Restoring a 37 Year-Old IBM F Mechanical Keyboard
blog.opsdisk.comAround 12 years ago, I bought a used Model M. It uses a slightly different technique for registering keypresses but looks about the same on the inside as the Model F. It worked great. After 3 days, I decided to clean it up and open it. I then quickly destroyed it by using a bit too much water during the cleaning. It got into the plastic tubes with the springs [0] and that was the end of most of the keys. I tried drying it with a hairdryer, but without success. The black plastic visible on the image is attached to the board by melted plastic joints, so removing it without destroying it is not possible. Congratulations to the author for not making the same stupid mistake as me.
Of course, you can still experience the clickiness of the Model M without owning one with the great emulator [1]. It's available on Debian and Ubuntu dev-releases:
sudo apt-get install bucklespring
you can also just buy a new one from https://www.pckeyboard.com
I have both an original model M and a modern one, and my fingers cannot tell the difference.
The black plastic visible on the image is attached to the board by melted plastic joints, so removing it without destroying it is not possible.
It's called heat-staking, you should be able to drill them out and replace with suitably-sized screws and nuts.
Sometimes water damage can be undone by completely soaking in distilled water to rid the impure water and rinse off the salts, and then letting dry.
Distilled water isn't conductive, it's the salts that are.
You can speed this process up by gently scrubbing with Dawn dish soap and lots of regular water, as long as you keep it wet. The key is to thoroughly rinse everything with distilled water before anything starts drying off.
Or you could buy a modern model M from the people who still make them - Unicomp - for ~$100
They're awesome.
I treated myself and bought one last year. It failed electronically six months later despite spending nearly all its time in the box...I bought it to use when using an RPi. Unicomp fixed it under warranty but made me pay for shipping it back to them.
To me, not covering shipping on warranty is a tell that their quality is low enough that failed keyboards are common. I don’t think I have ever seen a device have an electronically failed USB port...cables sure but this wasn’t.
Anyway mine was junk and might still be. I wouldn’t recommend Unicomp anymore.
For what it's worth, I own a Unicomp keyboard I got in 2013 and it still works flawlessly to this day. Not doubting nor disqualifying your experience, but just want to provide a counterbalance.
Failing USB electronics seems symptomatic of corner cutting at the level of pennies per unit. Sure anyone can get a bad batch of chips. It’s what gets done about it that speaks to quality.
This wasn’t rough use by me. It was barely used. It was a manufacturing defect and there is no way that Unicomp could not know after the keyboard was in their shop and unlikely they didn’t know before. You just can’t be in the keyboard business that long and not know what is going on.
They probably made good keyboards for a long time and might again. Mine was poorly made in terms of reliability and I don’t have confidence that they repaired it with more reliable components.
I have a Model M with a 1984 date code. The most interesting thing was that keyboard at IBM (at the time I was there) were a "green" tag part, meaning that you could just replace at customer no questions asked, not a ton of tracking. The number of these that got swapped just because they were dirty was scary. We did not have to account for them. I wish I had kept a bunch at this point.
My Model M is used on the gaming PC (Civ, XCOM and the like, not FPS).
For everyday use on the laptop I have a Japanese layout Filco Majestouch Convertible 2 TKL w/Cherry Red switches (45 cN force). I also have the same with Cherry Brown switches (55 cN). Not sure which I like the best at this point. The Model M is 70 cN.
I have a Model F somewhere around here in box. I think I need to find it and clean it up.
They're a little cheap and light feeling compared to the oldest ones but they get the point across with their satisfying key feel.
Hmmm, maybe just add some weight and get the full deal, like it doesn't move easily.
Good to know.
I love older clicky keyboards. Everyone around me hates them.
With Covid in play, now is the time to do some retro keyboarding goodness!
> I love older clicky keyboards. Everyone around me hates them.
Mood; I'd love to have a 'vintage' or modern overbuilt keyboard, but they're just too damn loud.
