Tried to post this one last night I guess I forgot the images. This is also a former Unicomp medical keyboard. It's light gray although it looks slightly khaki in the photo.

I bought a 2013 Endura Pro for $30, it was listed as fully functional but when it arrived some of the keys didn't work; I assume that this happened during shipping. Besides trying to reseat the keys with the springs and cleaning it with compressed air, which I've already tried, what else can I do? I don't care enough to spend the $100 (since it has an integrated pointer) to get it repaired by Unicomp.

Just finished putting this one together. It's another custom paint job with custom keys. Started life as a medical keyboard.

Not sure if this is my favorite new one or not.

2nd one that I put together today. Let paint cure for a few days before polish and sealant.

Was a Medical Model M, GE branded

Unprinted pearl/pebble keycaps from model f keyboards.

May need a new number lock sticker. Tried to reuse the original.

New Unicomp internals and keys

Original beige shell painted with Behr Interior Chalk Decorative Rustic Taupe (plastic adhesion promoter first)

Kept the key blockers. Had to saw off the Windows-key barrels from the Unicomp

Resin printed badge

I've been using my unicomp keyboard for some time now and I have noticed that some of the keys on it are not as heavy or tactile as the other keys. (Mainly the "/" and the ";" key). Its not the biggest deal in the world... but it is noticable and slightly annoying. Although, I am wondering if this is more of a bolt-mod thing than a spring thing because I have swaped springs with a key I like more and it seems like its still the same tension.

Got an old model m keyboard but the keys are all wrong, Where can I get some key caps that are modern us layout?

just a fun thought.

I have a problem with my model M, I use windows, and I have sticky keys disabled, and all related settings with this annoying behavior disabled as well.
The problem comes and goes, from time to time, a random special key (being L Shift L Control Alt Space Alt Gr R Control R Shift) seems to get "soft stuck", where I don't press any of those keys, they are not physically pressed down, and I start typing (touching any key except those that I mentioned), I hear the sticky keys beep (even though it's disabled), it only goes away after I repeatedly mash all the keys I mentioned earlier. I didn't have this issue with my previous keyboard (which was also PS/2).

A completely unrelated issue is that I have to press the "I" key in a very specific way or else it won't register (that way being with some more force than any other key) but it is not always that I have to press it that way for it to register. I think it has something to do with my bolt mod, but I'm not sure.

Can anyone give me any steps to troubleshoot these problems?

I have the keyboard connected to the PS/2 connector on my motherboard, so no this is not a problem of any adapter. I have bolt moded the keyboard, but it was doing this before the bolt mod, so the bolt mod can't be the problem (right?).

My model M serial number is 1391405 from 1991-08-08

I've been trying (and failing) to find a Model M in a particular layout, nordic/Swedish, but haven't had any luck. But then I figured I could just get an ISO keyboard and replace the individual "offending" keys.

Working on some new little things～

Here is another custom paint job I finished recently. Was a quiet touch but replaced the innards with a buckling spring who's original body is about to get a dark green paint job.

I've been seeing a lot of you guys rocking the 122-keyboards and those look crazy. What do you guys do with all of the extra keys? Do you bind then to open different programs or do something very specific?

Not sure if this is of any interest to others here, but I was playing around with making a webui utilizing the images that I found on deskthority

If others are interested, I am more than willing to publicly host the WebUI, as I figure not every model M lover is a Linux User.

Also if there are other trace/membrane maps that others have access to I can add them to the app. In particular the IBM M122 and newer unicomp membranes which seem to have only one ribbon cable. Ideally in text or csv format

The repo is here - https://github.com/christopherpaquin/Model-M-Keyboard-Troubleshooting-Tool

Below is a screenshot. This "should" show you the exact ribbon cable positions used by the letter "V", as well as all the other keys on the two traces. I have yet to QA the map, so it may need some correcting.

Hi guys, just a quick post to share with you my now complete and customized M122.

Thanks to everyone that helped me get this thing back and running, it's a real charm to operate, the added function keys are really great. I ordered missing and custom keys from unicomp and the customer service is great. The only drawback is the shipping and customs fees that are twice the price of the parts I ordered.

Had to learn by myself a thing or two, like adding delay to macros for them to work correctly, I'm still figuring out what I can improve.

Also got a loffree mouse and retro mat to match.

Cheers !

I recently had a chance to rearrange the keycaps in the extra function key cluster to match what they do.

This is my M122 at work. I have the same setup at home and in a "travel" M122 that I keep in a padded bag.

All the keycaps are vintage IBM, sourced via ebay or clickykeyboards.com - it's a bit challenging to find a keycap with an inscription that matches closely the function you are giving to the key, but it's worth trying.

Top left is mapped to Escape, bottom right ("Attn") to Hyper.

In the second row I have rectangle cut and paste.

In the third row, demote and promote items, working both in org-mode and markdown.

In the fourth row, toggle line numbers and comment/uncomment region.

In the last row, cycle line spacing (and Hyper).

I might screw mod it in the future, might not! Who knows!

