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Do-It-Yourself Steampunk Keyboard
An anonymous reader writes "Who said there's no use for your old IBM "M Series" keyboards anymore? This creative fellow shows us step by step how to convert the keyboards of yesteryear into keyboards of an even further distant, fictional time. H. G. Wells would be proud."
It reminds me a lot of something you'd see in the movie "Brazil". Pretty cool. I like the "Shift Freedom" key.
I've been looking for one of those for ages, I want to use it standard. Modern keyboards just don't make the right noise...
Matthew Sparkes
Since I already can't get to the site...there's a mirror dot here.
"I still clunk away at my IBM model M keyboard every night...
Only problem is my neighbors complain of the noise"
How do you get your keyboard to moan, "oooh, oooh, like that, give me more?" That's quite the hack.
Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
I'm trying to remember the name of the finest keyboard, I actually own one but I don't use it because I use a laptop these days... Northstar Omnikey Ultra, that sounds right. Supports XT, AT, Tandy, and Amiga with interchangable cables. Has dip switches for keyboard mode, to switch keymap to Dvorak, and to swap caps and lctrl. It actually came with a key cap remover so that you could switch your keys to match your layout. Very sexy. But just as importantly, it has that clicky feel (a little softer but with excellent feedback) and every key switch is replacable. They use an Alps part you can order from digi-key.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
I perked up when I saw the ol' Model M. Got a couple lying around, and I've been using the same one for the last 10 years or so. But this! Drill press?! Band saw?! What is this, shop class? Sounds like a hardware problem, boyo. Not my department.
Haida Manga
not that I want to be pedantic, but the model M's are about the only old keyboards worth not cutting to bits.
I am one of many. My idea is not unique, nor do I expect my voice alone to sway you. I speak in a chorus of opinion.
G. Ratte'/cDc "I don't know what your problem is, but I bet it's hard to pronounce."
Northgate Omnikey, I'm guessing. (Just stumbled across it looking for an inexpensive source of Model M keycaps.)
Canthros
But does it still make that super loud clicky noise when you type?
Even if it doesn't, it would definitely go a long way to training people to avoid the carpal-tunnel-inducing-typo-generating bad habit of resting their wrists on the keyboard.
For anyone who never learned to type in a typing class on a real typewriter, I'll point out that most everyone who finishes such a course ends up typing at about 90wpm. I enrolled on a lark (to meet girls, actually, but they all ended up resenting me because I typed faster than they did), but the habits drilled into me I keep to this day.
Take that Mavis Beacon. Now get off my lawn.
Great looking keyboard at any rate. What's missing is a big magnifying screen like those found in Terry Gilliam's Brazil. And some pneumatic tubes. Gotta have pneumatic tubes -- you can impress your friends and family and have fun scaring the shit out of the dog at the same time.
You've made a good point. I still consider the keyboarding class that i took on a whim in high school to be one of the most useful classes I took there.
This guy's the limit!
Where do you load in the coal?
Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
http://www.pckeyboard.com/ Unicomp still makes and sells the Model M design for a base price of $50- and it's the same beast. Got one, want to get more.
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
I guess that keyboard goes with this case.
"You call it a new way of thinking; I call it regression to ignorance!" -- Operation Ivy
The end result is very beautiful, and I'm seriously considering attempting to duplicate this project, but with a few changes:
This project reminds me of a case mod featured here a long while back, where the entire inside of the case was covered in chromed panels, and all the wiring was redone with chromed flexible shielding and headphone-style connectors. I can't find that article any more, and all I remember was that it was named after some fictional AI computer.
what the hell is a 'junk character', anyway?
Unicomp (the original contractor who made IBM keyboards) still makes them and are for sale at http://www.pckeyboard.com/ . My undiagnosed 'carpal tunnel' pain went away after I started using one.
"I stomp in clown shoes where daemons fear to tread."
I spent my time harassing the teacher by writing BASIC programs on the Apple ]['s that made the computer beep and pause and repeat. Installing it on 25 computers to go "BEEP" all the way around the room and then start over again was fun until I got an hour of detention for each computer.
