Keyboard collections?

[Abra]

I started off curious to MX switches and bought an CM XT with blue switches as my first keyboard, which I love typing on. After that I managed to get my hands on a G80-1190 with black switches. After typing on that for a while I knew linear switches weren't for me.

The last board I acquired was IBM model M and after that I didn't want to type on anything else! So for me I kinda feel I got to the end of a journey switch wise. Only downside the Model M is so large. Maybe I should start saving up for an SSK.

At the moment I still love going to thrift stores and looking at classifieds to see if I can find anything nice. I guess "the hunt" is still enjoyable. But the "hunger" to try new switches has kinda subsided. Although i'm quite curious how a Topre board feels!

So far i've seen alot of nice collections come by. Some collect all kinds of switches and other have extensive collections of Cherry boards for example. I was wondering if you guys had any preference for shaping your collection? Do you have any guidelines or limits to what you want to collect? I can imagine it you'll eventually reach limits after a few years of collecting. Or do you have a special holy grail keyboard that still manages to stay out of reach?

*edit
I totally forgot about the custom keyboards! I guess that's a whole other level to take it to.

[seebart]

the only "guidelines" for buying keyboard's is that I have some idea what I would like to try out. I don't limit myself to any one switch or brand.I'm starting to place limits on myself (or at least fool myself into thinking I do) on how much I should be buying. At some point storage becomes an issue. Oh yeah there are several "holy grails" out of reach because their super rare so I try not to think about those. At some point I might have pretty much everything I want but then you always discover something else. If you like Model M I do not believe that you got to the end of a journey switch wise but I may be wrong.

[kbdfr]

[…] At some point storage becomes an issue. […]

How very true…

[Abra]

the only "guidelines" for buying keyboard's is that I have some idea what I would like to try out. I don't limit myself to any one switch or brand.I'm starting to place limits on myself (or at least fool myself into thinking I do) on how much I should be buying. At some point storage becomes an issue. Oh yeah there are several "holy grails" out of reach because their super rare so I try not to think about those. At some point I might have pretty much everything I want but then you always discover something else. If you like Model M I do not believe that you got to the end of a journey switch wise but I may be wrong.

I'm curious to MX green as well! But so far I haven't come across any for a reasonable price.

I guess I just got overwhelmed by it all when I started this hobby four months ago. So far i've purchased ten boards already. Might not be much to probably most of you. It was quite a rush, discovering all the ins and outs about the keyboard collecting world. But im already dreading where this road will take me.

For me, I decided that backlit keyboards weren't a good investment since I keep reading about all the issues people keep having with them. They sure look nice though and with the RGB cherry switch becoming available for other manufacturers in 2015, I might reconsider that stance....

[photekq]

I only collect old IBM, old Cherry and custom boards. Cherry primarily. My guidelines for Cherry are :

-If it has doubleshot or dye-sublimation caps and it's in good condition, consider it.
-If it is very rare, consider it.
-If it is NIB, consider it.

I've got a bit over 20 boards now. 5/6 of which are boards I thought I'd never find due to rarity, so I'm more than happy with my collection. I just need to find a ESA-3000-HASRO, G81-3004SAT, and ANSI Olivetti and it'll be almost complete

[Findecanor]

I bought some keyboards to try switches or layouts that I hadn't tried before. But once I did that, I don't really need them but hang on to them anyway...
I got a Sun Type 5 only because I like the look, and a Model M only because no keyboard collection would be complete without at least one.
I also keep a lot of cruft and parts that I have kept around because I could imagine some future DIY project ...

[Abra]

I only collect old IBM, old Cherry and custom boards. Cherry primarily. My guidelines for Cherry are :

-If it has doubleshot or dye-sublimation caps and it's in good condition, consider it.
-If it is very rare, consider it.
-If it is NIB, consider it.

I've got a bit over 20 boards now. 5/6 of which are boards I thought I'd never find due to rarity, so I'm more than happy with my collection. I just need to find a ESA-3000-HASRO, G81-3004SAT, and ANSI Olivetti and it'll be almost complete

I do love the classic Cherry look the most. So far i've only managed to get some g81-3000 boards which aren't nice to type on. I still feel bad about having that Olivetti stored in some generic box, not knowing what to do with it.

I bought some keyboards to try switches or layouts that I hadn't tried before. But once I did that, I don't really need them but hang on to them anyway...
I got a Sun Type 5 only because I like the look, and a Model M only because no keyboard collection would be complete without at least one.
I also keep a lot of cruft and parts that I have kept around because I could imagine some future DIY project ...

Yes, that Sun Type 5 is such a pretty board! Too bad it's a rubber dome if I recall correctly?

