out of it. Unicomp even less so.

ArtyomTheMetroHopper wrote: 22 Nov 2022, 15:00 Ah I see, I admit I am a bit reluctant to paint my case and that's why I was hoping if there were shell alternatives out there, that and paint chips anyway. I might actually just brush up on my CAD and design an an entirely new STL for a replacement shell. Now that I think about it...if I could pull that off what would the legality of sharing it online be?

The STL is no problem, I think I even saw an STL sometime ago someplace, though I can't seem to find it anymore.

The bigger question is what are you going to do with the STL, 3D print?

That is pretty much the rough outline. Print it in a colored filament and then smooth it out (I quite like some of the clear filament floating about at the moment). Maybe even adapt it for other layouts once the design has been finalized. But if someone has beaten me to the punch I would be happy to settle on that instead.

Others have discarded the original IBM plastic model M top and bottom case and used alternate brass hardware and other materials in their mods.

[url]http://steampunkworkshop.com/keyboard-shtml/[/url}

Damn...now THATS artisanry!

ArtyomTheMetroHopper wrote: 22 Nov 2022, 16:31
THATS artisanry!

Datamancer was the man in the steampunk keyboard universe, until, sadly, he took his own life a few years ago.

This is one of my favorite mods:
viewtopic.php?t=18194&start=30

Datamancer was the man in the steampunk keyboard universe, until, sadly, he took his own life a few years ago.

Thats a real shame

In either case his projects are quite inspiring with the amount work he placed into the designing and fabrication

JP! wrote: 23 Nov 2022, 01:52 This is one of my favorite mods:
viewtopic.php?t=18194&start=30

I thought for a second the guy vinyl wrapped his board! Shame they never did a GB or anything with this bad boy: viewtopic.php?f=62&t=21226&p=439661#p439661