The only thing I learned in that class was that programming in BASIC sent you to detention.
As well it should.
PHEM - party like it's 1997-2003!
> OMFG!!!1 the model m is the only keyboard evar!!!
and still, you're typing this post from a shiny apple keyboard... tsk tsk tsk
btw, you disgraced an apple product by praising another one. Go kill your self ritualistically.
There is a project dedicated to keyboard modding, repairing and cleaning, which lists many more guides for keyboard hackers.
The Alps keyswitches you like were found in many top quality keyboards of that era, and I do agree that these are about the best ever done. Northgate used them, so did the keyboards of SGI, Control Data, Dell, and others. I know this because I used to cruise Silicon Valley thrift shops, and on quite a few occasions I would bring home an excellent used keyboard, only to realize it was exactly the same as all my other favorites.
I also have a bunch of IBM model M's. I like them, but they make quite a commotion when you are cranking code, and they are comparitively high effort, almost like playing a piano. I did some tests and found I had better speed and accuracy with the Alps, which requires no deliberate effort and is less fatiguing for long term use. I still keep model M's on my servers both for nostalgia and because they are just fun to use, plus the keyboard change at a server console reminds me to be a bit more deliberate.
I used to keep an old pre-AT IBM keyboard around just to remind me of what a keyboard could be. I think it was an XT model, smaller than the modern 101's but it weighed about 10 pounds and every keyswitch was a beautiful machine. The action was less jarring than any model M, still klicky but oh-so-fine, felt like precise bearings. No way I know to make this work on any modern keyboard controller and the layout isn't what I would prefer in this world, but this is what keyboard would be if people payed hundreds of dollars for them.
While bastardising an IBM Model M is almost inexcusable, this steampunk mod is quite nice. I have two model M keyboards that I use regularly.
Agreed. Typing on one (1984) right now, also have an '87 model with its original stuck-on-when-new WordPerfect cheat sheet. My third PC/AT keyboard is a 1983 Compaq Deskpro 286 keyboard; it's two-tone brown and looks utterly ridiculous sitting in front of an LCD monitor and beside an optical mouse. It's just as comfortable as a Model M for just the exact opposite reasons.
BTW, M users - cleaning tip, one keyboard at a time, and don't try this unless you actually OWN your washing machine. Take off all the keycaps, or, better still, all the keys leaving simply the springs in place. Put them into the washing machine along with a dirty sweater or something. Do not use a full load of laundry, a cap will get lost in the bottom of a sock or a pocket or something, and it will take you weeks to find it. Wash as a small load on warm water. Remove all the caps, blot them on a towel, and leave to dry. Carefully shake out the sweater (watching for caps!) and hang it to dry. Vacuum the keyboard, watching to ensure all the springs remain where they belong. Once the caps are all dry, stick 'em back on and enjoy the fact that your M looks brand new again. The article of clothing is essential, as it scrubs them during the washing cycle. Doing this on your own washer is essential, if a key or cap goes missing, you'll want to know it didn't end up in someone else's laundry. I have done this every couple of years on each of my Ms, using an ancient Maytag top-loader, and they always come out perfectly. It beats the hell out of scrubbing each key with a toothbrush.
Anyway, at least this schmuck did something interesting and apparently well-executed, even though he destroyed two antique typewriters and one M to do it.
Fire and Meat. Yummy.
It would have been even more "steampunk" if numerical keypad was replaced with an old telephone rotary encoder (ah, the sound) and various "lock" keys replaced with pole switches. That would require some additional electronics hacking, though.
Oh, and... LEDs should be replaced with little light bulbs from torches or, even better, wavelength scale backlight bulbs from antique radios (perhaps bulbs from Christmas tree lights would do fine), in nice little light "towers".
Of course, an old 4-circuit woven fabric tube enclosed telephone cable is in order to connect it to the motherboard. Although PC keyboard connector has 5 pins, one of them is not connected.