Visible Model M

phosphorglow · 15 Mar 2014, 23:43

I have a little pet project for a display at the vintage computer fest in April.

Sneak peak!:

: 2014-03-15 17.21.35.jpg (133.77 KiB) Viewed 3698 times

: 2014-03-15 17.23.08.jpg (108.6 KiB) Viewed 3698 times

The one key I have in there sounds awesome when pressed. Hehehehe!!

wheybags · 16 Mar 2014, 00:10

Oh wow, that's really cool!
Now that I think of it, I'm surprised noone has ever done this before, it should work pretty perfectly.

E TwentyNine · 16 Mar 2014, 01:37

I have a sheet of plexiglass and have considered doing something like this, but just replacing the backplate, and making some sort of open design ala the steampunk boards.

Getting an oversized piece and bending it to make a stand is an outstanding idea.

Muirium · 16 Mar 2014, 10:25

Indeed. Reckon you could mount the controller underneath and make a fully working skeleboard?

I want to believe.

phosphorglow · 16 Mar 2014, 21:40

Muirium wrote:Indeed. Reckon you could mount the controller underneath and make a fully working skeleboard?

I want to believe.

Heheheh

Done and done. I'll take some pictures soon.

E TwentyNine · 16 Mar 2014, 21:44

I'd also be curious as to the method used to get the curve on the board. Heatgun and a backplate, just eyeballed it, what?

phosphorglow · 16 Mar 2014, 21:48

E TwentyNine wrote:I'd also be curious as to the method used to get the curve on the board. Heatgun and a backplate, just eyeballed it, what?

You got it! Heat gun and backplate.
I'm excited to see other people fiddle around with various designs.

It does solve the problem of my friend needing a keyboard for his iMac that he's retrofitting, and opens the door to making a split ergo model M... ^_^

phosphorglow · 16 Mar 2014, 22:14

Also, it's really loud. It really reverberates.

I'm definitely going to have to make a video of this goofy little gadget.

scottc · 16 Mar 2014, 22:16

I want to believe...

phosphorglow · 16 Mar 2014, 22:20

scottc wrote:I want to believe...

My workshop wouldn't be complete without a touch of X-Files...

E TwentyNine · 16 Mar 2014, 23:35

phosphorglow wrote:It does solve the problem of my friend needing a keyboard for his iMac that he's retrofitting, and opens the door to making a split ergo model M... ^_^

I considered the split M too, but simply using standard backplates.

Honestly most of my M ideas got set aside once I modded my F, I'm liking it too much.

That looks like an old school Unicomp M controller?

E TwentyNine · 16 Mar 2014, 23:37

Now I'm also wondering how that might look if you snuck some LED's in there, the way LED's can light up the edge of cut plexiglas....

Daniel Beardsmore · 17 Mar 2014, 00:43

What would be really cool is if the barrel plate were 3D printed as a dedicated part, so that you'd get tidy edges.

Even better, an LED-lit polycarbonate barrel plate.

Making this look like a finished product isn't easy, but it's doable. Are the membranes special in any way? Could you scavenge some from a modern desktop PC where the controller board is on the far right?

: Dell KB-212B membranes.jpg (152.64 KiB) Viewed 3538 times

This would allow you to place the controller board directly under the LED area, especially useful if anyone wants to have a custom controller instead of the IBM one.

Also, it would make it easier to get ISO and Windows key versions. (Differences in key spacing would simply involve altering the 3D shape file for the barrel plate.)

E TwentyNine · 17 Mar 2014, 01:09

I have tried putting a membrane from a USB keyboard inside the model M assembly. It works fine. The pads that line up that is. The problem is finding a keyboard where the pads are in all the right positions.

I acquired a Keytronic classic M clone to use the case for something (that failed miserably), but I'm pretty sure the keys were spaced properly. The problem became where the holes for the bolt mod would go, and where the traces ran on the Keytronic membrane. Seemed doable but not worth the effort at the time.

Also, as far as I know, and I could be wrong, the more recent unicomp M's all have the controller on the top right.

phosphorglow · 17 Mar 2014, 01:22

E TwentyNine wrote:
phosphorglow wrote:It does solve the problem of my friend needing a keyboard for his iMac that he's retrofitting, and opens the door to making a split ergo model M... ^_^
I considered the split M too, but simply using standard backplates.

Honestly most of my M ideas got set aside once I modded my F, I'm liking it too much.

That looks like an old school Unicomp M controller?

The controller is a Lexmark manufactured - '93ish I think.

I was toying with the standard backplates for a split board too. Then I got to thinking about a wood block. And then this plexiglass thing came around.

phosphorglow · 17 Mar 2014, 01:27

Daniel Beardsmore wrote:What would be really cool is if the barrel plate were 3D printed as a dedicated part, so that you'd get tidy edges.

Even better, an LED-lit polycarbonate barrel plate.

Making this look like a finished product isn't easy, but it's doable. Are the membranes special in any way? Could you scavenge some from a modern desktop PC where the controller board is on the far right?

Spoiler:
Dell KB-212B membranes.jpg
This would allow you to place the controller board directly under the LED area, especially useful if anyone wants to have a custom controller instead of the IBM one.

Also, it would make it easier to get ISO and Windows key versions. (Differences in key spacing would simply involve altering the 3D shape file for the barrel plate.)

Oooooooohhhh! A clear barrel plate...!!! Yes yes and yes. And while we're at it, clear keys.

Technically I could drill holes for some LED's into the barrel plate. That controller does support lights. Hmmm...

So. Who can 3D print a translucent barrel plate? Heheheh.