Some additional follow up on another nice modification from the user who modified their keyboard in the post from July.
Sharing (with permission) photos of the latest status of the keyboard and a description of the steps taken for this mod:
- f77 mod.jpg (3.19 MiB) Viewed 17774 times
- f772.jpg (3.64 MiB) Viewed 17763 times
"There are three parts to turning a BNMF into replica Model 300. The keys, the labels, and the cable. Ordering a beige case, the new 4704 keys, and the relegendable keys is an obvious first step. You will then need to source the characteristic stepped modifiers as well as others. They can all be found on the IBM 3180 keyboard. The model M variant is part number 1390238. It seems to be rare but not overpriced.
For the labels I printed out the provided scan of original 4700 key labels and yellowed the paper with watered down coffee. After it dried, I used my IBM Wheelwriter with 12pt Courier to type some of the legends.
The cable is spliced: USB-C , DB9, USB-A. Sacrifice the USB-C end of a charging cable (or in my case the original cable my model F came with) and splice it with any 4 of the 9 cables inside the DB9. Order USB-A terminal parts and splice those on. Check the pins!
Next, get a serial hood and DB9 connector terminals. You need to melt all the plastic and pins out the connector terminals with a soldering iron. The USB-A end will then fit through it. I used hot glue to seal them together; be sure it sticks out enough to fit securely into a variety of ports. Fit your improvised serial plug inside its plastic housing. Align everything carefully and test that it works; once you stuff the housing with glue it will not open. If done right, your cable should be as beefy as the model F itself. For reference, the weight of my keyboard exceeds 9 pounds with this cable.
After this you will have a BNMF that looks as close to a Model 300 as you can get! If you are like me though, looking the part is not enough. Sadly I did not add a beeper and volume knob; the parts were more than I wanted to spend, but using VIA I did program the machine to work like a typical IBM keyboard of the time.
The function key swaps between three layers. For reference, FN is the right blank key, and left control is Reset. FN + LAlt activates alphanumeric mode: the right-side block types what it says. There is no numlock key so it is stuck in this mode until reset. FN + RAlt disables all keys except those needed to reset the keyboard. FN+ Reset resets the keyboard to its default layer. In this layer the right block becomes a nav cluster.
Beyond these modes, the FN key can be combined with tab to press End, or PD2 for Home. FN+ backspace presses left arrow. FN+ the "Test, Cursor, Blink" keys do those tricky CTRL+ALT+DEL style shortcuts. Finally, right control is enter, PD2 is backtab, PD3 is another enter key. There is no escape key unless you press FN+ `. Although it might not sound so this is a comfortable layout because each key does what it says for the most part."
Ellipse wrote: ↑01 Jul 2022, 23:15
I am posting (with permission) another nice photo, this time with some of the new Extra Keys (some of which recently arrived from the factory: terminal, 4704, Icons, Extras, num pad/right side blocks, front printing), as well as some customized transparent relegendable keys, which allow you to print graphics for both the top and front of the key so you can have a custom key with custom front printing for multi-functionality.
This may be one of the first photos I've seen with a near-original 4704-style configuration!
Here are some details on the fonts used:
"most the numbers are whatever font IBM used. It looks like Public Sans though. The period is Public Sans too. Fira Code for the two slashed zeros, after seeing a picture of a model M style macro pad with that on. Finally, my Wheelwriter uses Prestige Elite at 12 cpi. That's what all the VISA CREDIT stuff is written in. All the words [on the relgendables] are Prestige Elite. I typed it manually on my wheelwriter."
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