Model M Question

[//gainsborough]

Hello DT! This is my first post as I'm relatively new here. Although I feel guilty having my first post be one in which I ask for help, I feel this is the most helpful place around - so I hope you'll forgive my selfishness.

I recently purchased an IBM model M from ebay (http://www.ebay.com/itm/381633701865) and I got it in the mail yesterday and looks nothing like the one in the photo (doesn't have the blue logo or same model sticker on the back) - which I'm fine with. There were 7 available and I probably just didn't get that one, whatever.

What is peculiar about the board I got is that there are two different types of keycaps. To me I had thought, depending on manufacture date, model M's had either single piece caps, or two-piece caps - but mine has both. Is that normal?

Another interesting thing is that even the caps that are two piece have a different shade to their plastic base piece. My f10 key is a two-piece cap and it's inner part is a grey color; however my f11 key, which is also a two-piece cap, has a white colored inner piece. The barrels are also white, instead of black which I've usually seen in online tear-downs.

Did I get some kind of IBM mishmash of a model M?

Thanks for any input!

//gains.

[emdude]

Well, all non-stabilized keys should either be one-piece or two-piece, perhaps the seller filled in missing keys with leftovers they had on hand.

Later Model Ms used key stems of a variety of colors, that is normal; barrel plates were also made in different colors, depending on the year. They can either be black, off-white, or gray.

[//gainsborough]

Yeah that's what I was thinking also. The board was described as "new" and "only opened to check contents" but also listed as "used", so I really didn't know what to expect. Other than the different keycaps within the same board and the missing model sticker I would have guessed it to be brand new. The keys even feel a little stiff, as if they haven't really been typed on much or broken in at all (is that a thing or did I just make that up?).

Seems weird a board in this kind of condition would need replacement caps.

[Halvar]

Welcome to DT! There's nothing wrong with asking questions as first posts, IMO.

White barrels are totally normal, there were both black and (off-)white ones.

There are some keys that are always 1-piece on a Model M, namely the larger keys like Return, Numpad +, left Shift etc. On some boards, F, J and Numpad 5 are also 1-piece. If you have a seemingly ramdom mixture of 1-piece and 2-piece otherwise, it's probable that you got a board that had some keys replaced at some point for some reason.

Same for the white base/slider pieces: I have seen several Model Ms that have all bases in grey except for F,J and Numpad 5 that are white. It has been argued that this could have been a visual help for the people (or machines ?) that put on the key caps in production originally. If your board was cleaned by a user along the way, they might have put them back to different places. Or some keys were replaced at some point.

Hope that helps,
Halvar

[emdude]

Yeah that's what I was thinking also. The board was described as "new" and "only opened to check contents" but also listed as "used", so I really didn't know what to expect. Other than the different keycaps within the same board and the missing model sticker I would have guessed it to be brand new. The keys even feel a little stiff, as if they haven't really been typed on much or broken in at all (is that a thing or did I just make that up?).

Seems weird a board in this kind of condition would need replacement caps.

If the keys are stiff, then it probably is fairly unused. I am not sure what to say about the key caps or the missing model sticker, your Model M appears to be a terminal keyboard; it might be some peculiarity that just isn't well-documented.

Out of curiosity, can you give an example of some keys that are one and two-pieced?

[emdude]

Same for the white base/slider pieces: I have seen several Model Ms that have all bases in grey except for F,J and Numpad 5 that are white. It has been argued that this could have been a visual help for the people (or machines ?) that put on the key caps in production originally. If your board was cleaned by a user along the way, they might have put them back to different places. Or some keys were replaced at some point.

I have encountered a couple of Model Ms (particularly Lexmark-made ones) that have an amalgam of key stems that seemed to have been placed randomly around the board. I actually have never seen a Model M like the ones you are referring to. Perhaps they did this for a short time between having all gray stems and just not caring anymore (when Lexmark took over).

[//gainsborough]

If the keys are stiff, then it probably is fairly unused. I am not sure what to say about the key caps or the missing model sticker, your Model M appears to be a terminal keyboard; it might be some peculiarity that just isn't well-documented.

Out of curiosity, can you give an example of some keys that are one and two-pieced?

After checking all the caps it ended up being very close to what Halvar had mentioned. F, J, numpad 5 are all two-piece keys. And interestingly, so are f8, f9, f10, f11, f12, "jump" (where num-lock usually is), and a blank key in the top right of the numpad. Everything else seems to be a one-piece key.

[emdude]

Hm, that is very unusual indeed! But being a terminal Model M, perhaps it was serviced at some point.

[//gainsborough]

Yeah that makes sense. Thanks for the help, both of you!