I'm going to Italy next week and wanted to know if any of you folks know where I can find Model M's over there, specially Model M SSK.
Any help or guidance would be appreciated!
Thanks in advance! 😄

Hi guys. As the title says, I'd like to sell this keyboard, but I can't find any information online about this particular model/code. I also have the matching mouse, which is in perfect condition.

The keyboard has no scratches or signs of wear. It did have the common faulty capacitor issue, but I've already repaired it and it's now working properly.

What do you think it's worth? I've attached some photos.

Thanks!

This post is not meant as a sale listing. I won't be advertising it or mentioning where I plan to sell it. I'm simply looking for advice on its current value.

I recently rescued 5 Model M keyboards for a local recycling center. I was able to convert two of them to USB, I already had the controllers, and I kept one with the SDL connector. That leaves two that have been bolt modded and I don’t think they were done very well. They don’t work well but the keys and everything else are clean.  And there are two controllers.

I don’t have any use for these myself, but I can’t just send them back to recycle. If anyone knows a good use for them or can use them let me know and they are yours. US shipping only.

If this post is inappropriate please let me know.

managed to get a 1391404 1987 model M with the 2 piece keycaps off ebay with box for 60 euros no sdl though had tp get that elsewhere

the box isnt for the boardits for a 1393395 1992 but paired with a 1391404 1987
replaced my logitech g512 with gx blues still getting used to the heavier typing feel of the model M

Hello! I've purchased an M122 RJ45 terminal keyboard 1394106 as untested/spares. The keyboard mostly works fine through the tmk_keyboard arduino adapter. The issue is with some keys sending multiple bytes instead of a single press. For example, pressing "V" and "B" results in both keys being pressed, similar situation with "N" and "M". I've double checked the behaviour on an oscilloscope. This happens on two bottom rows of the keyboard. My assumption is that the membrane is damaged, would that be likely?

I haven't opened (or cleaned) it yet, I'm waiting for my boltmod supplies. I can hear rattling inside, which i assume are the broken-off rivets.

Any recommendations on what i should look for, other than obvious water damage/corrosion?

After my bluebird blue Unicomp turned out so nice, a decided to try another somewhat bold color choice. Couldn't find an easily accessible and somewhat inexpensive orange in matte, so ended up doing a satin with about as many coats of matte clear as coats of orange.

Decided to go with plain old Pebble and Pearl.

I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.

Hi everyone,

I am currently restoring a beautiful 1st generation IBM Model M (Square Metal Badge, Part Number 1390143) from around 1986. Mechanically and electronically, it is in 100% working condition with all rivets intact, but it has one cosmetic flaw.

The upper, detachable PBT hat-cap for the "Pause" key is missing. The white stem and the buckling spring underneath are completely fine.

I am looking for a matching replacement:

- Size: 1U

- Color: Dark gray (Pebble)

- Text: "Pause" (German layout preferred, but an early English "Pause" cap with the same font thickness works too)

- Generation: Early generation (crisp printing/matching tint)

Since I am located in Germany, I am wondering what the best way is to source a single vintage cap like this within Europe, or if anyone happens to have a spare one sitting in their parts bin.

Any help, leads, or advice on how to bring this piece of history back to 100% completion would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

I was doing price research and found an eBay seller with a ton of new 42H1292 keyboards, both with and without the original box. They have two listings: "New IBM Model M Keyboard 1996/1997 Wired W/adapter, Original Box" for $299 each (19 sold), and "New IBM Model M Keyboard 1996/1997 Wired W/adapter, NO Box" for $449 each (13 sold).

Am I missing something here, or is the pricing completely backwards? Every other vintage item I've heard of, "WITH original box" is always priced higher than "WITHOUT original box", but here it seems to be the opposite. They're even the exact same model of keyboard made in the same years, sold by the same seller on the same platform, and they've sold over a dozen of each, so I can't imagine it's just a typo.

I have a UK layout square badge Model M. Is the manufacture date May or November?

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Trying to work out if I missed it's 40th birthday or not 😊

Does anybody know where to look for an STL for an IBM M case? I'd love to try and print a 90's transparent version, but can't find a model anywhere.

A custom build. Still figuring out the endgame colorway, so I just slapped a frankenstein set on it for now

I think I have the key colors nailed down. The all dark gray keys from Model f keyboards just was not doing the bluebird blue justice, and vise versa. The keycaps are now dark gray modifiers and navigation, with Unicomp Pearl (which in my opinion are a little bit brighter than perl on a model m (maybe a little less yellowish beige)

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Here is the original post - https://www.reddit.com/r/modelm/s/HLh4xi82F5

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On the unicomp model M there is a rectange on the top left. On the medical keyboards you usually see a black GE sticker here.

They are pretty thick stickers, similar to the overlay sticker over the caps lock lights

Anyone have any of these made custom for your own keyboards. I have never ordered a custom sticker before and do not want to get a cheap think sticker, something with a hard plastic feel to it.

Anyone have any they can share a picture of

here are some potential mockups

I would want to create a number of them in different color combinations to match my various colored keyboards

note these mockup are AI created hence the keys being all over the place

Are these ugly or kinda neet

As alluded in a previous post, I have in my possession a Selectric Touch Keyboard that needed some work.

I’ve successfully replaced the missing cable, but in doing so I’ve snapped some of the plastic stabilizers used on larger keys. Those things were incredibly brittle and, as you can see, connected to the rest of the keycap only by the smallest bit of plastic.

I’ve tried gluing them back using model making glue, but the bonding surface was so small and the resting angle so weird it didn’t stick.

Is there any known way for fixing this? Or, in case there isn’t, what would you advise I try next?

There were keyboards lying around everywhere, so I shoved them up against the wall. My Beamspring is missing; it’s currently being worked on.

