Talk QWERTY to me, baby! (2 new keyboard sneakpeeks)

[Datamancer]

Polished "Aviator"






Modified "von Slatt Original" (made from a "Das Keyboard")






-~D~-

[August_Cobb]

that's two fine looking keyboards, but i liked the first one better..

[Jake von Slatt]

Lovely!  Black wrinkle-paint aluminum would be great for the face plate of the Aviator, but a horror to cut!

Jake.

[Datamancer]

Lovely!  Black wrinkle-paint aluminum would be great for the face plate of the Aviator, but a horror to cut!

Jake.

Thanks! Yeah, right now I'm working off my floor with not much more than my dremel so it would be a horror to cut, but once I get situated in Cali I'm going to start experimenting with new types of presses and punches. I might even play around with a laser cutter for some of the more exotic faceplate materials like marble, glass and machine-turned metals. I'm also going to building a kiln when I get there so I should have some cool new designs like wrought-"iron" and antiqued cast brass.

-~D~-

[Major Francis Cleverly]

Wow, those turned out really nice.  Especially like the first one.  SOOOO SHINY!!! 

Are you still hand-crafting the frames (the brass, aluminum, etc.)?

[Datamancer]

Wow, those turned out really nice.  Especially like the first one.  SOOOO SHINY!!! 

Are you still hand-crafting the frames (the brass, aluminum, etc.)?

Thanks!
Yup, still all by hand. A bandsaw, a drillpress,  9 grits of sandpaper, a buffing wheel and a ton of patience.

-~D~-

[dantes_torment]

Yarr, that be good work.

[Ettie]

Those are awesome!
I am speechless!

[WisconsinPlatt]

Avast!!  Be that Veneer I see in the modified Das Keyboard?   

[Datamancer]

Avast!!  Be that Veneer I see in the modified Das Keyboard?   

Thanks all,


It's a piece of 3/8" wood I got from Home Depot. I'm not certain what kind it is, but it's kept right next to the "Handy Panel" stuff and has a very tight, directional grain...like little raindrop needles. I stained it with red mahagony, then used a semi-gloss urethane. To "age" the finish, I only sanded very lightly between coats of urethane to retain a slightly bumpy texture, then dabbed a mixture of stain and urethane in a few spots to give a very subtle "clumpy" look, similar to old furniture whose varnish has started to wear away. I'm very pleased with how it came out. It looks just like I cut it from a 60-year-old tabletop.

-~D~-

[Gadgeteer Extraordinaire]

To Datamancer:

Where are you finding all these marvelous keys?  A friend insisted that they were "hand made" which I find hard to believe (a question of time, not skill, sways my answer).  Are these modified buttons from an original typewriter, accessories from a craft store, or some other innovation?

[Proffesor Lucian Chuffey]

Simply smashing!  I love the brass and wood grain model.

[Datamancer]

To Datamancer:

Where are you finding all these marvelous keys?  A friend insisted that they were "hand made" which I find hard to believe (a question of time, not skill, sways my answer).  Are these modified buttons from an original typewriter, accessories from a craft store, or some other innovation?

For the moment, I'm using sets of authentic Royal keys that I buy from Ebay. Apparently people use them a lot for scrapbooking and jewelry-making so there are usually a dozen or more active auctions there. They usually sell for $30-50 a set, and it takes me a little over 2 sets to do a full computer keyboard with all of the extra buttons (arrow keys, function keys, number pad, etc.)
The price of them seems to be climbing, I've noticed.....hmm I wonder why.

-~D~-

[Hikaro Takayama]

Very nice, Doc.... I like the titles you use for your threads (and that "Fullmonty Alchemist" title of yours) almost as much as what you build.

I'd also like to know how you do the key tops, since I'm trying to do something similar with my 1942 US Army Field telephone restoration/mod project (I've basically made a DTMF encoder box/keypad using some components purchased from a variety of sources and some PB switches from Jameco)... Basically I was trying to find something like that to epoxy to the tops of the 1/4" pushbutton switches with ye olde standard telephone numbers (0-9, * and #), but the best I've been able to come up with so far is to get some of those brass buttons you can buy at Jo-Ann's Fabrics and have a local engraving shop engrave them and fill with black paint (which they can do).......

