Model M maintenance wiki/info?

[Jan Pospisil]

Hi,

I recently bought two model Ms for super cheap, but they are a bit banged up. One has a few sticking/scratchy keys and the other feels...for a lack of a better word - loose on the inside. (no rattle from loose rivets, but the inside assembly is noticeably shifting when I tilt the board)

Is there some wiki on how to disassemble and/or repair Ms? Maybe someone did a really good series of Youtube tutorials?

[digital_matthew]

Clicky Keyboards has some good videos. It's a pretty straight-forward board to work on; I've cleaned and restored a few of them. You'll need a 5.5mm nut driver to take off the four screws on the bottom-back of the board. That will let you open the case. Keys can be removed by hand or more conveniently with a keycap puller. The sticking/scratchy keys may be caused by crushed springs or crud in the key barrel. The looseness of the other one may be due to the barrel assembly not being mounted correctly in the case. Good luck!

[Quartz64]

IBM Modifications and Maintenance Wiki on Reddit

[Jan Pospisil]

Thank you both!

[Jan Pospisil]

Damn, I thought I'd open them up today, but then: one of them had a broken barrel (piece broke off, no crack) and the nut driver I bought was too thick to fit in the holes. -__-

Another day, I guess.

[digital_matthew]

I should have warned you about the nut driver not fitting; that is a common problem. Here is the link to the one I bought. I don't know if it's available where you are.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G2 ... UTF8&psc=1

[Jan Pospisil]

I should have warned you about the nut driver not fitting; that is a common problem. Here is the link to the one I bought. I don't know if it's available where you are.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G2 ... UTF8&psc=1

Hey, no worries, just got a new one that should fit.

Side note - is it known what kind of plastic the barrel plate is made of? I bought some random instaglue, but it might not be appropriate. (says "not for PE, PP, PTFE, PVC")
Might need to get epoxy, as I saw that mentioned in other repairs.
(in the worst case I'll buy a new plate from Unicomp and have the broken one to practice my drilling with)

[fohat]

the nut driver I bought was too thick to fit in the holes.

The actual screw head is 7/32" and 5.5mm works also, but a socket must be "long" and "thin-walled" or the socket of a nut driver must be similarly thin-sided.

[Jan Pospisil]

Yeah, I got this one (someone else linked it on DTin the past) from Conrad:
https://www.conrad.com/p/ck-workshop-so ... 125-828125?

And it works fine.