A couple weeks back I mentioned the bounty of discarded techno-goodies free for the taking at work. Here's how I brought an IBM Model M keyboard back to life. (There are more heavy-duty version of cleanup methods available, such as this one, but this one is very low-tech, especially since I don't have the required nut driver on hand.)
Something nifty about the Model M is that there's a key within the key. This means you can pop the keycaps off most of the keys in order to clean them or install alternate keycaps -- or even rearrange them if you prefer a Dvorak layout. So here's my salvaged Model M with the keycaps off. Some keys -- the shift keys, the Enter key, etc. -- don't have separate keycaps, and you can see how they mount in the keyboard.
I dumped the keycaps in the sink and let them soak in hot soapy water for a little bit. Dawn's good not only for cleaning up poor little adorable critters that get caught in oil slicks, but it's also good for this kind of task. "D" still has crud on it. "F" has been scrubbed with an old toothbrush. Good, like brand-new.
Here's part of what makes the magic happen. Sticking up from its little hole, like one of those snake-in-a-can things, is one of the springs that gives this keyboard its distinctive tactile sensation.
And here's a whole mess of scrubbed and rinsed keycaps set out to dry. As they dried, I popped the inner keys off the keyboard and gave the main body of the keyboard a good cleaning with cotton swabs and paper towels moistened with some Formula 409 (along with some Goo-Gone, to remove an ancient piece of tape that probably once held a keyboard template). It's amazing how much dirt and grime came off. I didn't disassemble the keyboard; its internals were okay, so all it really needed was a good external cleaning. It made a huge difference.
And a couple hours' effort is rewarded with a keyboard that looks like new again, ready for another 20 years' service. Think you'll be able to say that about most keyboards?
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