@@Vincent_Quak I have ordered one, but it's one with printed keycaps, and ISO to boot, so it's going to be one of the last ones to arrive xD . But yes, I'll definitely be covering it, and it'll get its own trailer too :) .
Clint can I just say how much I appreciate how clean your videos are? I’m never pestered to subscribe and enable notifications, no silly music or overly wrought production values. Just nice simple “hey let’s assemble a model F keyboard.” Seriously its nice to see someone just love sharing his hobby with the internets.
Taking apart an F keyboard assembly isn't too bad. Getting it back together is more tough. You bend back the single lock tab and the whole plate slides in one direction and pops right off. Getting it back on can require clamping or a second set of hands to get it slid back in place.
Hey Clint! As a long-time tech enthusiast I'm sure you already know about this trick, but to anyone else who struggles with those obnoxious flat-head screws: Generally if you have a screw-driver that takes bits, you can actually remove the bit and use the hex socket of the screwdriver on the hex-heads of the machine screws. They're almost always a perfect fit, and makes things WAY easier to screw in. :)
I typically just use a hex head bit instead, which I think would be a 3/16" hex screw in this case. This wasn't recorded at home where I have all my tools though so I just used what I had on hand. Blerbs is not about doing things as best as possible, it's just about doing _things_ :)
Can confirm, typing this on my Model F, it is my second weapon in the house should someone break in. I already told my room mate if someone broke in, she's to use this keyboard because it will knock them out cold, AND still work most likely without even a dent.
I do wonder at times if Cold War mentality was at work here. The internet was still military-run Arpanet. The greatest keyboard was the Symbolics Spacecadet, which, after all, went with $100,000+ computer. also US steel was still the greatest in the world and we were proud of it. All in all, I think God might have been more merciful if he put us out of our misery in a Global Thermonuclear War! ☠️
I'm glad someone else noticed, that locking mechanism was awesome. Now a days the cable would just get shoved on their with just a dab of hot glue to hold it if you're lucky.
These bring back memories. Couldn't give them away in the 90's, no one wanted the "old layout" or super loud clicky keys 😂 I guess kids didn't like the idea mom and dad could hear them playing doom at 3am 😛
I don't know why, but the replacing of the rubber feet on things like this is so damn satisfying. Usually because there's one missing, if it's a used item. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy game reviews dood.
Honestly I really like the layout of the model F after using it for a while. I just used the Soarers converter to remap Caps Lock to be a function key to add in some of the missing keys for when I use it on a modern PC, and now I think I might like it better than the standard layout. Only thing is I do wish it had some proper arrow keys instead of having to toggle num lock.
I had a clone of this keyboard growing up, I grew very accustomed to pgup/pgdn home/end in the positions around the arrow keys, and the function keys on the left. You would keep the num lock off all the time unless you were doing some tedious data entry or something.
I can hear the joy in your voice when you make these videos, versus that insufferable 8-Bit Guy who makes you feel like he's doing you a favor by accepting your old stuff.
I think the worst one was when he was restoring an old commodore 64 and said, I would have told you to throw this away years ago, but now they're collectable.
I'm so glad you made this second channel! Great for those of us who want some unpolished videos of all the random stuff you go through between/while working on you main videos. I would love to tinker with and restore old hardware like this, but I just don't have the means to do so. I'm glad I can do it vicariously through your videos. (Maybe better this way, because then I don't have to deal with the clean-up from each project.)
I wish that I still had my IBM 5150 and Model F from childhood. Computing was such a tactile experience back then. The click of that big red power switch, the floppy initialization sounds, the click clack of the buckling springs.
Being able to remind the Model M peons that their keyboard actually uses a membrane must feel SO GOOD. Too bad about the weird old timey terminal layout tho.