Edit: looks like I cross-posted with you... Seems my engraved button idea would actually be the cheaper route to go

[Gadgeteer Extraordinaire]

To Datamancer:

Where are you finding all these marvelous keys?  A friend insisted that they were "hand made" which I find hard to believe (a question of time, not skill, sways my answer).  Are these modified buttons from an original typewriter, accessories from a craft store, or some other innovation?

For the moment, I'm using sets of authentic Royal keys that I buy from Ebay. Apparently people use them a lot for scrapbooking and jewelry-making so there are usually a dozen or more active auctions there. They usually sell for $30-50 a set, and it takes me a little over 2 sets to do a full computer keyboard with all of the extra buttons (arrow keys, function keys, number pad, etc.)
The price of them seems to be climbing, I've noticed.....hmm I wonder why.

-~D~-

That's what I figured, but how do you take multiple sets and make them look uniform?

Edit:  Hikaro, do you have a link to those buttons at jo-ann's?

[Commissar Swoosh]

Those are great keyboards. The second is of course my favorite. Its shine is more beautiful than a mysterious briefcase.

[Datamancer]

Very nice, Doc.... I like the titles you use for your threads (and that "Fullmonty Alchemist" title of yours) almost as much as what you build.

I'd also like to know how you do the key tops, since I'm trying to do something similar with my 1942 US Army Field telephone restoration/mod project (I've basically made a DTMF encoder box/keypad using some components purchased from a variety of sources and some PB switches from Jameco)... Basically I was trying to find something like that to epoxy to the tops of the 1/4" pushbutton switches with ye olde standard telephone numbers (0-9, * and #), but the best I've been able to come up with so far is to get some of those brass buttons you can buy at Jo-Ann's Fabrics and have a local engraving shop engrave them and fill with black paint (which they can do).......

Edit: looks like I cross-posted with you... Seems my engraved button idea would actually be the cheaper route to go

hehe thanks.

How about using these?
"Making Memories" Alphabet Charms

They are what I used on the copper keyboard (which has since been named the "Baron of Cyprus", btw). You can get them at any of the major craft stores in the scrapbooking section. They come in antiqued copper (which I was able to polish) and pewter (which I imagine could be polished into "silver" as well). You could use the number charms for the button, fill in the engraved characters with black paint, then get yourself a set of dry transfer letters to make the 'abc', 'def', 'ghi' characters above or below them, and seal the whole thing in clearcoat.
The ONLY place I've been able to find dry transfer lettering is A.C. Moore. Most companies like Letraset are discontinuing them so Pearl doesn't even have new inventory.

-~D~-

[Datamancer]

That's what I figured, but how do you take multiple sets and make them look uniform?

The rings and glass inserts come from the same brand/style/era of typewriters so they are all the same size. The characters under the glass are custom sheets that I design on the computer and print out. I can make them in any font or color I need to....like this...



-~D~-

[Commissar Swoosh]

Oh my! The close ups make them even more irresistible! How much do you think a gold one would go for?

[mine]

Very nice work.

[Addison Bentley]

Ooh, I've seen a few other keyboard mods before, but these are simply tops, the second especially. Great work.

[Commander Obadiah]

Datamancer, that font on the last keyboard looks simply magnificent. Might I be so rude as to acknowledge my ignorance and ask where it came from?

Commander C. Obadiah

[Datamancer]

Datamancer, that font on the last keyboard looks simply magnificent. Might I be so rude as to acknowledge my ignorance and ask where it came from?

Commander C. Obadiah

That's a font I bought from the p22 foundry called "Elizabethan" and designed by one Ted Staunton.

LINK

I've since made it the "official" font of my Sojourner model keyboard.

-~D~-

[Alastair Smythe]

With this sort of thing catching on, one wonders if the bigger manufacturers will make the move towards the 'elegance' style of keyboard and computer design.

I mean, honestly, if DELL could produce a keyboard that looked like the Baron and retailed for $50 (which it could with mass production) I'd buy two so I'd have a spare!

[cthulhu_spawn]

thus making datamancer and co's hard work and creativity null and void. i dont think that making cheap imitations of these works-of-art cuts it for me. Id rather see DELL offering datamancer a hefty sum to have the right to do it in the first place. im sure there will be a "vintage" style keyboard or computer for sale soon, but it will not have the workkmanship and handcrafted ingenuity of these keyboards.