That said, at home I have a Filco keyboard with cherry blue switches, it's noisy but great :D
Part of me wishes I was a sysadmin, so that I could install Model M's at the server racks and workbenches and the like.
Was a sysadmin. Yup. One of the guilty pleasures is hooking up cool stuff.
Are you sure you dried it properly? I cleaned a mouse and keyboard in the dishwasher without problems [1].
[1] https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=keyboard+dishwa...
Try drying it with grain alcohol or methanol.
I also destroyed a Model M (SSK) due to water damage and a botched repair. This one was bolt modded however, which fixes the "plastic rivets literally disintegrating" problem. Currently using Lexmark Model M that needs the bolt mod treatment. I'm planing on sending it to Clicky Keyboards [0].
Funny I ran my old IBM Model M through the dishwasher once and let it dry and it was fine.
It broken in a move at some point though. :-(
A day or two in the oven at low heat has fixed many similar situations for me.
There is a project to get new ones made. I've met the dude behind it at a few keyboard meetups around NYC. I guess they are finally shipping! An absolutely herculean effort on his part.
$1.2MM in orders, that’s astonishing. Well done!
What a wonderful restoration! They really are lovely keyboards.
I am sure many people already know, but just in case-
There is also a dedicated enthusiast who has worked to painstakingly reproduce the model F keyboard, and make them available for sale at https://www.modelfkeyboards.com
Coincidentally, there was a HN post about it today: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25025035
I have this exact keyboard, an '83 XT! Built like a tank (seriously, you could bludgeon someone to death with it) and the smoothest, most pleasurable keyswitch out of the dozens I've tried. The F keyswitch makes all cherry clones feel like cheap Chinese crap, sadly this is why I had to part with my ergodox. The only downsides are the loud typing and the nonstandard layout, which you might prefer once you get used to it (ctrl key to the left of a).
If you're looking for a serious keyboard to last you the rest of your life, I highly recommend the F.
Great to hear you like yours! The different Ctrl key location and no super/windows key have been the most noticeable for me so far.
Yes, the lack of a windows key can be a little annoying - I have F8 mapped to it in my soarer's converter config, which seems to be a pretty convenient location. And I have yet to encounter any software where F8 does something super critical that can't be remapped
I use a model-f terminal keyboard with a small microcontroller to convert it to usb. It's pretty great.
I used to use model-ms but they became hard to get, and I gave away far too many of them back at a time when they weren't scarce. (I still have two, but can't replace them at a reasonable price if they fail)
The extra keys on the model-f terminal keyboards are handy too.
There was a window where I worried that my two remaining model-ms were going to have to last me the rest of my life.
Fortunately there are now a lot of mechanical keyboards available at reasonable prices. I like the model-m and model-f keyboards somewhat better, but many other mechanical keyboard choices are pretty good too.
[Replying to the dead reply: I was able to buy a bunch of model-f terminal keyboards, and last I checked they're still available at non-astronomical prices; presumably due to the difficulty of connecting them to modern hosts.]
I wonder if it would be worth putting a layer of black paint or a clear sealant over the metal plate that was exposed? I'd just worry having freshly exposed metal like that might eventually rust.
Any recommendations for a type of black paint? I'll probably check it once a year, but I'm not too worried since the environment is pretty stable.
I've done two keyboard "restorations" if you are interested in seeing similar posts:
* Restoring a Cherry G80-1000 from the late 1980s (new switches + cleanup): https://blog.nytsoi.net/2018/05/16/restoring-cherry-g80-1000
* Converting an IBM Wheelwriter keyboard (similar to IBM Model M) to USB: https://blog.nytsoi.net/2018/11/28/ibm-wheelwriter-usb-conve...
I've been looking around for a Model F which would really be the crown jewel of my collection, but unfortunately they are very rare and everyone who owns one really knows its value. As for my own use, after I got an Ultimate Hacking Keyboard I have no longer used the Cherry or other keyboards for real work. Getting a split keyboard "ruined" me from others, so they are now just novelty items.