[Daniel Beardsmore]

I was wondering if you guys had any preference for shaping your collection?

It amounts mostly to, "does it justify tripping over it?"

The first time I had a chance to buy an [wiki]NEC PC-8201A[/wiki], I passed up on it, which I regretted afterwards as I wanted to get my hands on an [wiki]Alps SKFL Lock[/wiki] switch. I didn't think I needed one, as I was expecting jacobolus to publish details of it since he's got an SKFL Lock. However, I got a second chance, and took it, and documented the switch.

I've seen several things that I wish I had space for:

• Some sort of video titling computer (not sure now), at least half a metre cubed! I just wanted the keyboard with its unidentified magnetic reed switches, but I didn't have space for the computer and nor would I dream of splitting the keyboard from the computer
• A Siemens and/or Nixdorf luggable computer — rather like the PAC, with some sort of tactile RAFI-like switches; the keycaps were too tight to remove with my fingers so I was just stealing a glimpse underneath them, and no-one else has ever reported the panda RAFI-like switches being tactile (I'm guessing rubber domes under the keycaps though, rather than a new switch)
• Some sort of synthesiser keyboard thing — it had illuminated MEI switches, which explains why the centre post in mine contains two holes right through: it's for the alternative illuminated slider (and since I didn't buy it, I can't prove that these switches exist on the wiki!)
• Some sort of Nan Tan portable computer with [wiki]Alps ultra low profile[/wiki] switches — I was just about able to remember the model number when I got home, but not precisely

The NEC PC-8201A is lying on the floor in bits as I've still got the keyboard out until I'm sure I'm done with it (which I'm not yet), and then I need to figure out how to reassemble it all. The machine is defective anyway. I also took some photos of the motherboard the other day as SKFL dating evidence — I often need to refer back to something lying around for some evidence or other.

I don't collect for fun — I collect for research purposes, and I have to be careful to to be overrun with keyboards, so I'm very selective of what I acquire, especially since most of what I end up with gets mauled or wasn't worth much to begin with, and isn't easy to shift. What on earth am I going to do with the Neve Necam 96 keyboard for example? It's big and heavy and utterly worthless.

[Hypersphere]

It appears that I now have a keyboard collection with multiple themes. I never intended to do this. It started because I had a Model M that I liked so much, I got one for each workstation at home and work. Then I decided I ought to have spares in case they ever broke down (not realizing at the time how incredibly robust these keyboards are).

Sometime later, a right-shoulder injury prompted an interest in more compact keyboards, and I wondered if there were modern TKL keyboards that merited a look. After some research, I decided to buy a Filco MJ2 TKL Ninja with Cherry mx blues. I was surprised at how different this much-touted modern keyboard seemed when compared to my venerable IBM Model M, and so I started a quest, which continues to this day, for finding the best in contemporary and historical keyboards in all form factors and switch types. This search has resulted in acquiring many keyboards, then selling off those I thought were of no further interest, then reacquiring some I had sold.

Now I have quite a collection of keyboards and keycap sets, although I had never set out with this goal in mind. My new goal is to clean, refurbish, and convert vintage keyboards so that they will all work with a modern computer. I would then like to offer for sale many of the vintage and contemporary models so that others can benefit from using some of the world's great keyboards. The resulting pared-down collection will contain good representatives of various form factors and switch types that will enter active rotations in my home and work offices.

[IvanIvanovich]

I'm changing my rules this year...
First, does it work? Does it work on a modern PC without esoteric modifications? YES...
Is it an uncommon model? YES...
Is it layout not all fucked up and terrible so I would never use it? YES...
Is it under $70? YES...
Consider purchase.

I've gotten a bit bored of chasing 'collectible' keyboard, so I haven't really been actively looking for anything now. My particular area of interest has been Cherry G80 and some other similar stuff, mostly 1984-1994.
But, I will still occasionally trawl around ebay to catch any steals if I stumble across them. After lots of different boards, I came to the conclusion that I only need like 4 and got rid of a bunch. One for each complete working computer I have. 60% is my favorite and hasn't left my desk since I started using them as my primary board. Then otherwise, I need to keep one with PS/2 just in case to use with older systems which is TKL or fullsize. That is all.

[webwit]

Your des-ti-ny!



http://deskthority.net/photos-f62/walk- ... t4800.html

[Daniel Beardsmore]

Ah, but what we need now webwit is a big table listing all of your keyboards!

[webwit]

Hmm yes, I was busy with that, and sixty with his, and then we decided to make a site together instead.

