Rescued IBM 026

[59imperial]

I'm a new member of this forum, but have been collecting vintage IBM (mostly typewriters) for the past decade. I also have a collection of mechanical calculators. This past weekend I went to pickup an IBM 026 keypunch at a warehouse that was being cleared of vintage computers/parts and electronics. The owner had passed away last year, so it was pretty much cleared out when I went there. The 026 had been on FB Marketplace for the past seven months and was the last of the large and heavy items. It had been stored on the 2nd floor mezzanine, so it had to be fork lifted off. The 026 had been sitting in the warehouse uncovered since the late 70's, so there's quite a bit of corrosion on the areas where the cards are punched. But the overall condition is quite good and the Formica desk is in excellent shape. I found a date of 8/29/57 and it appears to have been modified in 1963-64 according to an engineering change document that was found in the machine. I'm not exactly sure what the modifications were, but it has a 20 pin serial connector. Service receipts indicate that it was used at Rockwell International Space Division in Seal Beach, CA until at least 1976. This is my first keypunch, so it will be quite a challenge for me to get it operational. The seller also had a late 40's or early 50's IBM time clock, which I purchased as well.

 

[g4ugm]

Nice, I think someone on the classic comp cctalk list. https://classiccmp.org/mailman3/postorius/lists/cctalk.classiccmp.org/ in the past

 

[59imperial]

I found a few punch cards inside the machine and one of them was labeled North American Aviation, which merged with Rockwell Standard in 1967 to become North American Rockwell and finally Rockwell International in 1973.

 

[NeXT]

A large portion of the mechanism is similar to the later 029 keypunch and I found that even super dirty, they clean up and will work with considerable lubrication and hand polishing of the card path. The larger issue is these are old enough that their wax/paper capacitors need attention along with possibly the selenium rectifiers eventually.

 

[59imperial]

A large portion of the mechanism is similar to the later 029 keypunch and I found that even super dirty, they clean up and will work with considerable lubrication and hand polishing of the card path. The larger issue is these are old enough that their wax/paper capacitors need attention along with possibly the selenium rectifiers eventually.

I understand that the IBM CEs used a specific type of grease made by IBM. What type of grease would you use as substitute? Also, what do you use to dissolve the old hardened grease?

 

[NeXT]

For the hardened grease for the stuff I didn't jsut brush away I diluted it again with 3 in 1 or sewing machine oil.
For regreasing I just used high pressure automotive or bearing grease.

 

[59imperial]

Thanks! I had no idea that sewing machine oil dilutes old grease. There seems to be a ton of contacts on the machine. Do you use deoxit to clean them?

 

[Chuck(G)]

Ken Shirriff has a nice couple of pages on the workings of the 029 and 026. Worth seeking them out, as they're similarly-functional mechanical nightmares, as most IBM equipment of the era.

Fun is finding the only keypunch available is an 024 (non-printing) and having to multipunch many EBCDIC characters....

Personally, I iked the early 70s Univac 1710 keypunch, where you keyed in an entire card and then released it for punching. Program cards were recorded electronically, so you didn't have to go around wondering who made off with your program drum. And it was quiet.

Our (CDC) project used them as card entry/punch terminals connected to a CDC 1700 remote computer..