I didn't search too long, but did not find using "dental tabs" to clean the key caps! Glad it worked out though, enjoyed reading your cherry restore.
I think a better search term is "denture tabs". I found many hits like this: https://www.keychatter.com/2014/08/01/how-to-clean-keycaps/
I daily drive an original 80s model m that I found in the trash and restored.
Almost everyone that comes into my office comments on it, some engineers are truly giddy. Funny enough our ultra-high spec engineering workstations have native ps/2 ports, no adapters necessary!
I left it at the office over the pandemic, it's one of the things I miss the most at home .
Have someone ship it!
Original restored ones are the best. Well loved and who ever does the restore has an investment that tends to amplify the good experience.
I can just drive and pick it up but them will need an adapter at home!
Clickety, click, click...
Amazon. Make your fingers happy.
I would.
I am a big fan of old-style mechanical switches. In fact, I recently restored my old NTC keyboard from the 80s. But having tried to use it, I just can't get over the fact that these keyboards were seriously lacking modifier keys.
I need at least Ctrl, Alt and Command to work comfortably, and ideally also have Fn and Super. You can get away with remapping right-side modifiers to do something else, but you can't add a key that isn't physically there — so if the left side of the spacebar does not have at least three modifier keys, the keyboard is not very useful for me…
Also, having gotten used to the UHK (Ultimate Hacking Keyboard), I find that the huge space bar is a waste: I only ever hit the space key with the right thumb, and I'd much rather have an entire row of modifiers than a huge spacebar key, which mostly goes unused.
I'm a bit fan of split space boards as well. Luckily there seems to be some movement to bring that to 65%+ market. I have space and backspace at the bottom of the board, and it saves my pinky a ton of work.
HN introduced me to mechanical keyboards and especially the Model M, way before the renaissance we see now. So I sourced some Model Ms (before it was pricey) and Apple Extended Keyboards. For the sake of my office mates, I ended up using external but oldschool Thinkpad keyboards for silence and office peace.
I had high hopes for an external Apple butterfly keyboard, since it basically fulfills the promise of mechanical keyboards in providing haptical and audible feedback, combined with a shorter key travel. Additionally it would have been socially accepted far more easily than anything mentioned above;)
Since that will not be happening anytime soon, I have to wait 10 years until the virtues of the butterfly mechanism will be rediscovered by a small group of enthusiasts and hackers. :P
> butterfly keyboard
> mechanical tactical feedback
Sorry, what?
The butterfly keyboard has plenty of tactility (drop in force after reaching the point of peak force).
What it doesn't have is a long travel. Or reliability.
Thanks for the article, that really hit the spot. I've been on a Chyrosran22 [1] binge lately (he's got a general Model F review [2]), and I'm toying with the idea of making a 75% with ALPS switches, once I manage to find switches or a board at an acceptable price.
I brought (a 34 year old one) a few years dirt cheap ago off eBay. It came speckled in someone's blood, who'd apparently died on top of it.
A good (and very thorough) wash later and its as good as new. The best (and loudest) keyboard I use. Its best feature is the little ridge to hold your pencil on top of it---why don't more keyboards have one?
I hadn't even noticed the ridge on top could be used to hold stuff. I'll have to leverage that more!
CMU had rooms full of IBM PCs for student use in 1983-4. You practically needed to wear ear protectors with all those keyboards going!
That is funny imagining the sheer noise! Luckily it's just me in the room with the keyboard.
Intersting position for the ctrl and caps lock keys. Is that the original position of these keys or was this keyboard customized?
That's the usual position for them prior to the 102 key keyboard introduction. Really wrecked the Ctrl sequences of wordstar and the movement diamond. I've been wondering about recreating an classic AT keyboard layout for my own use but I haven't really got a good place for the F11/F12 function keys yet.