@@rich1051414 You can do better than the F AT as well, though the F AT can be converted to ANSI with some dremeling, etc. There were also F variants for a particular banking terminal that had solid zinc cases. These could easily be configured for ANSI layouts, and Ellipse is manufacturing new reproductions of the F62 and F77 variants of these. I have one of the new F77s and an original F107. Wonderful keyboards. The F XT is unusable if you ask me, even as wonderfully pingy and gigantic as it is. As to the original comment, the Model M sucks in my opinion. It feels mediocre, even at its best (I prefer even most modern clicky switches) and the construction/durability of the M was very, very poorly designed. Conversely, the F rivals Alps SKCM blue.
@@Nukle0n Model F and M user here - I couldn't care less if one has a membrane, certainly not enough to feel the need to be a dick to Model M users over something very trivial. Arguably a part from 2KRO, it's not like the membrane is obviously there either - if you somehow made a capacitive version of the Model M flipper and put it in a Model F assembly (along with M springs), it'd likely feel identical.
I recall that yellow "ghosting" around the keycap legends, too. It appeared as though the manufacturer overprinted the legend with a clear varnish, to protect the legend.
They sure built them like tanks back then. For that tear in the rubber casing on the cord maybe try some silicone caulk. That should seal it, and prevent it from getting worse.
Being a habitual dismantler of things myself, looking at the back of the keyboard mech, it looks like you just take one screw out and slide the metal backing plate over to the side and lift off, though not having one to try that out on, I can't be sure on that... :\
There's foam between the front and back plates that is compressed during assembly. Getting these apart and back together usually requires at least pliers, sometimes hammers, and sometimes clamps.
hey clint you can get an almost model m layout on a model f but you have to buy an ibm model f122 and then you have to modify it also you only have to bend the 1 tab on a model f and then tap it tiwh a hammer and it will just slide apart i service these all the time
Have you ever tried the 3D printable Model F replacement feet? They're pretty rare and are known to break, I know a lot of restorers delete broken ones during rebuilds, but this gives the keyboard a pretty uncomfortable angle.
That ground loop that you taped over shouldn't be taped... It's supposed to ground to the bottom of the case. The tape prevents this. Not sure if this would cause issues and I'm guessing it's just a drain for static build-up on the bottom metal case, but I'd take a look at that maybe! Love your videos!
On the backplate, you don't bend them out of the way - only the corner one needs bent, then the rest slide out with a strike. Actually a million times easier than separating the sandwich on a Model M. Just restored an F AT. Art foam and a punch to remake the disintegrated foam works great in the absence of new old stock. edit: almost forgot - with a USB adapter, the Model F indeed works with a modern smartphone like in your old Model M test.
I tried pulling this one apart but it seems the stickiness from whatever was spilled in there made it rather glued in place. And yep, I believe I mentioned using a Soarer's converter in the video. What I'm really waiting for is the modern Model F77 though :)
Seeing the old 5150 often makes me wonder if you're planning to get a 5161 expansion unit at some point. My family had an expander on our PC when I was a kid, adding some extra floppy drives and other things, so I think the system went up to drive letter E:
Model F keyboards are truly the best, as far as a practical vintage board is concerned (I know about the beamspring, but those are both cost prohibitive and have their limitations). I had a model F AT for quite a while and it was amazing, but as mentioned in the video the layout didn't translate well to a modern system and the spacebar was ridiculously stiff. I was mostly using it for DOS gaming, which worked fine, but having the row of F keys along the left rather than across the top was quite annoying when I'd instinctively go to hit F5 and end up hitting 5 or the top of the case lol. I ended up selling it and, to be honest, I kinda regret it because damn did I love just about everything about it. Awesome to see you using a model F though, especially on an appropriate computer. Hope to see you using it more and more in future videos.
a little drop of Super Glue would buy some reassurance on that cable... It's amazing, these keyboards were tossed by the millions, now they're collectible...
