I still have all of the parts (sans plastic barrel plates) but I don't know if I want to try making another FSSK with those plastic plates as they are always under a lot of stress.Muirium wrote: ↑02 Jun 2023, 10:43Well, look on the bright side: the cool grey industrial one should be very easy to sell.
When I’m next in California, I’ll have my SSK with me to install Taylor Swift’s FSSK upgrade which is waiting with family over there. Think that will leave me with a spare SSK barrel plate on my hands if that’s all you need. I’m keeping the metal backplate and caps, though.
(Model MF) Remodeling the Model M (aka.. the Mara)
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micrex22
- Location: Canada
- Main keyboard: UltraNav
- Favorite switch: BS
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DMA
- Location: Seattle, US
- Main keyboard: T420
- Main mouse: Trackpoint
- Favorite switch: beamspring
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- Contact:
Have you tried to ask Unicomp for the Mini M barrel frame? Should be close enough.
..or the Ultra Classic barrel frame, to chop off all the unneeded parts?
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pyrelink
- Location: USA
- Main keyboard: HHKB 2
- Main mouse: CST L-Trac
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You don't even need to chance the Mini M barrel frame. Unicomp still sells the 84 key SSK barrel frame right here: https://www.pckeyboard.com/page/product/CVSET (choose the Frame-84key option). I used the Unicomp frame to build my FSSK.
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pyrelink
- Location: USA
- Main keyboard: HHKB 2
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fohat
- Elder Messenger
- Location: Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
- Main keyboard: Model F 122-key terminal
- Main mouse: Microsoft Optical Mouse
- Favorite switch: Model F Buckling Spring
- DT Pro Member: 0158
It is astonishing how much flexiblity is built into ancient IBM iron.
Want Alt keys and a normal space bar on your F AT? The sensors are there.
Want to replace a double with 2 singles, in a variety of places? Gotcha covered.
Want an ISO Enter, or an ANSI Enter, or a BAE? Already wired for them in the factory.
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DMA
- Location: Seattle, US
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M "barrels" are actually greatly simplified F barrels: the flipper chamber height is 5mm everywhere, transitions from stem support ring to the upper part of the barrel are all 45 degrees instead of what can only be conveyed as "baroque", and flipper retainer is blockier.
Oh, and reinforcing ribs are added in an "X" pattern to spread the load from barrel to the plate more evenly.
Oh, and plastic. Shittier plastic.
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Muirium
- µ
- Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
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Man, that looks marvellous! 
I expect the sound still has a bit more Model M in the mix compared to a full F barrel plate, but otherwise it should be very close, I’m guessing.
I expect the sound still has a bit more Model M in the mix compared to a full F barrel plate, but otherwise it should be very close, I’m guessing.
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pyrelink
- Location: USA
- Main keyboard: HHKB 2
- Main mouse: CST L-Trac
- Favorite switch: Capacitive Buckling Spring
- DT Pro Member: -
Here is the sound test video after I did the floss mod (and as the keyboard still exists on my desk today).
The sound is definitely "plastic", and the feel is like 87% of the way to a Model F but just not quite. Still a million times better than a model m on both fronts, but a metal plate is absolutely the missing ingredient.
DMA wrote: ↑07 Jun 2023, 02:55M "barrels" are actually greatly simplified F barrels: the flipper chamber height is 5mm everywhere, transitions from stem support ring to the upper part of the barrel are all 45 degrees instead of what can only be conveyed as "baroque", and flipper retainer is blockier.
Oh, and reinforcing ribs are added in an "X" pattern to spread the load from barrel to the plate more evenly.
Oh, and plastic. Shittier plastic.
That is the most frustrating part to me is recognizing what a feat of engineering the original Model F is, and subsequently the Model M was entirely a feat of miraculous... cost savings. Blows my mind that the cheapest and plastic-iest iteration was still great enough to achieve its legendary status.fohat wrote: ↑06 Jun 2023, 23:05It is astonishing how much flexiblity is built into ancient IBM iron.
Want Alt keys and a normal space bar on your F AT? The sensors are there.
Want to replace a double with 2 singles, in a variety of places? Gotcha covered.
Want an ISO Enter, or an ANSI Enter, or a BAE? Already wired for them in the factory.
Also I know this isn't the place to brag, but as I have been going back through a lot of old keyboard stuff lately (archiving all of my posts and photos here and elsewhere) I guess I got a bit of the bug back. Last night I did one single search for "IBM Keyboard" on facebook marketplace, and within an hour I had this for $50:
- 1987, single piece caps, mint condish
- photo_2023-06-07_13-34-54.jpg (162.31 KiB) Viewed 4701 times
So with 2 spare SSKs I am determined to find myself a metal plate and build another FSSK, maybe with the fancy new ESSK PCB. Genuinely haven't wanted to type on anything else in years, so much so my HHKB almost collects dust.
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micrex22
- Location: Canada
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- DT Pro Member: -
Oh wow!!! Thx for that. Now I can finish my FSSK, or at the very least rebuild them as Model Mspyrelink wrote: ↑06 Jun 2023, 03:02You don't even need to chance the Mini M barrel frame. Unicomp still sells the 84 key SSK barrel frame right here: https://www.pckeyboard.com/page/product/CVSET (choose the Frame-84key option). I used the Unicomp frame to build my FSSK.
