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."

Mirror Dot

[A Name Similar to Di]

Since I already can't get to the site...there's a mirror dot here [mirrordot.org].

Re:Brazil

[Anonymous Coward]

Right now it won't make people remember much. I tried to load the page when there were only 3 comments, and 5 minutes later half the images didn't load yet...

coral cache [nyud.net]

No Karma Whoring, posting as AC!

Mirrordot link

[HockeyPuck]

Looks like the site's on fire....

Mirrordot: http://www.mirrordot.org/stories/f1642b9514a0a053a 20ca22c50cd9b7e/index.html [mirrordot.org]

Re:the finest...

[drinkypoo]

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.

Re:Keyboard

[SMQ]

They're still being manufactured by Unicomp [pckeyboard.com]; same layout, same technology. Plus, they come in black [pckeyboard.com]!

Re:Keyboard

[R2.0]

My guess is it's your motherboard, not the keyboard. Some later motherboards don't adhere to the original standards - kinda like the "lame serial port" problem in some laptops.

Drop the guy at http://www.clickykeyboards.com/ [clickykeyboards.com] a line - he's quite helpful. They also have an adapter that will convert the PS/2 plug to USB, which might be a way around your problem.

Re:the finest...

[Canthros]

Northgate Omnikey, I'm guessing. (Just stumbled across it looking for an inexpensive source of Model M keycaps.)

UK refurb'd Model Ms

[Anonymous Coward]

I got mine from http://www.keyboardco.com/keyboard_details.asp?PRO DUCT=13 [keyboardco.com]

30quid, and it arrived looking like new.

Re:Brazil

[Bou]

Here you go: http://steampunkworkshop.com.nyud.net:8090/keyboar d.shtml [nyud.net]

Yeah, but you can buy a new one from the vendor...

[Svartalf]

http://www.pckeyboard.com/ [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.

Re:Brazil

[The_Wilschon]

Yeah it looks really cool, but the board is going to die faster now. The original keycaps are vaguely umbrella shaped for a reason: to keep dust out of the buckling spring mechanism underneath them. Those little black plastic tubes that he pulls the keys out of now have their tops slightly exposed, so dust can settle down into them and interfere with things.

If anyone is looking to make their own, they should just be aware of this.

Re:Keyboard

[Anonymous Coward]

A real vintage (1985 - 1992) model M keyboard built by IBM (when they were still INDUSTRIAL BUSINESS MACHINES corp)

...weighs almost 6 pounds and has steel parts and removable key caps. http://www.clickykeyboards.com/ [clickykeyboards.com]

Unicomp has since simplified and reduced the design and changed quality of materials so that the pckeyboard.com units no longer have two-piece removable keys, aluminum instead of steel plate, and reduced weight to 4 pounds.

Still made

[Visual Echo]

Unicomp (the original contractor who made IBM keyboards) still makes them and are for sale at http://www.pckeyboard.com/ [pckeyboard.com] . My undiagnosed 'carpal tunnel' pain went away after I started using one.

Re:Beautiful project

[BJH]

That would be Orac. I believe the article you're looking for is this one [slashdot.org], and the associated mod page is this one [bit-tech.net].

Re:Brazil

[FunkyELF]

If you use Firefox's slashdot extension it automatically puts the mirror links right after all links in the summary.

more keyboard modding guides

[wehe]

There is a project dedicated to keyboard modding, repairing and cleaning [repair4keyboard.org], which lists many more guides for keyboard hackers.