I'm also partial to the IBM model M & F keyboards though I always prefered the commercial / industrial grade keyboards (dust covered/ cooking oil/water resistant/corrision resustant & fully sealed/ toughbook-esque options for the Amiga 1200. Many brands and features, the extra wide full keyboard + numpad w/ that ~20mm long 8 way skinny pole, nipple tipped 'joystick' for factory use. I'n pretty sure theae keyboards were repurposed Model M / PS2 keyboards though the 15 key simealtaneous press on some (basically 1 for parity error, add 3+ BUS redyndancy it was really an 8-10 keys at once keyboard at a much greater latency.
Model F! My favourite IBM keyboard. The capacitive switches are so smooth. I use a 5150 one on a modern pc with a teensy doing protocol translation. I would do quite a lot for a pc/at one!
Only 5 years younger than me. Amazing how well they built 'em back then. Nowadays you can pay over £150 for a keyboard and its cheap plastic with flashing lights.
Yep, I've shown my whole cleaning process for these computers in a number of LGR videos! Magic erasers are always step three or four in my routine, but they only do so much for deep stains and I don't want to wear down the paint job.
There is an AT version of the Model F with the more modern layout and status leds, and best of all it works on modern PCs without a converter. Unfortunately they are somewhat rare and VERY expensive.
I like that you prefer to have someone who knows what they are doing to restore the keyboard over you doing it your self when you know you can’t do it justice
Man, I’m jealous, but not of the keyboard. My family’s first PC compatible knockoff computer had a MAX-12 monitor just like that one. You have it hooked to an MDA card, did you know it’s dual-mode so it’s also directly CGA compatible as well? That’s what we had. PC gaming at 4.77mhz and in 16 shades of amber, w00t!
@@LGRBlerbs Hook that turkey up to something like one of those magical multi-mode ATI Graphics Solution cards and a whole universe of monochrome goodness will be at your fingertips!
HO nice!!, I remember seeing that yellow stuff around the letters, always wonder if it was the ink used that did that. Btw the rubbing sound is the floppy itself, it’s rubbing on it’s inner felt, try with a different brand, many of my Memorex floppy sounds like that.
That silver backing looks like it should slide to the right, all the notches point in the same direction, or maybe I'm not able to see somethings, since it is 3:30AM on a "school night" >_
There is a thread on Deskthority about making a new PCB, flippers, and springs to convert the M into a capacitive buckling spring. You should check it out
Keyboard holy grail! It's like a Indiana Jones artifact but keyboard based! I'd love to hear Chyrosran22's opinion and take on the new old stock too and a comparison with a well loved one!
I loathed being stuck in the XT generation when everyone else I knew had some form of AT. Even when I was able to get a hand-me-down clunker, I had to try to come up with the money to upgrade the keyboard, since XT and AT weren't compatible.
Usually Clint posts somewhat off-the-cuff videos here. Low or completely absent of editing. Meat and potatoes stuff on this channel; gourmet meals on the main channel. (Weird analogy, I know.)
(3:21) It looks to me (of course, sitting at home looking at the screen and not actually holding one) that you just bend up/back that one metal tab in the upper left hand corner area and likely that one screw in near the upper middle attached to the PCB and the metal plate _should_ just slide to the right a bit and lift up and off. Again, that's just from what I can tell looking at it on a fricken' D screen. ;) I'm not trying to insult your intelligence. I'm sure you've tried every which way to get that plate off. I dunno, that's just my take on it from what I can see here. :) Happy clickity clackin'! ;)
I honestly think you should just post these on the main channel at this point. Literally everyone who’s subbed would appreciate something like this. Just put “blerb” in the video title or something.
I used to hate the old IBM keyboards (at the time) due to the level of noise they made, cos if our computer training dept wasn't making a fair amount of noise, our dept manager was like 'No noise = no work.. Trainees NOT WORKING so screwing around.... MUST GOTO DEPT!' I used to get a pass cos I had a mouse on my Ye Olde 4.77mhz PC, so winked and others got frowned at! These keyboards would've survived a Cold War tho.
It looks like if you remove the screw on top, the metal backplate should slide slightly to the side and then come off. You should not have to bend any of the metal to remove.