IBM 5291 Keyboard USB Mod

Typewriters are wonderful, distraction-free writing tools. Actually, I don't really believe that. Typewriters are a feast for the senses; the smell, sound, and tactile feel are all part of the magic that is part of non-digital writing. Some very sick people even love the gentle hum of a Selectric's motor. Instead of being distraction-free they are right-distraction devices. The things that draw our attention are all in service to the visceral feel of pure communication.

Even so, we are called on to engage with digital devices. It's a cruel reality of a "modern" world. I don't like typing on a computer, but when I do, I always use mechanical keyboards. You know the kind; clicky, tactile, loud, and ancient. My daily typer is a 1987 IBM Model M. It's a nice keyboard. If you'e never had the chance to use one of these keyboards, you are missing out. On a tuned specimen, nothing compares. If you've used an IBM Wheelwriter before, you have used this type of keyboard.

The Model M's cult following is well documented. There are people who will wax philosophical on the feeling and sound of the buckling spring keyboard. There are actually YouTube videos on the subject, but that is hardly a sigil of eccentricity.

Connoisseurs will tell you that the predecessor to the Model M, the Model F, is even more refined. It's as close to the urkeyboard as you can get (barring beamsprings). This is what I wanted to share with you today.

Bigfoot is what some collectors call this. It is big and heavy. It types beautifully.

I recently completed a USB conversion for this IMB 5291 Terminal keyboard. Most people would think that Soarer's Converter would be the way to go. However, Soarer's is closed-source. It's not being actively maintained. There is also the sudden and strange disappearance of Soarer from the keyboard enthusiast's bulletin boards. These three things prompted me to look elsewhere for firmware. I decided on QMK Firmware. It ticked all the boxes; Atmel support, open-source, current updates, large user-base.

Wiring up the converter was fairly easy. I used a Teensy 2.0 to upload the firmware from the QMK online builder. You can customize, compile, and download all from within a web browser.

Just a little debugging and I was able to start using it on my home computer. I just completed grades using this keyboard and it was so nice to finally use it. As I use it more, I might just make it a permanent daily typer. The sound and feel of this keyboard are a perfect right-distraction.

It's Not the Worst Typewriter Ever

The typewriter is a tool. Much like every tool, the product that is created with its aid is shaped by the tool itself. The Typosphere would agree with this statement. It's one of the tenants that keeps us writing with typewriters; the tool transforms the work. For most of the denizens of the Typosphere, this mean manual typewriters.

Manual typewriters have more going for them than electric typewriters. You can use a manual typewriter anywhere. All you need is a sturdy desk. That's it. A desk and an idea. Nothing more. If a desk isn't to your liking you can use a bookcase. You can sit on a park bench. By the seaside.

These qualities are hard to come by with an electric typewriter. Instead of freedom, you are attached by an umbilical. The power that impels the imprint of your ideas comes from electrons sent to your wall by a smoke-belching or radiation-hot generator. But even in this grim view there are some really exceptional electric typewriters.

The IBM Selectric is an example of an exceptional electric typewriter. I know that I am not the only one who feels so. The type ball is a really interesting evolution of the single type element. The simple analog to digital conversion is really something quite unique. For every good thing about the IBM Selectric, there is a terrible electric typewriter waiting in the wings.

The IBM Wheelwriter is one of those terrible things. OK, maybe I am a little harsh. There are some really great things about the Wheelwriter and there are some things that will lead to a future filled with really trashy typewriters.

What is good about the Wheelwriter? Even though this typewriter is 100% electric there is still a fairly satisfying touch to the keyboard. You can thank the buckling spring key switches for that. The technology that makes these keyboards so enjoyable to use is the same technology that is in the IBM Model M keyboard. I am a devotee of these keyboards and they are often cited as the finest typing keyboard in the history of computer input devices. The keyboard on the Wheelwriter, though, is decidedly louder and snappier.

There are also a few features that make special typing much easier. You can center text easily. It even can remember up to two pages of text and type them back at a mere command of your fingers.

It has interchangeable typefaces.

And a very cool auto-load feature.



There are lots of keys to press.

It can be a printer if hooked up to a computer. (Everyone knows that a computer is a great big thing that sits in a lab. Why would you ever need a computer in your home?)

And it has this handy guide to various features.

With so many cool features it is understandable why it’s a popular typewriter with…

Sedaris used to have a request for a Wheelwriter in his contract. “And then I would show up and it would be some ancient Canon typewriter,” Sedaris said in a recent telephone interview. “And then you would type three words and the ribbon would snap. And then you’re at some hotel out on the highway and there’s nowhere to get a new ribbon.” Says Sedaris.

But Sedaris isn’t alone in his Wheel Writer love.

Ray Bradbury used one and

Elmore Leonard uses one.

And I admit that I have been guilty of typewriter snobbery in the past. I thought just because it was electric and modern that it cannot be as good as a manual typewriter. For me this is true, but it is not necessarily true for others. Tools can be very personal. What feels right for one might be all wrong for others. The Typosphere is a big enough place to let all typewriters have their place. This little attitude adjustment makes me appreciate this tool more than I have in the past.

Oh, By-the-way The IBM Wheelwriter is not the first typewriter to have a print wheel. This machine (From the collection of Martin Howard) is a Victor and it had a daisy wheel.

 

George's Dream