I started saving all the rivet heads and assorted plastic shavings I could in this jar.

I’m not really sure why.

I hope this doesn’t somehow sound like a collection of toenail clippings. Well, now that I mentioned it, it does kinda sound that way… Hmmph…

Anyhooooo – there’s maybe about 15 boards worth of plastic bits in the jar. Maybe someday I can melt it all down and… carve a mini Model M out of it?

Show and tell time! Yay!

The two visible silver labels are the oldest I have.  Left is a 1390131 from February 1986. Right is a 1386304 terminal board from September of 1985!

The box contains a rather obscure 1392366 that was for the IBM PC RT 6150 (neat RISC machine!)

The space saver is a 1392464, which is another obscure little board with custom keys for IBM’s DisplayWrite word processor.

A few very awesome products I love:CorrosionX: EPIC STUFF! I use this to wipe the steel back plates to kill corrosion and keep them protected.

Excerpt from label:
“The only consumer product specified by the U.S. Military’s corrosion prevention and control program.”

“CorrosionX utilizes a revolutionary technology that does far more than merely slow down the corrosion process like those so-called ‘corrosion inhibitors’. CorrosionX actually kills existing corrosion (keeping it from spreading) and provides long-term protection against rust and corrosion on any metal surface.”

LPS Electro Contact Cleaner: Great stuff for cleaning dirty PCB’s and connectors. Safe on plastics! (Another great cleaner that might be easier to find is CRC QD Electronic Cleaner.)

Super Lube Dri-Film Lubricant: PTFE lubricant that “rapidly coats most surfaces with a tenacious chemically inert polymer film that resists most chemicals and solvents.” Safe for plastics and electronics. I soak a Q-tip with this and quickly coat the stabilizer inserts for keys like Shift or Enter that like to stick even after being cleaned. Works wonders!

Good old fashioned electronics grade isopropyl alcohol for a variety of tasks. I find it works very well on membrane sheets for example.

I sometimes very sparingly use white lithium grease on the space bar’s metal stabilizer.

…and SUPER GLUE! My main use for this is when I slice the !@#$ out of one of my fingers with a razor blade. Apply to cut, apply pressure around cut and allow to dry into a resilient bandage that lasts for days! 😛