Found a few keyboards in the trash at work. Are these any good?

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atomicthumbs

25 Oct 2016, 05:19

Image

The other one has different printing on it:

Image

Image
Spoiler:
;) Yes, I know what they are, and yes, I did find them in the trash. I work at an electronics recycler. There are three of them; one is typewriter-layout, two have APL tripleshots, and one has the Attribute Select keys; a keyboard enthusiast coworker took the typewriter one. Tips for cleaning are appreciated, as is anyone with a spare xwhatsit controller who wants to sell!

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emdude
Model M Apologist

25 Oct 2016, 05:49

Very impressive finds.

Wodan has a great and thorough thread on a beam spring refurb: workshop-f7/me-too-beamspring-refurb-t14349.html

He is also organizing an Xwhatsit GB with lot_lizard here: group-buys-f50/xwhatsit-beamspring-cont ... 14500.html

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chiptea

25 Oct 2016, 05:51

Oh wow, two beamsprings.
I'd kill for one, but you're probably not letting them go :(

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y11971alex

25 Oct 2016, 07:20

I found one for $75 and someone finds two for free :geek:

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seebart
Offtopicthority Instigator

25 Oct 2016, 07:36

Yes certainly very nice to find IBM Beamsprings in the trash anywhere, are those APL caps on the second one? If you don't know what you've got there atomicthumbs search DT for "Beamspring" or look here:

wiki/IBM_Beam_Spring_Keyboards
y11971alex wrote: I found one for $75 and someone finds two for free :geek:
Ohters pay hundreds of dollars for one.

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E3E

25 Oct 2016, 08:05

Oh he knows, haha. He's just having fun.

...

Those finds still blow me away. Let me step out of this room before I faint. :shock:

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seebart
Offtopicthority Instigator

25 Oct 2016, 08:12

E3E wrote: Oh he knows, haha. He's just having fun.

...

Those finds still blow me away. Let me step out of this room before I faint. :shock:
Right, know what you mean.

Next time atomicthumbs find this one in the trash and give it to me... :evilgeek:
Spoiler:
IMG_20140921_111724_p-2.jpg
IMG_20140921_111724_p-2.jpg (509.99 KiB) Viewed 6692 times

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atomicthumbs

25 Oct 2016, 08:44

Practicing typing on one of these, I think I figured out part of what people say makes them feel "magical". The shape of the beam spring and the way it's attached to other parts of the switch mean that it resonates and vibrates for a moment after it actuates; you can feel the key vibrating under your finger ever so slightly. It's the best tactile feedback I've ever felt.

My Model M doesn't have that at all, since any vibration is damped by the spring's contact with the side of the barrel.

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seebart
Offtopicthority Instigator

25 Oct 2016, 08:57

atomicthumbs wrote: Practicing typing on one of these, I think I figured out part of what people say makes them feel "magical". The shape of the beam spring and the way it's attached to other parts of the switch mean that it resonates and vibrates for a moment after it actuates; you can feel the key vibrating under your finger ever so slightly. It's the best tactile feedback I've ever felt.

My Model M doesn't have that at all, since any vibration is damped by the spring's contact with the side of the barrel.
Right, Beamspring has a great "swing", it's quite sensitive in a good way. That's what the hype is about. IBM went downhill from Beamspring to Model F (which is still great) to Model M which feels quite dull in comparison.

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Khers

25 Oct 2016, 09:05

Image

:o I dropped my jaw so hard it dislocated

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seebart
Offtopicthority Instigator

25 Oct 2016, 09:09

Yeah this is even more extreme then when jou got his for 15 EUR or something. And APL on top of that. :o :shock:

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E3E

25 Oct 2016, 09:34

The closest thing I have to the majestic IBM beam stalk is a few Alps Plate Spring boards, which I often hear compared to beam springs, which, in itself, makes me really want to try/own a beamspring.

Alps Plate Spring switches are some of my favorite switches, so I can only imagine beam springs being just delightful.

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fohat
Elder Messenger

25 Oct 2016, 14:17

E3E wrote:
I can only imagine beam springs being just delightful.
Fortunately for me, I am absolutely allergic to weird-o layouts, so I can be a mere observer to all this.

But if I got one for free, I would make the effort.

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photekq
Cherry Picker

25 Oct 2016, 15:34

If you ever want to part with an APL one and want either my right testicle or someone killed, we can probably work something out :lol:

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Ratfink

25 Oct 2016, 15:50

chiptea wrote: Oh wow, two beamsprings.
I'd kill for one, but you're probably not letting them go :(
Why does it matter that he's not letting them go? You already said you'd kill for one! Pry those keyboards from his cold, dead hands! :D :?

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atomicthumbs

25 Oct 2016, 17:36

ok, so that's two people who are willing to kill for one of these. you'll have to take each other out. sorry, but that's the only way to do this fairly

Edit: wait a minute, I have two of them

*seals self in keyboard bunker*

Parak

25 Oct 2016, 18:21

Mmm, the 3278 Attribute Select Typewriter/APL... so purdy...

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Mattr567

29 Oct 2016, 04:53

Killer find man.

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XMIT
[ XMIT ]

29 Oct 2016, 13:54

Heh. I've been looking for a reason to move back to CA and you've just given me two. Where do you work?!

Two years in to this hobby seriously and I've "only" found two Displaywriter beam springs. It's time to start making some Chinese knockoffs of them. :lol:

Why, I bet that with a little magnet embedded in the fly plate, we could make these Hall effect based instead of capacitive. :evilgeek:

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vivalarevolución
formerly prdlm2009

29 Oct 2016, 19:57

Nice find. Wow.

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alh84001
v.001

29 Oct 2016, 22:46

Khers wrote: Image
This :lol:

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