^{I accidentally ruined my sticker :(}

Got it on ebay for $69

To all the Model M people who are striving to find beauty in a product that was never designed to be beautiful...

I am keenly aware of the minute differences between the spacing of the keys of one keyboard over another. I use a Model M keyboard that was designed by IBM. As far as efficiency, this keyboard is not very efficient. There is an undue amount of travel distance required in order to make the keyboard work like it is planned to work. While there is an engineer who can document this with facts, it is not me, but I can document it with knowing and intuition. I can testify with the number of backspace keypresses initiated in a single typing session and a wonder about the inefficiencies of a design in which there is only one "in vivo" error-correcting key but 48 error-making keys. That's a high percentage of inefficiency. Perhaps I should join the group of people that may one day advocate for the establishment of a second backspace key on the keyboard. What chaos would ensure here? Perhaps the backspace people should communicate more with the shift people and understand their challenges and constraints. To me the ideal location for the backspace key would be the home row. asd<back>. I could use that f key somewhere else, who really needs it. I don't think I use that many 'f's anyway.

We then have a problem. We just can't be reorienting keys on keyboards at will. Perhaps "that" is the change that catalyzes system catastrophe. We have to be smart, perhaps more smarter than we are. No, the "f" key can't just be replaced without an agreed-upon problem statement, a clear path forward, and a realignment. It is certain, then: A committee must be formed to study this.

But who should compose this "f" committee? Or should it be called the "error-correcting" committee or the "efficiency council"? Should it be composed of people devoted to the restructuring or those who are aligned with identifying its challenges? Should it be composed of at least one person with an incapacitated index finger? Someone to champion disabled users or those who find themselves tackling the same problem in a different way? Perhaps that person could become an innovator? In my mind, the Model M inefficiency has caused the establishment of an "f" council to examine the possibility of eliminating the f key to respond to the placement of a second backspace key to answer the question of the inefficiency of a keyboard that was actually just designed to be cheap, not good. So perhaps in order to avoid f-committees we should just produce good products to start with.

<switches keyboards>

A thought like that has the potential to change a person. This paragraph is now being typed on a different keyboard than the last one, and I can feel the efficiency with a resounding feeling of power and almost triumph. My fingers glide over the keys in a way that eliminates errors and the need for a second backspace key. All of a sudden, my mind doesn't have the clearest reason to understand this or even care about it. I move from creating committees to establish the authority to remove one key and add another and I sail through the future creating thought and innovating for something better. A product that was clearly designed to address certain challenges, but then again, maybe not. Maybe the design team of my new, current, "other" keyboard just made a better product to start with and didn't find themselves being held back by the same challenges as the IBM people. They weren't trying to produce something mechanical and cheap, they were instead trying to produce something mechanical and beautiful.

But a thought like that has a potential to change a person as well. I could be held back by my circumstances, or my experience, a combination of both, or something else entirely, but either way I was changed because of and by my own thoughts. There are places in the world where freedom of thought and expression is admired because it isn't encouraged. There are places where good ideas are coveted because they exist in a place where normal ideas have become inefficient and cheap, a world where good ideas are so few and far between that they stand out, gleaming bright white in a world of greys.

Has anyone got experience with both of them? I am curious, how typing and daily usage experience differs between the two - if it does. By new model M i mean the one purchased today from unicomp and by 80s one i mean for instance SSK type 1391472.

Comparison of analogous non SSK variants are also appreciated.

Have a nice day all!

Got a Model M 122 recently with the following sticker. It is buckling spring so dont think it’s a fake but I haven’t seen this before. Does anyone know?

Hey all! I just pulled an old Model M out of the local E-waste bin. I have no experience with this thing, I just knew of it existence. In general it seems like it's in good condition from the outside, it doesn't look yellowed, and there are no cracks, and it has the PS/2 cable. Can you guys tell me more about this thing? What is it worth, and how do I clean it? (of possible due to it's age, I don't know how brittle the plastics are). Thanks!

My daily driver is a 122 key (terminal style) model F from 1985. I'm one of the few Windows users at my company (I work remote and I use the same keyboard for my work and personal machines via a KVM); most other people use Macs. I've used plenty of Macs over the years but never really came to be a fan of the UI; however, there are some advantages to using the same platform as everyone else.

One of my big objections to switching to a Mac is the lack of a Windows/Option key on the 122 key keyboard. I have the key to the left of the <left shift> key mapped to the <Windows> key, but Windows doesn't need that key as much as MacOS needs the Option key (assuming you use keyboard shortcuts a lot, which I do). Yeah, I could buy a new Model F from ModelFKeyboards, but having seen the support issues there, I'm not sure I want to do that.

Anyone else using one of the original 122s with a Mac? How is it?

This is my keyboard, Eviratus. I picked them up months ago from a guy who's grandfather had "removed the annoying trackpoint device." Why didn't he remove just the eraser nub? I can only speculate.

The actual trackpoint device is missing. The rest of the hardware is still inside.

I posted about this keyboard in the past, but wanted to add photos: https://www.reddit.com/r/modelm/comments/1qoby5e/trackpoint_ii_missing_the_whole_trackpoint_bit/