Should you buy a Model M? Screw mod, repair & parts
#buy #Model #Screw #mod #repair #parts
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Concluzion: Should you buy a Model M? Screw mod, repair & parts – computer,computer repair,old computer,pc repair,old restoration,pc restoration,old pc upgrade,computer restoration,bodge,hack,vintage pc,retro,retrocomputing
Vintage cherry fan here, I have a keyboard from 1985 wich is keycap kompatible with new glorius caps and vice versa. It is similar to the AT layout of the model F. ❤
I did a nut and machine screw mod to one of my newer Lexmark Model M keyboards about 10 years ago. I also used a Dremel and the same attachment to drill the holes! The keyboard was great at first but after a few years the backspace, enter and right shift keys became sticky. The keys do work if you press them directly on top of the spring. If you press any place else the post rubs in the spacer causing the sticking. So far I haven’t been able to resolve this issue.
I have a truely rare Model M13 keyboard (has built in trackpoint mouse) which I picked up at a local surplus store. Somehow I broke she space bar by pounding it too much. I haven’t gotten the guts yet to repair it and do a bolt mod, especially when I see the prices on eBay!
Lastly an apology. My comment on your recent video regarding the Apple //c transformer was a bit too cheeky. Will try to tone it down next time.
Unicomp was pretty bad like 5 years ago. They were good 15-20 years ago. It seems like their tooling is all worn out. Dunno if they've taken care of that
That is a Spanish layout keyboard, but the C with a tail is not a Spanish character, so it doesn't look at all "Spanish." I really don't know why it's included other than the possibility that Catalan uses it. Catalan doesn't use the tilde-N, but those are the only differences between the character set. Spanish and Catalan both use the acute and grave (á, à) so I think the tailed-C is there for universal compatibility in Spain for both Spanish and Catalan.
I’m in the middle of doing one as of typing this. Waiting on a few parts from Unicomp. Done multiple
It looks like the sticker on the back says Product of: Computer Tech Center
This was very interesting, and has convinced me that I'm not going to buy a Unicomp keyboard at any point in the future.
On a Terminal keyboard I'd expect the additional four function keys above the Numpad, known (to me at least) as Gold Keys… necessary to navigate SMIT.
I'm not familiar with these keyboards and this issue. I've seen quite often in cheap electronics that they use plastic posts and just melt the tips to hold PCBs or whatever in place. I don't think I've seen plastic "rivets", at least in this manner. Inserting lots of metal screws in a brittle piece of plastic seems a bit risky to me. Depending on the type of plastic used, it might be possible to attach some new plastic extensions that can be melted (with heat, glue or a solvent), or possibly by using some kind of thin metal rod and melt it into the plastic using some sort of clamp soldering iron. Maybe common metal rivets without fully pulling/popping them as the force is quite large. I don't know. This problem does seem a bit tricky to solve. Ideally, I suppose the whole plastic part had better be replaced by a more durable replica. Anyway, I hope it works and will last. The specimens here look great apart from the faults.
Oh how much I love Model M repair videos. I have only done one full bolt mod on my Unicomp Model M 104. My other Model M 102 was made by Lexmark, and OEM'd to Dell in '92 with an original Dell Logo. Only 5 lost rivets, and works just fine. I considered a screw mod, but thought that if the keyboard works and feels fine, there is no reason to do the mod. Thank you for your video on the Model M repairs. Always enjoyed them, and this one is no exception.
that keyboard needs transparent keycaps and LEDs!
As IBM used to say…. How yah gonna do it? You're gonna PS/2 it!
Restauraste un modelo M con distribución en español… Ahahaha, cheers mate, nice work as always, indeed is a weird keyboard, that's the kind of decision build factories take to other international markets!
My favorite characteristic of buckling spring that no other modern clicky switch gets right is that the click, tactility and actuation are all in perfect alignment. I actually prefer the feel and sound of my Kailh clickbar switches but it's too easy to click the switch without actuating, or double-press without un-clicking. The click on a Model M serves a practical purpose of eliminating any ambiguity about whether a key is active or not.
1:30 Computer Tech Center
Excellent job. Thank you so much for the level of detail. I will definitely keep this video link in case I have to repair any of my Model M. And yes, it is a Spanish keyboard indeed. Spanish uses the inverted quote to start a sentence that ends with a quote. ¿Weird enough?. I have the (mostly) very same 😀
That was very helpful. I scored a number of model Ms years ago and supplied them to friends who loved the feel and the sound. It is a marvelous keyboard but I would never recommend them as being purely superior for everyone because they are definitely a love it or hate it kind of thing. In my own case, I found extended typing made the sound unpleasant and the travel seemed excessive. I settled on an inexpensive Keytronic E06101D, a model much loved for its quiet smoothness and feel. This became an issue when the manufacturer of their lubricant closed down and they had to substitute something else that gave worse feel. I still have a shiny new one of those later ones in the original box. I don't think life was ever intended to be too easy. 😉
I use a Unicomp Model M, and absolutely love it. As I'm a programmer, I spend most of my working day typing so the idea of using a cheap keyboard with poor tactile response is anathema to me. I can't understand why the vast majority of my colleagues are content to use the awful keyboards or the one on a laptop – even when I'm using a laptop, if I'm at a desk I'll connect a keyboard to it. The only downside to the Model M is how loud it is, so I do have a Filco with Cherry MX silent keys for offices where the noise is an issue.
I am certainly one who really appreciates these beauties. The feel was made to resemble a typewriter, to tell the typist that yes, that key was pressed, no mistake. So many times when typing on lesser keyboards I've had small panic attacks on whether I did fully engage a particular key lol. Ironically I'm typing on an IBM keyboard, but one that has keys made of Jello haha. Its only advantage is that it has a fingerprint scanner.
Having spent my formative years as a tech with a lot of IBM gear, their early classic keyboards still live in my heart and I am keeping my eyes out for a model M.
I had a model m all the way into college up until like 2008 or so but my new computer didn't have any PS2 ports so I bought a USB keyboard and stuck it in a box where it promptly disappeared. 😢
is there a wireless dongle/battery power mod?
25:39 You mean ISO keyboard. ANSI is the standard US layout.
To reattach the springs without doing the bolt mod i've always rotated the springs. You can put some electrical tape on a toothpick, then put the pick in the spring and push down on the spring with the tape and twist. I have done quite a lot of keys that way on both model M and model F. Its also easier to remove the springs by twisting them off and gently pulling, they dont get elongated as much.
5:07 you can use a toothpick stick it in one end of the spring and the other end in the flapper bump and once you fixed it on the dedicated bump on the flapper and just try and push the toothpick and screw the spring.
You can bay Unicomp New Model M and use more than 2 keys at once ..
18:25 this barrel plate looks sturdy, but I bolt moded very fragile barrel plates, I made at least 7 bolt mods, here is a technique to never crack the barrel plate especially those fragile 80's barrel plates:
1) leave the barrel plate attached tot the steel plate when you start drilling;
2) make just one hole clean the plastic rivet and add a bolt and nut, repeat step 2 for all the rivets, one by one,
3) unscrew the barrel plate and clean the plastic shrapnels from drilling the rivets
4) screw it back together
It adds more time to the whole thing but is extra safe. Also there is the advantage that there is no misaligment with the steel plate. Don't forget: don't tighten to much the bolts and nuts.
1:33 I read Computer Test Center
Epictronics, please, do a video explaining how to change the controller on the keyboard. I have one of those IBM originals that only works on terminals. It would be very cool use it as a PS2 keyboard. Thanks for the outstanding videos.