Other 80's computers, like the Apple IIc, Amiga, workstations like the Sun-3 series, NextStation, etc. had the control key to the left of the "A".
It felt more natural to me in that position.
Those keyboards were nice. Very clicky! Around 1985 or so my dad had an IBM PC/AT at his company. They had purchased a real time stock quotation service that needed a satellite dish on the roof. It was cutting edge for the time. I remember not only that keyboard, but learning about stocks for the first time...
I used to have companies pay me to dispose of their old terminals. We then converted the keyboards to USBs and sold them ($100-$300 per board).
Was easily one of the best little business ventures I had. Was making hundreds to thousands an hour, course there’s limited supply and demand so it wasn’t sustainable.
Great project and terrific write-up.
The only thing I could suggest for improvement is the part when a YouTube ad spoils the flow:
"This tank of a keyboard weighs in at over 6 pounds, sounds like [. . .]"
It would have been nice to just hover and hear the clack clack clack of the ancient beast. But - advertising - sigh.
This is timely, I just bought a Model F off eBay. It will need some work, but it should be a great keyboard.
Here’s the video that inspired me to buy one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9Jds326gks
I had a link to that same video in the post. It was great getting more of the background about them. Good luck with the restore!
Is it possible to buy "sample keyboard"? Kind of couple of keys to hear and feel? I know it's possible to buy switches themselves with all the colours, however I'd like to try how they work with keys before I buy the full keyboard.
Some switch testers will come with caps. Otherwise you can just get blank caps rather cheaply and put them on.
If you want a slightly more in-depth experience, there are hotswap macro pads that will let you change out switches, with keycaps, and actually input things with them.
The only other option is to track down a keyboard meetup, at least that will be an option against post covid.
I still have this keyboard along with my first computer, a second-hand IBM PC (5150). The Alt key has some inconsistency registering so I was hoping for some detailed fixing but looks like he just did some deep cleaning and ended up with some bad keys as well.
Someone pointed out that this site to me that sells replacement parts. I was looking at getting new flipper springs for the keys that don't always register.
Years ago I bought a huge box of old IBM Model-M keyboards- not model F's like here, but pretty close. I planned on refurbishing and reselling on eBay, but quickly discovered the cost of shipping ate any profit I hoped to make on them. Life lesson learned.
They go for much higher now. I'm down to just one Model M left that I use every day, and I regret not trying to rescue the several that failed along the way.
Remember when these came out and how similar they were to the terminal keyboards of the time. For a long time I preferred these over the model M that defined our modern keyboards.
Recently I scored a Packard Bell M7US02X-20 keyboard. It's switches are a simpler design than the Model F, but typing feel and key placement are very similar.
You know I'm not sure I'd pick the Model F as the keyboard I'd want on my desk, simply because of the non-standard layout.
One of the best things about it, if you happen to like having Control on the home row.
My first decade and change of typing was on a Model F, from my father's PC-AT. I still have it, although I use an Ergodox now and might never plug it in again. Great piece of hardware, durable like a tank and excellent key feel.
This is one of the best things about those new production Model F boards - they are the "Kishsaver" style which with some key cap changes can be made very similar to a modern 80% layout.
They're missing too many keys I consider.. critical, home/end, insert/delete, F-Keys, a modern 10-key layout - as I'm typing this on a modern production Model M, I'm hard pressed to tell what makes these better than the unicomp ones I have now.
The AT version is a little better in that regard, but also seem to be somewhat rarer. I'm still waiting on the "modern" Model F.
I still have the one I bought in 1982 or so somewhere in the basement.
Did you purchase it individually? Do you recall what you paid for it? In the blog, I linked to a YouTube video that said they retailed for $300-400. I believe it, but would like to hear confirmation.
I bought it bundled with my original IBM PC. The total price was around $3300 if I recall correctly.
I loved typing on those. Sheer joy.
So satisfying to look at...
Clicky, I bet...
I have keyboard from 1992. Still works fine