IBM 3278 beamspring keyboard restoration and usb convert

lucar · 20 Mar 2021, 16:30

Hi,

I completed a restoration project of an IBM 3278 series terminal beamspring keyboard and usb convertion.

I have to thank Deskthority user Pandrew for his great design of a low cost and effective beamspring usb converter and my friends Andrea and Marco from the italian mechanical keyboard "CCC" group for the patience and support in this project.

Here is a video with the summary of all the work involved.

Cheers
Luca R.

Tahoma · 20 Mar 2021, 16:54

Wow, this is really cool!

Amazing labor of love! Beautiful result from a badly deteriorated start point.

Love the aesthetics of the keyboard, as well as the other vintage equipment used to fix it (blue vice, soldering iron)! And I also love the marine cold weather gloves.

Very creative use of dive weights to boot.

Was this keyboard found while scuba diving?

Thanks again for posting this great video!!!!!!!!!

lucar · 20 Mar 2021, 17:17

Tahoma wrote: 20 Mar 2021, 16:54 Wow, this is really cool!

Amazing labor of love! Beautiful result from a badly deteriorated start point.

Love the aesthetics of the keyboard, as well as the other vintage equipment used to fix it (blue vice, soldering iron)! And I also love the marine cold weather gloves.

Very creative use of dive weights to boot.

Was this keyboard found while scuba diving?

Thanks again for posting this great video!!!!!!!!!

Thank You!!

the keyboard rested , abandoned, in an open field exposed to weather for years, thats' why it was so rusty. Really, I had to figure out how to restore or replace every single piece. Fortunately, the most important parts , the switches, were in good conditions so I did proceed with the restoration. Actually, the thing that is left, is to understand how to wind new springs, I wish I could make them in stainless steel.

Thanks again
Luca

Tahoma · 20 Mar 2021, 17:30

You are welcome! Nicely done.

darkcruix · 20 Mar 2021, 18:21

One of the best restoration videos I have seen so far ... very impressive work, including the complete re-creation of the switch plate(s).

TheInverseKey · 20 Mar 2021, 18:59

This right here is why I keep coming back to DT. Seeing a rusty old board being brought back to life with the amount of care and attention to detail always gets me to finish the next project. Thanks for posting!

Heikkonen · 20 Mar 2021, 19:04

Really impressive restoration!

SneakyRobb · 20 Mar 2021, 20:23

Very nicely done! Great job

mcmaxmcmc · 20 Mar 2021, 22:02

Wow... you put other restorations to shame! Awesome job!

Now I just gotta do a similar thing with mine...

John Doe · 21 Mar 2021, 03:40

Wops, you even made a custom barrel plate perfectly? Cool.

Riptide666 · 21 Mar 2021, 04:06

Nice work! Did you repaint the case?

Razerban · 21 Mar 2021, 11:01

Very nice work!!! It's indeed one of the best 327X restoration videos I've seen so far.
Would you mind sharing the color you used to repaint the case if it's not a custom one ?

lucar · 21 Mar 2021, 12:38

Hi!

Thank You all for the kind words!

Yes I did repaint the cover, but as I anticipated in the audio , due to covid, I could'nt shoot the video of the paint job. I have no paint code because I just brought everything to a "body shop" and they have something like a colorimeter and a machine that blends paint color to reproduce a close one to the original . The color sample was taken from the plastic door of another destroyed keyboard, so, that is the work of a professional, it goes bejond my possibilites in my small garage.

There is also a lot of undocumented work relating to the one by one cleaning of switch cases and components, derusting of the solenoid , rebuilding of the door hinge and spring and a lot of initial failures with the spacebar stab for example.
All of this has been not easy since I have rather basic tools to work with.
I did design the barrel and bottom closure and made it cut and bent in a local shop, they have great laser cutting and bending machines that made it possible. This comes from past experiences designing keyboard plates if You check my past videos, so it's not been a terrible effort there.

All this took a lot of time, mostly to figure out how to solve problems like opening switches without breaking one or remove the old spacebar stabilizer.

Luca

Muramasa · 21 Mar 2021, 13:16

I've restored a pretty rusty 3101 but this is another level! amazing work, an inspiration for sure. I also couldn't believe the work you put into modelling and producing replacement switch and back plates! Are these resources you'd consider sharing with the community?

darkcruix · 21 Mar 2021, 14:23

Muramasa wrote: 21 Mar 2021, 13:16 I've restored a pretty rusty 3101 but this is another level! amazing work, an inspiration for sure. I also couldn't believe the work you put into modelling and producing replacement switch and back plates! Are these resources you'd consider sharing with the community?

I was wondering the same, if the files are available.

shine · 21 Mar 2021, 14:39

nice work! good job mate

depletedvespene · 21 Mar 2021, 15:12

Outstanding restoration.

juspek · 21 Mar 2021, 16:45

Great work! And not just the keyboard but the video too.

lucar · 22 Mar 2021, 10:22

darkcruix wrote: 21 Mar 2021, 14:23
Muramasa wrote: 21 Mar 2021, 13:16 I've restored a pretty rusty 3101 but this is another level! amazing work, an inspiration for sure. I also couldn't believe the work you put into modelling and producing replacement switch and back plates! Are these resources you'd consider sharing with the community?
I was wondering the same, if the files are available.

Thank You all again for the nice feedback.

I'm thaking into consideration to publish the barrel prject files. I'm hesitating because it's not a cut and go thing like a simple plate as we're used to , it needs some explanations for those who evantually would dare to try and smart people at the cutting shop.
I'll see how I can publish it , I'll keep You posted.

Luca

orihalcon · 22 Mar 2021, 12:30

Very nice restore! I’ve had one like this in the past and what really kill things is if the springs and stems are rusted though, so I’m glad yours was salvageable!

How did you restore the case? Chemicals vs sandblasting, or both? What type of paint?

lucar · 25 Mar 2021, 11:36

orihalcon wrote: 22 Mar 2021, 12:30 Very nice restore! I’ve had one like this in the past and what really kill things is if the springs and stems are rusted though, so I’m glad yours was salvageable!

How did you restore the case? Chemicals vs sandblasting, or both? What type of paint?

I gave the case to a car paint shop and a color sample and they sand blasted, grouted, powder coated it. Once You have the electronics, chassis and everything working, You can spend in a professional paint job , otherwise impossible in the limited space of a garage. I decided not to buy a sand blasing machine nor to go with paint spray cans, You can use them to salvage a plate but not to finish a case in my opinion.

Luca

ZyBeR · 26 Mar 2021, 11:59

Very impressive! Though I must admit I laughed a bit when you used a pen to outline the holes just after showing a cad model of the part when then was laser cut and bended

lucar · 29 Mar 2021, 21:49

ZyBeR wrote: 26 Mar 2021, 11:59 Very impressive! Though I must admit I laughed a bit when you used a pen to outline the holes just after showing a cad model of the part when then was laser cut and bended

I had a hard time to convince a local plastic laser cutting shop to cut me the foam from the cad model but after 5 attempts then came the pandemic and I had to do it the old way