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Keys on HP-67
08-03-2016, 12:49 AM
Post: #1
Keys on HP-67
I recently obtained an HP-67 for reconditioning and noticed something unusual with the keys:

   

Has anyone seen anything like this before? As far as I can tell, the 2 key is moulded and it has not been painted over.

Jack
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08-03-2016, 09:45 AM
Post: #2
RE: Keys on HP-67
(08-03-2016 12:49 AM)jwhsu Wrote:  I recently obtained an HP-67 for reconditioning and noticed something unusual with the keys:



Has anyone seen anything like this before? As far as I can tell, the 2 key is moulded and it has not been painted over.

Jack

All the keys are double shot moulded and not painted. All of the older HP calculators have keys that are made like that.
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08-03-2016, 10:31 AM
Post: #3
RE: Keys on HP-67
(08-03-2016 09:45 AM)Harald Wrote:  
(08-03-2016 12:49 AM)jwhsu Wrote:  I recently obtained an HP-67 for reconditioning and noticed something unusual with the keys:



Has anyone seen anything like this before? As far as I can tell, the 2 key is moulded and it has not been painted over.

Jack

All the keys are double shot moulded and not painted. All of the older HP calculators have keys that are made like that.

So how did pi get substituted by REG on the 2 key?

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08-03-2016, 12:15 PM
Post: #4
RE: Keys on HP-67
Are the lower faces printed on the 67? I thought they were on the 41.
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08-03-2016, 12:28 PM
Post: #5
RE: Keys on HP-67
(08-03-2016 12:15 PM)Accutron Wrote:  Are the lower faces printed on the 67? I thought they were on the 41.

As far as I can tell, they are molded.

Massimo: I'm not sure how this key appeared. The keyboard maps of the Classic s ties of calculators do not show a 2 key with "REG" in the front. I am not aware of any other HP calculator which has a similar key style that has these two symbols on it.

Jack
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08-03-2016, 01:31 PM
Post: #6
RE: Keys on HP-67
(08-03-2016 12:28 PM)jwhsu Wrote:  
(08-03-2016 12:15 PM)Accutron Wrote:  Are the lower faces printed on the 67? I thought they were on the 41.

As far as I can tell, they are molded.

Ditto!

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08-03-2016, 01:40 PM
Post: #7
RE: Keys on HP-67
This article seems to imply otherwise:

http://www.hpmuseum.org/howtohp/howtohp.htm

"The keys are double-shot molded (and the black front legends seem to be invulnerable); there is no danger of the legends coming off."
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08-03-2016, 02:17 PM
Post: #8
RE: Keys on HP-67
(08-03-2016 01:40 PM)Accutron Wrote:  This article seems to imply otherwise:

http://www.hpmuseum.org/howtohp/howtohp.htm

"The keys are double-shot molded (and the black front legends seem to be invulnerable); there is no danger of the legends coming off."

Otherwise what? We are all saying they are molded... :-)

Look here too.

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08-03-2016, 03:31 PM
Post: #9
RE: Keys on HP-67
Well, there is no doubt that the legends on the top of the keys are double-shot molded. But the question is for the legend on the angled side. For all the old HP calculators where these legends are not black but blue (HP-65, HP-21, HP-25/C, HP-29C, HP-32, HP-33E/C, HP-38E/C, HP-41C, HP-11C/12C/15C/16C) they are printed/painted/silkscreened, not molded. So I doubt it's different on the 67.
One way to know for sure for the HP-67 could be to drill some holes….
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08-03-2016, 03:39 PM (This post was last modified: 08-03-2016 03:39 PM by Harald.)
Post: #10
RE: Keys on HP-67
Opps, I did not spot the "REG" on the two key. I thougt this was about the "2" standing out a little bit.

That is odd. But I think (would have to check) that the legends for the shifted functions are printed on. I know for certain they are on the other woodstock machines.
So I guess this "2" key simply fell into the wrong box during production and go the "REG" printed on. How it then ended up in the "2" position rather than the "3" position is a mystery - or maybe just someone putting it back in the "2" box wothout noticing why it was in the "3" box.

Hopefully I have succeded in confusing everyone now Smile
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08-03-2016, 03:53 PM
Post: #11
RE: Keys on HP-67
(08-03-2016 02:17 PM)Massimo Gnerucci Wrote:  Otherwise what? We are all saying they are molded... :-)

Look here too.

Yes, the quoted sentence seems to indicate that the lower faces are *not* part of the double-shot molding process, as in "The keys are double-shot molded [therefore the top face labels are impervious to wear] (and the black front [lower] legends seem to be [otherwise] invulnerable);".

The existence of the mislabeled key in question, as well as the fact that some keys have white top labels and black bottom labels, is definitive proof that the top and lower labels are not shot in the same process step. Either the lower label is externally applied, or the raised lower face component is injected as a separate piece and then fused to the main key body. It seems pretty obvious that a '2' key fell into the '3' bin before the application of the lower face label, then somehow made it back into the '2' bin after the lower label was applied and nobody noticed the error.

I was never saying that the keys aren't double-shot injected. I just suspect the lower face labels are externally applied. Otherwise, all of the keys with white top labels and black lower labels would have to be triple-shot.
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08-03-2016, 04:05 PM
Post: #12
RE: Keys on HP-67
(08-03-2016 03:53 PM)Accutron Wrote:  or the raised lower face component is injected as a separate piece and then fused to the main key body

This is what I suspect, too.

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08-07-2016, 01:33 AM
Post: #13
RE: Keys on HP-67
Thanks for the info on the keys. I was wondering if the keys were double shot injection molded, how did they get that unusual "2" key? If they double shot injected molded the front of the keys and then bound them together somehow, that would make more sense than having an entire mold produce this key, especially since this combination of symbols do not appear to exist in any other HP calculator.
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