IBM XT (Model F) vs Industrial XT (Oak)

[snuci]

Below are pictures of the comparison and answers the question... Can an XT Model F keyboard mechanism fit in an Industrial XT case?

Industrial XT front (top) Normal XT front (bottom)

XT Normal vs Industrial 1.JPG (341.39 KiB) Viewed 8913 times

Industrial XT back (top) Normal XT back (bottom)

XT Normal vs Industrial 2.JPG (241.21 KiB) Viewed 8913 times

Industrial XT case opened

XT Normal vs Industrial 3.JPG (354.78 KiB) Viewed 8913 times

Inside top case. Let's just say army grey is always the Industrial XT...

XT Normal vs Industrial 4.JPG (256.28 KiB) Viewed 8913 times

Normal XT case top has curved top brace that matches the curved Model F plate. Industrial case top brace is flat that matches the flat Oak keyboard plate.

XT Normal vs Industrial 5.JPG (238.71 KiB) Viewed 8913 times

Top case on normal XT has curved sides to match the Model F plate. Industrial XT is flat and has extra plate screw mounts.

XT Normal vs Industrial 6.JPG (271.12 KiB) Viewed 8913 times

IBM Model F keyboard mechanism in Industrial XT top case. It fits.

XT Normal vs Industrial 7.JPG (269.35 KiB) Viewed 8913 times

Putting on the Industrial back case doesn't fit.

XT Normal vs Industrial 8.JPG (246.57 KiB) Viewed 8913 times

Industrial bottom case has a curved portion that stabilizes the keyboard mechanism from underside in the wrong place.

XT Normal vs Industrial 9.JPG (344.2 KiB) Viewed 8913 times

Normal XT back plate has the curved stabilizer in the right place so Industrial top and normal bottom work for the Model F keyboard mechanism... sort of.

XT Normal vs Industrial 10.JPG (308.5 KiB) Viewed 8913 times

Bottom plate with the curved portion that stabilizes the keyboard mechanism from the underside.

XT Normal vs Industrial 14.JPG (366.26 KiB) Viewed 8913 times

Better view from the side.

XT Normal vs Industrial 15.JPG (219.94 KiB) Viewed 8913 times

Looks pretty decent, right? But... the model F mechanism is curved but the case is flat. You might be able to live with that but the major problem is that the bottom row is too tight and won't depress and release properly.

XT Normal vs Industrial 11.JPG (336.56 KiB) Viewed 8913 times

Measurements of the Industrial XT opening is about 3.75 inches or about 9.5 cm and makes the bottom row bind.

XT Normal vs Industrial 12.JPG (339.85 KiB) Viewed 8913 times

Measurements of the normal XT opening is about 4 inches or about 10 cm and allows the Model F keys to move freely.

XT Normal vs Industrial 13.JPG (251.88 KiB) Viewed 8913 times

So, bottom line. It will not fit "out of the box" without modifications and modifying it would not work too well, in my opinion. It was pretty close though.

[lot_lizard]

Thank you so much for doing this. The flat vs curved part could be stomached. The binding of keys... Not so much. Really appreciate

[seebart]

Interesting details, thanks for sharing.

[Wodan]

Snuci, you going to add this to the wiki or may I do it

[andrewjoy]

Looks good shame about the curve .

Did IBM ever make a real indy XT ?

[snuci]

Snuci, you going to add this to the wiki or may I do it

I already have my Industrial XT in the wiki here: wiki/IBM_Industrial_XT

I didn't really think this article was wiki material but maybe I can take an IBM model M industrial and an IBM model M Industrial SSK (take from my Model M Rescue) and do similar comparisons vs their normal counter parts. I'm pretty sure you will find them the same but it might answer someones curiosity. Then it might make a decent wiki set.

Are there any other Industrials?

[alh84001]

Thanks snuci! So, I guess it makes more sense to dye the original case in industrial color, especially with an abundance of beat-up XTs and XT cases floating around.

[snuci]

Thanks snuci! So, I guess it makes more sense to dye the original case in industrial color, especially with an abundance of beat-up XTs and XT cases floating around.

One pic I thought about taking was the industrial XT vs the industrial M. They are different colours. The XT is more like an olive greeny grey and I think the texture is much rougher. In fact, I think the industrial XT is rougher than the normal Model F XT. I'll take a pic of the colours.

[snuci]

Did IBM ever make a real indy XT ?

This is their indy XT. I think you meant, industrial Model F XT and I don't think so. The manual for the computer this goes with is here: http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttga ... _Apr85.pdf

This keyboard starts on page 1-2 and has a decent illustration of it.

[lot_lizard]

Are there any other Industrials?

I can only think of the 5 in these industrial shells:

• XT - Oak
• M - Oval badge full size
• M - Square badge full size
• M - SSK with the black badge
• M - SSK with grey badge and blue keys

That would make for a lovely family reunion picture

[snuci]

Are there any other Industrials?

I can only think of the 5 in these industrial shells:

• XT - Oak
• M - Oval badge full size
• M - Square badge full size
• M - SSK with the black badge
• M - SSK with grey badge and blue keys

That would make for a lovely family reunion picture

Well, I've got all but the last one I think webwit might have them all?

[webwit]

Only 5? I've a bunch of other variants too, although I'm also counting different oval logo stickers variants (raised, flat, grey, black, blue). Just a couple:

[Wodan]

[alh84001]

There's a silver square label industrial model M?

[webwit]

That one is an IBM 1390653.

[E TwentyNine]

Nice writeup.

[lot_lizard]

Only 5? I've a bunch of other variants too, although I'm also counting different oval logo stickers variants (raised, flat, grey, black, blue)

oooooooffffff. Those twins together are delicious.