My weirdest subcollection might be IBM Model M 1396790. Mostly harvested from marktplaats.nl when these went for little or free. That's the IBM ANSI version made by IBM UK, for the Dutch marked mostly, because the other European countries like ISO. It spans like 8 years of different versions with slowly developing pcb and controllers but also product cheapening. It's a footprint of history!

[seebart]

webwit wrote:

Your des-ti-ny!

nope that is not my destiny. While I have great respect for a collection like that I do not want to get into those realms. I do not have the storage space either.

Hypersphere wrote:

My new goal is to clean, refurbish, and convert vintage keyboards so that they will all work with a modern computer.

yes that is also my main new goal. Now that we have the Ardunio Leonardo R3 option this might become a little easier. But unlike you Hypersphere I only want to convert my own for daily use.

I like your buying rules a lot IvanIvanovich. I will set up similair ones for myself.

[Compgeke]

Yes, that Sun Type 5 is such a pretty board! Too bad it's a rubber dome if I recall correctly?

Type 5 is actually a fairly decent rubberdome. I have one myself as I own a Sun Ultra 5 and I can stand typing on it.

[deeyay]

Ever since I got my first mechanical keyboard about two years ago I have gotten a fetish for them. My preference is to buy old ones, refurbish them if possible/wanted or just harvest keycaps from them to use on other boards. I don't necessarily "collect". I just buy whatever I stumble upon that looks interesting enough.

Right now I'm "retrobrighting" an old BTC 5349 keyboard that I got yesterday with foam and foil switches coupled with rubber buckling sleeve that gives it a little tactility. Bought if for $7 and some keycaps and chassis was a bit yellow. I love the keycaps on it though. Big legends and they are low profile compared to most other caps today. I like them a lot. I also think the foam and foil switches are absolutely OK to type on and they are all consistent in feeling so they seem to be well preserved.

Basically I collect stuff to either use as a complete product if I don't harvest parts and mod other keyboards with. I don't buy stuff to just let it sit on a shelf to look at.

[seebart]

Good stuff deeyay that's the way to go.

[Muirium]

Hmm. However to explain what I've been up to? I'm not sure there is a particularly compelling story, besides being the natural result of coming to Deskthority!

My first mech was an IBM Model F XT. That set a high bar, and the core of my boards are still IBM. Got everything from beam spring, Model F and Model M now, in compact form factors throughout the range, as much as 3276s count. In fact, I'm pretty much done for IBMs, as far as I can tell. Never say never (I still have zero industrials) but I might as well thin out a few before considering any more.

What I was originally up to was exploring switches. In fact the first mech components in my home were all in Mr. Interface's switch sampler. Those pointed me to IBM and Topre (along with respected opinions I found here) and to keep an eye on damped Alps and those crazy Futabas. I still haven't got a Futaba board, but damped Alps came my way when I picked up an AEK II (the original board whose vastly outsized reputation in Apple circles caught my interest in this realm) and I must admit a fondness for Montereys over any clicky MX.

Something I had figured out from the get go was that smaller keyboards are my thing. From my Kishsaver and SSKs to my (coming) HHKB and everything else, a TKL is a big keyboard in my view and a 60% is ideal. The little guys are much easier for me to work with, as well as store of course. And they get the lion's share of my all important metric: actual use. I'm not really a collector so much as I am a user of these boards. Although once you've more keyboards than fingers, this gets a little difficult to argue!

Custom building is the other axis for me. My first MX board was one I built myself (with immense help from Matteo) and several of my acquisitions have been for new projects. I've got something in mind for Mitsumi Miniature switches, and Cherry M84s, both of which are crucially MX mount compatible. My caps collection makes that a big deal indeed. 7bit's and Matteo's custom friendly creations are a dream for the kind of layouts I want to make, instead of having to watch eBay for the long haul, hunting obscure Alps mount boards.

Speaking of eBay, by my count I've only ever bought 4 keyboards there. I got three boxes from Cindy with that many! I'm lazy when it comes to hunting, see. DT's much more my place than scouring any storefront.

[fohat]

When I bought my first computer in 1985 it came with a real keyboard.

When I replaced it, I took whatever came along and did not worry about it. In the late 1990s I got a Dell system and it came with an AT101W with black Alps (which I still have).

I used it regularly for a few years until I got a Compaq system with an SK-2800 (the "internet" keyboard with rubbery media buttons) which I loved and used consistently (even buying a couple of backups 2nd-hand for $2) until about 2010 when I stumbled across an old Northgate in a thrift store for a couple of dollars.

That got me interested even though it had a couple of dead keys (I eventually ended up selling it to Bob Tibbetts for $35 or so) and I went onto the internet for research.

