deskthority

The Futaba lock switch in one of my keyboards would not lock, so I decided I would cut the rivets and take a peek inside.
Turns out the tiny lever arm that operates the locking mechanism was broken. The arm in the pictures should have a cylindrical protrusion at the bottom that fits in the track in the housing. The broken piece was MIA. I may try 3D printing one.

Very nice, I'm pretty sure that's the first pictures of the internals of this switch we've seen! Is it a nice lock switch or is it quite rough like most lock switches?

This one was smooth, but its broken, so the locking mechanism was not being engaged. You can try for yourself...I think you recently acquired the same board

Great to see this Futaba lock MKII. I brought some futaba keyboards recently but couldn't find the futaba lock on it.
Which keyboard are you?

terrycherry wrote: Great to see this Futaba lock MKII. I brought some futaba keyboards recently but couldn't find the futaba lock on it.
Which keyboard are you?

This is from an Focus FK-9000; a really, really dirty one.

Your shots would be great for our wiki Engicoder!

seebart wrote: Your shots would be great for our wiki Engicoder!

Already uploaded the files (check the image urls )...working on adding links.

Good found. Find the time to clean it and shot some nice photo if necessary.

Engicoder wrote:

seebart wrote: Your shots would be great for our wiki Engicoder!

Already uploaded the files (check the image urls )...working on adding links.

Thanks.

Hm ...

This switch doesn't have the normal spiral galaxy snap-action spring. The fact that it's "smooth" does not prove that it is intentionally this way — I can't tell how this type works.

Doubt remains about the existence of a linear version, but in addition to specifications stating that the heavy versions are linear, these images prove that alternative internals do exist.

I'm still hesitant to start formally referring to the series by my assumed names (in this case, MA series) but that would at least put an end to the series having a name that makes a statement about the unproven presence or absence of a linear version. ("MA series" as a term has never been found, but all the model and part numbers begin "MA", just as all the complicated linear model numbers begin "MD", and similarly "ML" for the low-profile linear.)