My IBM Model F PC/AT is my favourite keyboard by far. For me, it suffers only one shortcoming. And no, it’s not the BigAss “Enter” key, small “Backspace” key, or the stiff space bar (in fact, I love the latter—it fits my typing style to a T). The function keys on the left side of the keyboard is a plus, and I’m quite neutral about the loss of the navigation key cluster. i.e., dedicated arrow and “Page Up”, “Page Down”, “Home”, and “End” keys, which are all present on the Model M “Mini” Space Saving Keyboard.
My major beef with the Model F keyboard is a psychological one—dealing with the corrosion/rust of the metal plate under the keycaps—see the pictures below. All reports indicate that the corrosion of the metal plate in the Model F, which is extremely common for this keyboard, does not affect its performance or typing feel, or even if it does, the effect is negligible. However, I spend a lot of time in front of the keyboard, not necessarily typing on it. Other activities include snacking, sipping coffee, talking on the phone, etc. Almost anything I do besides typing might cause droplets of fluid (e.g., mustard, coffee, tea, saliva, etc.) to fall between the keycaps onto the metal plate, starting or accelerating the corrosion process. I don’t know how many more years of service this keyboard’s got left, but I really like it, so I wasn’t going to take any chances by letting the metal plate rust through over the years. I had to do something to slow down the corrosion, or, if possible, stop it completely.
In addition, having considered the likely work that would be involved, I thought I’d not only get rid of the rust that had accumulated over the years, but also give the metal plate a fresh coat of paint at the same time. After weeks of looking at colour charts, I chose a red that would fit quite nicely behind the keycaps—adding some spice but not too overbearing as it will largely be covered by the keycaps.
So, to summarize, the goals of the “Model F Project” are to:
- Remove existing rust;
- Prevent new rust from developing on the metal plate; and
- Paint the metal plate red.
The rough plan is to:
- Open the keyboard
- Remove the metal plate
- Remove the rust from the plate
- Use a rust preventative coating
- Paint the metal plate red
- Reassemble the keyboard
I do not intend to paint the barrels. Only a few of them are visible when the keycaps are on, and even so, barely.
I certainly do not intend to modify the space bar, keyboard layout, or the keycaps (Enter; Backspace).
Over the next few weeks, I’ll provide updates on my progress in this project. While the Model F undergoes surgery, I’ll alternate between a Model M “Mini” and a SIIG Minitouch with blue Monterey switches.
Good luck! What type of paint do you plan to use?
@Ed Avis—Thanks! I’m actually halfway through the project but haven’t found enough time to post the photos and write down what I’ve done so far. Here’s a summary: I sanded the steel plate down to bare metal (this part took me two weeks, spending about an hour a day) and wire brushed it until I could no longer see rust. But a lot of pitting corrosion of the metal remained, and I wanted to be quite aggressive about removing that, or else it’d mean more trouble in a few years (because rust never sleeps). So I applied some Fertan, which basically converted the rusted areas to a black material—iron tannate, I believe. There were quite a few spots that turned black or a dark grey, so I’m glad I used Fertan. It just means that there were still some fairly large (invisible) areas that had rust and would have continued to rust if I had not used a rust converter. This morning, I sprayed the first layer of Rust-Oleum Clean Metal Primer. I’ll need to give it another coat of primer after 48 hours. After that, I’ll be painting the plate with Rust-Oleum Universal All-Surface Paint (Cardinal Red). I also intend to use Rust-Oleum Polyurethane as a clear coat for extra protection. But I’m not sure if the polyurethane is compatible with the underlying paint, so I’ve posed the question to Rust-Oleum, and I’m waiting for their reply. It seems like quite a lot of work for one steel plate but I’m enjoying it. 🙂
The following is the reply by a Rust-Oleum customer support representative to my inquiry concerning the compatibility of Rust-Oleum Universal All-Surface Paint and Rust-Oleum Polyurethane:
About fourteen hours spent sanding an almost-invisible metal plate… that’s dedication to the buckling spring cause above and beyond the call of duty!
@Ed Avis—Yeah, I love this keyboard. 🙂 The sanding involved physical labour. The next stage of the project requires patience. It started with the Fertan, followed by the primer. Every time I painted one side of the plate, I gave it two days to dry/set, i.e., (spray) paint one side of the plate, wait two days, turn the plate to the other side, paint, wait two days, turn, paint, etc… I only just finished spray painting the second coat of primer yesterday! It’s taken me ten days to get through the painting so far. And I still have the top coat left to paint! That will begin tomorrow. So, if everything goes according to plan, I’ll have a glossy red metal plate in about 7 days. At this stage, I’m a little concerned that the layers of primer/paint might cause the plate to be too thick, which may pose problems when I put the assembly together, i.e, two metal plates plus everything in between: sponge, hammers, and barrels. If I’m lucky, the layers might just fit and be “tighter” than they were originally—this could lead to a better feel, something a little close to the Model F PC/XT. We’ll find out in a week. I’ll post some pictures and describe the painting process a little more in my next article.