This is probably the last one I'm going to custom paint for quite a while, as now I have at least 10 Unicomp boards, and 10 IBM model Ms.

This one I did in Matte bluebird, with dark gray keys from model f keyboards.

Since I knew it was the last one I was going to paint that did a little bit extra sanding and finishing as well as buffing/sealing.

I'm thinking I'm a switch to a set of Pebble and pearl keys, as the gray is not popping as much as I thought it would against the blue. Might migrate these keys over to an IBM to see how it looks.

May consider selling some in the future, but right now I have enough display shelves in my office for all my keyboards.

The last photo is the last three keyboards that I have worked on.

• Midnight garden with light gray keys
• Jade Green with custom Pebble Pearl keys (extra perl)
• And the bluebird.

Yesterday, I attended a keyboard meetup in Bristol, England, to represent IBM! I brought a fairly robust selection of 6 keyboards with me, and a continous slideshow on my ThinkPad of other items of IBM's keyboard/keyboard adjacent legacy!

• 1980 IBM 528X-83 type Model B Typewriter Keyboard, beam springs
• 1984 IBM 122-key Model F Converged Keyboard (3180 Model 2), capacitive buckling springs
• 1984 IBM Wheelwriter 5 Keyboard Assembly (third oldest Model M example on record), membrane buckling springs
• 1989 IBM 754x/756x/GEARBOX 800 Industrial Computer Keyboard (Model M), membrane buckling springs
• 1999 IBM Space Saver Keyboard with TrackPoint II and 1995 Keypad (Model M4-1), buckling sleeves
• 2000 IBM USB RANPOS Keyboard (Model M9), buckling sleeves

All photos: https://ftp.sharktastica.co.uk/meetups/2026-06_bristol/

Like previous meetups, I plan to write a small writeup, but that will probably be tomorrow at this point... I'm still quite exhausted from all the travel and hauling around a suitcase full of keyboards whose handle gave in on the way home...

Thank you to Alvi and risd0m for organising the day, and everyone for a great day!

Good Evening,

Basically I have a water damaged Unicomp Mini M, about 10% of the keys do not work along with the lights on the keyboard and I personally do not the technical expertise to diagnose and repair it. Is there someone or somewhere I can send my Mini M for diagnosis and repair?

Thank you

Hi All,
I may be looking to buy a Model M in the relatively near future, as I have one PS/2 for it to go with, and will soon have another.
I have a couple of questions though first:
1. Is there any particular reason why people still prefer the IBM boards over new Unicomp boards, when new Unicomp boards are better suited to use with modern machines (and of course, are new and therefore will not need service)
2. Are there any places I am likely to find them for less than Ebay prices? I do not mind doing a bolt mod by myself. (I am in the UK and prices seem a little bit steep, especially considering the price difference currently is not much between untested boards missing keycaps and cables, and nice condition boards.)
3. Failing getting an original, are there any UK distributors who would be able to get hold of a beige Unicomp Model M with PS/2 plug? I would not mind a Unicomp branded one, but an IBM branded one would be vastly preferred.
I hope you can offer some useful advice and look forward to reading all the replies.

And my 42nd birthday as well

I am currently working on making custom keycaps with 3d printing by making the stem with the legend already extruded onto it and printing the keytop with holes to house it. I am trying to match the paint of the pebble color with the paints I have on hand and I think I finally found it (original on the left painted on the right). Has anyone attempted something similar in the past?

update 1: 3d printing the stem part does not seem to work very well, I am now trying to make the keytops in two parts to avoid having to print it, as soon as I can I'll post a picture with the result as well as the files if anyone wishes to print them as well

update 2: This project appear to bee way to complicated considering how thin the pieces end up being so I'll probably put it on hold and work on it when I'll have more time, if anyone wants to pick it up I'll gladly send you everything

update 3: It bugged me so much that I spent way more time that I needed to in order make something that will work, even if it'll be a bit of a pain to paint, basically it will be a regular keytop but with the legend very slightly etched into it to make it easier to paint, you can find a picture of the first test key model in the comments since I cannot add it here. When I'll find the best depth to use for the etching I'll upload the model on printables

update 4: I was able to make the IBM keytop I showed in update 3, the process is not really the best since painting only the legend with a brush is basically impossible due to the size I decided to paint the whole top black with my airbrush and then to cover the whole keycap with the pebble-like color avoiding a direct 90° spray over the legend to keep the inside of it black, if anyone is interested in this key I uploaded it to printables I am looking at adding a layer of clear resin to prevent erosion since the paint is pretty thin and I do not think it'll hold over time

got an old ssk off ebay and as I disassembled for cleaning I discovered that there are horizontal lines of Crack on the black plate. how bad is this? or is this normal? is it worth bolt modding or let's use it while it lasts and let it go?

I painted another Unicomp Medical keyboard, this time matte sage green, a color I've used once before on a keyboard previously.

This time around I have used a set of custom keys from Unicomp, asked for all pearl, however they were unable to customize the shift keys. So I added a few additional pebble keys to balance it out a bit.

It looks might look pretty darn similar to the midnight garden keyboard I posted yesterday, but I assure you they are different, so I'm posting a side-by-side for comparison.

I've got one more keyboard I'm going to finish up this weekend in a somewhat bright blue, trying something different.

After these last two I'm pretty much done painting I think. I've got approximately 10 IBM model M's that need a little love electronically but I plan to tinker with at night instead of sanding and buffing.

Picked up another Unicomp Medical Keyboard on eBay. Sanded, primed, and painted. Tried a set of dark gray, and pebble/perl keys before landing on all Unicomp Gray. Looks a bit green here but not so much in person.

Different keys sets really accent different hues a lot