One thing led to another until I saw the consensus that the IBM Model F was the pinnacle. I bought an XT and a Hagstrom which was too cumbersome and I quickly sold it after getting a Model M. My first Model M was a beautiful 1991 black label 1391401 and I still have it, completely un-modified. Numerous Ms later, I hit the jackpot and just got one of Cindy's lovely new SSKs (let me apologize again for my knee-jerk reaction to some shiny key caps and my aspersion that it was not new).

In the last few years, I have bought dozens and dozens (quite possibly a couple of hundred) of mostly cheap 2nd-hand keyboards and dis-assembled, studied, cleaned, and rehabbed many of them.

I am still an IBM enthusiast, preferring Model Fs above all, particularly my behemoth ANSI-modded F-122s.

My other favorites are Alps, with blue and orange being my favorites. I have transplanted them into Northgate Omnikey 101 and Filco Zero chassis for my "endgame" Alps.

NMB Hi-Tek "Space Invaders" are also particularly nice and I prefer the clicky blacks, although even the whites are nicer than other linear switches, which I usually avoid. The Hi-Teks are somehow very "solid" and dependable feeling.

In passing, I will also mention that I think that the lowly "Acer" switches are very pleasant, even as plungers over domes. And white SMK Cherry-mounts are great, too.

Lastly, I am a big guy with a big desk and I work in spreadsheets every day, so I feel lost on anything less than a full-size keyboard. And having become used to the ANSI 122-key layout, I even miss the left-side function keys (which I use more than the top ones) on "standard" boards.

One day, when and if I retire, I will drop back to a TKL, but I would be lost with less than 87 keys especially the isolated dedicated arrow key cluster.

[Findecanor]

BTW, a tip: never store a keyboard with its cable wrapped around it. Cables are usually made of PVC - and contain plasticisers that could eat itself into the plastic of keyboard cases and keycaps. Instead, wrap the cable into a coil and put an empty toilet paper tube around the coil. Very simple, cheap and effective.

[seebart]

Now there's a practical tip! Thanks. I never wrap anyway but the coil / tube is better.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

In passing, I will also mention that I think that the lowly "Acer" switches are very pleasant, even as plungers over domes.

I assume you mean the 6510 series with rubber domes and sliders? What we call the "Acer switch" doesn't use domes — it has a pivoting bar that presses on a three-layer membrane assembly, operated by a helical spring.

[fohat]

I assume you mean the 6510 series with rubber domes and sliders?

What we call the "Acer switch" doesn't use domes — it has a pivoting bar that presses on a three-layer membrane assembly, operated by a helical spring.

My Acer is boxed up tight but it is surely the dome & sliders version. My recollection is that there is what looks like the upper part of a switch body if you aren't wearing your glasses, but it is actually molded integrally into the key frame (whatever you call it, like the barrel frame or chimney frame of a Model M) and the plunger goes down into it.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

This one?

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=93 ... #msg167817

Unsurprisingly the 6511/6512 aren't widely documented!

[deeyay]

Mmm I have just put together my newly collected BTC 5349 that I have restored as good as I can. I'm glad that I bought this keyboard because I actually enjoy typing on it. It's very soft to type on without having too much of that crappy mushy feeling. And it has a nice sound to it when I type that I also like. This is foam and foil switches that has the rubber buckling sleeve under the keycaps that bring some tactility to the board. I do not think I would have liked the version with springs as much as they would be totally linear. This keyboard is going to be used!

[fohat]

This one?

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=93 ... #msg167817

Unsurprisingly the 6511/6512 aren't widely documented!

No, not like that. It really does look very much like Alps until you get close.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

Your description exactly matches the appearance of the Tai-Hao semi-mechanical keyboard, except that's clicky and doesn't have domes. I don't recall Acer making anything like that — that's new to me.

[Abra]

Thanks for your input guys, I love reading all the replies. There are so different ways to approach this hobby and I feel I haven't explored even a fraction of it.

I do love the fixing up part of it. Not sure if i'll ever have the confidence for building a board up from the ground as I read about a lot of soldering mishaps! But who knows...

It's given me insight how this hobby might evolve for me. To be honest I was just a bit concerned because I was secretly spending more money on keyboards all of a sudden. And I think the passionate community drew me in as well.

[Muirium]

The community is key. I wouldn't be into this nearly as much if it was just a quiet hobby, silently hoarding stuff. I usually bore of that pretty quickly.

[Abra]

About the silently hoarding stuff, I already feel bad for having unused keyboards stored up. I've forced myself to do a rotation now. At the moment i'm typing on my Quickfire XT with blues and tomorrow i'll be plugging the Model M in again. I only have to rotate between 3 keyboards now though. Can't imagine the rotation list for some of you guys with over 20 keyboards!