I'm always overlooking the trackpoints for some unknown reason, but did take into account the badge differences. I have never seen a 1390653 with a silver badge though... is that stock?

you really do have a nice collection webwit... kudos

[clickykeyboards]

There are also the following

http://clickykeyboards.com/product/ibm- ... 83-key-xt/

ibm-industrial-001.jpg (29.26 KiB) Viewed 8720 times

ibm-industrial-002.jpg (23.97 KiB) Viewed 8720 times

ibm-industrial-003.jpg (36.08 KiB) Viewed 8720 times

http://clickykeyboards.com/product/ibm- ... -portable/

001.jpg (288.77 KiB) Viewed 8720 times

002.jpg (190.16 KiB) Viewed 8720 times

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005.jpg (280.02 KiB) Viewed 8720 times

[lot_lizard]

There are also the following

Sweet Baby Heysoos... @clicky, the XT is REAL? Not some aftermarket/post production move you think? I had seen this version of the portable (or pics somewhere) but had forgotten.


@Snucci... I hate to say this, but I think we are going to officially hijack your thread as the "IBM Industrial Keyboards" thread. Your first post was excellent, but... just a heads up (feel free to change the title at anytime )

[snuci]

There are also the following

Sweet Baby Heysoos... @clicky, the XT is REAL? Not some aftermarket/post production move you think? I had seen this version of the portable (or pics somewhere) but had forgotten.

I hate to disagree with clickykeyboards but I don't think the top one is real. You can see a nick on the third picture on the left side and a scratch on the second picture that is lighter than the case colour. That indicates that it's painted and my version is not painted. You can see that from the crack in one of the screw mounts.[/quote]

@Snucci... I hate to say this, but I think we are going to officially hijack your thread as the "IBM Industrial Keyboards" thread. Your first post was excellent, but... just a heads up (feel free to change the title at anytime )

I would have but if I didn't have pics of a regular XT Model F here

[clickykeyboards]

Looking at the timestamp for the industrial XT, I took the photo 11 years ago (back in 2005)

http://www.clickykeyboard.com/2005/oct2 ... 05-011.jpg
http://www.clickykeyboard.com/2005/oct2 ... 05-012.jpg
http://www.clickykeyboard.com/2005/oct2 ... 05-013.jpg
http://www.clickykeyboard.com/2005/oct2 ... 05-014.jpg
http://www.clickykeyboard.com/2005/oct2 ... 05-015.jpg

I'll need to check my customer sale records to see if I can find the contact info of the original buyer and ask for some additional internal pictures.

Regarding the 5155 keyboard, it speaks XT and just needs to have the 4-pin RJ-11 and works when attached to XT to ps/2 converter.

006.jpg (298.01 KiB) Viewed 8687 times

[Chyros]

Thanks, this is excellent. A very nice, detailed teardown .

[E TwentyNine]

I hate to disagree with clickykeyboards but I don't think the top one is real. You can see a nick on the third picture on the left side and a scratch on the second picture that is lighter than the case colour. That indicates that it's painted and my version is not painted. You can see that from the crack in one of the screw mounts.

If you nick the case on a regular XT the material underneath is a little lighter than the surface.

[webwit]

`I'll need to check my customer sale records to see if I can find the contact info of the original buyer

Hmm, this makes me remember. I still need that board, clicky

[Ratfink]

I hate to disagree with clickykeyboards but I don't think the top one is real. You can see a nick on the third picture on the left side and a scratch on the second picture that is lighter than the case colour. That indicates that it's painted and my version is not painted. You can see that from the crack in one of the screw mounts.

If you nick the case on a regular XT the material underneath is a little lighter than the surface.

Yes, I agree. The plastic is kinda yellowish, and the original XT is painted beige. That one looks like it was painted an industrial gray instead. Which reminds me, I have an XT case with no paint that I need to paint.

[webwit]

I have never seen a 1390653 with a silver badge though... is that stock?

I'm not sure, I got this from an eBay dealer in the ancient days who got his keyboards much like elecplus, but was caught sometimes frankenboarding his offerings (not out of malice, he just wanted to offer complete boards). Could be possible he replaced the top part of the case. If I remember correctly though, this model was spotted with both black and silver square labels.

[snuci]

The plastic is kinda yellowish, and the original XT is painted beige.

Agreed. You can sort of make that out in the screw holes on Photo #6. You can see the yellow in the screw hole of the normal XT. In the industrial one, it remains grey/green throughout.

[E TwentyNine]

The plastic is kinda yellowish, and the original XT is painted beige.

Agreed. You can sort of make that out in the screw holes on Photo #6. You can see the yellow in the screw hole of the normal XT. In the industrial one, it remains grey/green throughout.

There's no evidence clicky's industrial XT is anything other than an IBM creation.

IBM did one-off stuff all the time.

[clickykeyboards]

The industrial XT 83-key keyboard that I found in 2005 was a unique find. I would have thought with the growth of interest in vintage IBM mechanical keyboards and the intervening 11 years that another relic would have shown up, somewhere.

That said, 30 years+ since the IBM XT computers were originally released.. it is a testament to IBM's industrial design that these keyboards still just work.

Another part number of interest to add to the dicussion is 1395240.

These were sold with Allen-Bradley (division of Rockwell International) logos in place of the normal IBM 8-stripe logo and were sold with factory automation equipment. Essentially the same as a 1394946 http://clickykeyboards.com/product/1991 ... -11-05-91/

1395240-001.jpg (26.1 KiB) Viewed 8586 times

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1395240-003.jpg (23.46 KiB) Viewed 8586 times

[E TwentyNine]

Heh. I was actually going to mention the AB boards. IBM had also made an industrial touchscreen device in that same timeframe, never saw market. And a ruggedized thinkpad that also I believe never saw market.