Post your IBM beam springs here!

mr_a500 · 27 Mar 2013, 18:04

Mikelittoris wrote:Forget about the plastic cover, looks like a gel wristrest would fit right in there

That's an interesting idea... but I don't like gel wristrests. (...reminds me too much of the wimpy, politically-correct post-90's - and I'm going for a more rugged, manly, 70's keyboard look. Keyboards should be firm, not flaccid.

)

Icarium · 03 Apr 2013, 18:09

mr_a500 wrote:APL tripleshot keycaps:

Damn, this is awesome. I would love to use it and code some APL.

Peter · 03 Apr 2013, 20:38

Those caps are industrial art !

webwit · 03 Apr 2013, 20:57

You love to code APL?

7bit · 03 Apr 2013, 21:01

I think he would just love to code APL if he had such lovely keyboard.

mr_a500 · 03 Apr 2013, 21:40

I downloaded an APL interpreter and started reading articles on APL - even though it's probably a pile of useless ancient crap and I can't even connect the keyboard yet - all just because the keys look so nice.

webwit · 03 Apr 2013, 22:16

What do you need APL for when you have the fastly superior 68k assembler to create your own boot loader and infinite blob demo?

mr_a500 · 03 Apr 2013, 23:07

When I quickly read that, I thought you said "infinite boob demo". Now that's the kind of demo I'd like to see.

webwit · 03 Apr 2013, 23:13

I imagine all your texts scrolling right to left in a wildly colored sinus scroller.

Greystoke · 24 Apr 2013, 19:33

Sounds like high-carbon steel. Nice stuff, if you're making knives. Keyboard cases, not so much.

You'll have to coat or seal it with something in order to keep it from oxidizing from moisture in the air. Might try wiping it down with alcohol and then mineral oil, or an oil/beeswax blend. Or prime it and paint it in the stock color?

mr_a500 · 30 Apr 2013, 15:35

There's no way I'm going to repaint it in the stock (drab beige) colour after all the work I did to remove it. When you've got a metal keyboard, the last thing you should do is paint it to look like old yellowing plastic.

No, I'll keep it unpainted. I don't want to coat it with anything clear either because it would get that modern shiny "fake metal" look. The occasional black smudge is fine.

Now I just have to work on connecting the damn thing.

daedalus · 26 Aug 2013, 03:00

mr_a500 wrote:APL tripleshot keycaps:

The things I'd do to own one of those beam spring APL boards... Now, if I had the keycaps of that, and put it onto one of these -

mr_a500 · 26 Aug 2013, 13:32

Oh yes, that one is probably the best looking beam spring - but the layout doesn't give room for the "inverted T" cursor keys. I'd like to get the red and green keys from that keyboard and add it to mine. I could use a good red "STOP" key.

daedalus · 26 Aug 2013, 18:04

You could go for a matrix beam spring!

mr_a500 · 02 Sep 2013, 15:48

I could definitely go for that. It's wide screen too! It would look great in my "Command Centre".

It looks like it belongs in a nuclear bunker. I wonder if it could withstand a 5 megaton blast.

Madhias · 19 Nov 2014, 22:35

I got a dirty 3278 Beam Spring today. That is one strange bastard. The switches feel perfect, and it is definitely true: beam springs feel a little bit like Topre, but with a clicky IBM sound. Just great. I don't know if i can repair everything, but i'm really looking forward to start tinkering. One problem is that a cap is missing. Two or three cap stems (or whatever) seem to be twisted, and the Back Space key doesn't click. On the case the right wand (this cap separator) is broken a little bit, but i think that's not a big thing. What i really like is that the manuals are there, and they are in a very good shape.

Spoiler:

XMIT · 17 Mar 2015, 21:10

All of mr_a500's photos are dead as of this posting.

I finally got mine yesterday:
http://deskthority.net/photos-f62/ibm-d ... 10212.html

mr_a500 · 18 Mar 2015, 02:30

XMIT wrote: All of mr_a500's photos are dead as of this posting.

Damn Imageshack! I assumed an image host site would... you know, host images... instead of deleting everything after a random amount of time. I've lost hundreds of images. Damn them all to hell.

elecplus · 18 Mar 2015, 02:43

mr_a500 wrote:
XMIT wrote: All of mr_a500's photos are dead as of this posting.
Damn Imageshack! I assumed an image host site would... you know, host images... instead of deleting everything after a random amount of time. I've lost hundreds of images. Damn them all to hell.

Should I have a backup of my uploaded files on my computer?
ABSOLUTELY! Unpredictable events can occur, and we would like you to have a backup of your uploaded files on your computer. This precautionary measure is not be confused with ImageShack’s ability to keep backup copies of your files. Every time you upload an image we will make three copies to ensure that your images are safely stored, and are retrievable in case of unforeseen catastrophic events of various kind.
I'm missing images
If your account contains any missing or broken images we ask that you email us at is-support@imageshack.net, and if possible provide the image links in question. We will look into restoring the image back into your account as soon as possible.

that being said, they also stipulated that there is no storage limit or time if you account is paid up, but past members and trial users who do not sign up may have their images deleted to free up resources...
https://imageshack.us/faq

mr_a500 · 18 Mar 2015, 02:45

Ah, so they expect you to pay and keep paying to host images? I wonder what would happen if YouTube did the same for videos.

jacobolus · 18 Mar 2015, 02:48

No one should ever use imageshack for anything, they’re terrible. You should definitely back up everything locally, but imgur is the best free image host I know of for stuff that you want to post publicly, and don’t care about the precise image file being preserved (they strip metadata and somewhat aggressively compress jpeg images).

Touch_It · 18 Mar 2015, 02:48

mr_a500 wrote:Ah, so they expect you to pay and keep paying to host images? I wonder what would happen if YouTube did the same for videos.

Haha, the Internet would break.
I used to use imageshack till I realized photoshop seemed far superior for my needs. Always ran into issues with imageshack