I started fixing the IBM keyboard.

Those melted areas are definetly caused by the cord. Just look at the area where the cord leaves the keyboard. Fortunately, since IBM made good quality stuff, this keyboard has thick plastic. So I simply sanded those melted spots. I didn't even try to sand below the keyboard much since it will remain hidded. But I did sand it a bit. Then I retrobrighted the keyboard. Keys are not yet complete but I'm sure I'll be able to put it back together tomorrow.

I also tried to add some texture with PU cleaner. That is basically acetone in a spray can and the idea was to melt at least some sort of texture to the sanded areas. I was very careful since I didn't want to ruin the keyboard. Maybe this is a little bit better than without.

My luck with 15" monitors continues!

And that one is in excellent condition. It is made in january 2000 so it is a very late 15" monitor. It is late model but does not have flat screen. I think I prefer it that way since I don't appreciate those flat CRT screens much. It is like looking the screen behind a window. I happen to have a Philips 107S, a 17" big brother of this monitor. It is a very good one so finding a 15" model is very nice. I much more prefer 15" monitors. One nice thing about the 105S is that it is very small. Just look how the back of the monitor is shaped. Really nice.

I think hardware is finally ready, well almost. I don't like that glossy MS mouse but I'll have another with typical matte color. It looks much better with this system. But that'll need to be retrobrighted first.

Speaking of retrobright. Just look at this:

I'm very pleased although I made some mistakes while painting the IBM logo. Now this looks nothing like the keyboard I started with and that is great! Remember to put cord in plastic bag or something when storing keyboards! It will save you from much trouble. I cleaned the cord with IPA and then washed it with soap and water after that. I don't know if it will make any difference but at least I tried something.

I tested the new Philips monitor and it is very good! It is as good as it looks. I'm very pleased with it.

Notice that 6500K color option that the old Philips didn't have. Also note that it says 6500K is for game. That's what I told you before, games look better with warm colors.

Keytronic looks better with Philips and IBM keyboard looks better with Nokia because Philips is more grey and Nokia is more white. Computer front bezel is retrobrighted in that picture. Now the drives look even more out of place. I couln't find match for the computer bezel color. It is something between RAL 9016 Traffic white/RAL 9003 Signal white and RAL 9002 Grey white. It is a bit hard to compare colors because those computer parts are matte or semi gloss and these example color are much more glossy.

Finally Nokia is back together. There were not much trouble assembling it but dissassembly was a pain. Cover is not mounted with screws but with four clips. And those clips need a special tool. Service manuals can be found but Nokia 449Xi service manual did not mention anything about those. I found that information from Nokia 447ZAPlus service manual. It did say screwdriver could be used but that is not true. Screwdriver gets thick too soon so you can't push clips far enough. I made my own plastic special tools since diameters was mentioned in the service manual. Those bend too easily but I managed to get it open. Everything looked like nobody has been inside after the monitor left factory. But somebody sure had tried to get in. There were marks that someone had tried to open the cover with screw driver. But unsuccessfully it seems. I sanded the screwdriver markings as good as I could and the cover is now much better than it was before.

Previously I told that retrobrighting the Nokia stopped too soon because of the rain. I finished the retrobrighting in sauna. Also the IBM keyboard is retrobrighted in sauna as well as the computer bezel. That worked above expectations. Seems I don't need to all the retrobrighting in summer.

I think the new Philips might be a better monitor for gaming purposes. But I'll use the Nokia since it is more white and fits better to this system. Also the earliest pricing information I found was from January 1997 so that model is very close to right age.

Looks great! Nice job with the retro brighting. Is that all simply from sunlight exposure? No chemicals?

The only thing that I personally don't like is the presence of Windows keys on the keyboard. Of course, these keyboards did exist in '96 but my own first PC didn't have one, so it looks out of place to me. 😁

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2023-07-21, 16:47:

Is that all simply from sunlight exposure? No chemicals?

I use hydrogen peroxide in liquid form. For small parts (drive bezels, key caps etc) I use it in liquid form and I have converted my UV EPROM eraser for retrobrighting. But sunlight works better. For larger parts I mix Xanthan gum and hydrogen peroxide to form a paste (or jelly might be a better word). Then I spread it with paint brush and cover it with cling film. Then sunlight does the rest but it seems that heat from sauna is enough (and I don't even have to turn the parts to properly face sun).

I haven't forgotten about this project. Just been too busy with so many things. But I've wasted lots of time and money,

To put it simply, I bought few white spray paints only to notice that none is even close to what I need. Then spend a week to mix my own paint only to find out that my old cheap paint gun is completely useless here. It applies way too much paint. I needed much finer paint gun so I bought new. But I needed some practice with it since first try was a disaster. I think I had to remove the paint two or three times before I was happy. I wanted very thin layer of paint to keep the original look (take a look at the Compact Disc logo. It looks really ugly when filled with paint but finally I got it right). It is very easy to paint with spray paints but hard with paint gun and cheap ones won't do.

I used little bit of matte spray varnish for final touch. That made the glossyness go away. I'm happy now. As you might notice from the painted parts, some hardware changes are waiting. I decided to use Mitsumi 8x CD-ROM drive here since it worked perfectly with Tomb Raider and if I'm going to play Tomb Raider, this will be the system for it. And I managed to find another of those Mitsumi drives to make the paint decision easier.

aitotat wrote on 2023-07-21, 17:45:

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2023-07-21, 16:47:

Is that all simply from sunlight exposure? No chemicals?

I use hydrogen peroxide in liquid form. For small parts (drive bezels, key caps etc) I use it in liquid form and I have converted my UV EPROM eraser for retrobrighting. But sunlight works better. For larger parts I mix Xanthan gum and hydrogen peroxide to form a paste (or jelly might be a better word). Then I spread it with paint brush and cover it with cling film. Then sunlight does the rest but it seems that heat from sauna is enough (and I don't even have to turn the parts to properly face sun).

I tried your retrobrighting technique exept i bought an ready made hydrogen peroxide paste for hairdressers (no need to mix up anything) + plastic wrap. It took about 3-4 hours here on northern autumn sun to whiten my medium yellowish AT case front panel. Worked wery well, thanks for advice.

You have great projects and storys are written well, keep up the good work!
btw i have an Logitech Soundman Games card on my collection, if interested maybe we can make a trade 😀