deskthority

The other one has different printing on it:

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

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

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

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

Ohters pay hundreds of dollars for one.

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.

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.

Right, know what you mean.

Next time atomicthumbs find this one in the trash and give it to me...

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.

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.

I dropped my jaw so hard it dislocated

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

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.

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.

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

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!

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*

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

Killer find man.

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.

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

Nice find. Wow.

Khers wrote:

This