Model M LED mod

[xmagusx]

Good morning folks,

I am currently hunting a Model M to play with, as I recall it fondly from my youth and it seemed like a reasonable place to start my mechanical keyboard journey. Naturally, the first thing I plan to do with it is take it apart to help visualize how it works. And after reading up on the beast a bit, I think I'd like to take a swing at the nut and bolt mod detailed here once I find one. That said, while I have it in pieces, I figured I'd see what other mods could be done to it and I've thus far come up with:

* Vinyl dye for the case
* Rit dye for the keys
* Possibly changing the LEDs

So my questions to put forth here are these: first, are there any other fun/neat mods the folks around here would suggest I take a look at? Second, has anyone successfully swapped the LEDs on a Model M, and if so, how did you do it?

Thanks in advance for any and all help! 

[sonic_the_hedgehog]

Oh man, I thought you meant LED mod as in you wanted to put individual LEDs under each key and make it backlit...
(I would be super keen to see that done but I reckon it's damn near impossible considering I don't think there are any keycaps with translucent legends, and where the keycaps sit is opaque so those would need to be modded too... still, it would be the most awesome Model M in history)

I've actually got an IBM Model M that's had the case vinyl dyed black -  I must admit it doesn't look as good as the Unicomp Model M you posted in your OP. It's copped a few scratches and you can kinda tell that it's been dyed (aside - you can buy it from me if you want it but I doubt you're in Australia  ))

I started my mechanical keyboard journey with the Model M as well, probably not such a good idea? While they remain, hands down, one of the best keyboards in history (IMO), they have a couple of minor drawbacks:
1) You can never really get anything quite as good. So when you want to try an new keyboard, whatever else you buy will just seem adequate.
2) The build quality of the IBM Model M's is top notch, so either you have to sacrifice your Windows keys and get the 101-key IBM, or sacrifice a little bit of build quality (from what I've read, anyway) and get the Unicomp 104-key Model M. (The advantage of getting the Unicomp is that you can get it in black)
3) Further to 1), I wanted to try out some interesting keycap colour schemes, and it's basically impossible, as the only place you can get alternative keycaps is pretty much here on gh or from Unicomp. Unicomp are expensive, and either way, there's only a very limited range of colours. Starting with a Cherry MX-based board would've made this a lot easier.

To get back to your question...

I haven't done the LED mod, but it shouldn't be terribly difficult. Any LEDs which run on 5V or less should be fine, you'll just have to stick a current limiting resistor in series with each of them and then possibly another one on the switched rail to drop the voltage to whatever voltage your LEDs require.

This guy did it...

[CPTBadAss]

You could try a bolt mod. You replace all the rivets with bolts/screws. Info can be found in the GH Wiki.

[wcass]

if you want to change the LED to red, you will not need to change any resistors - the forward voltage for green and red LEDs are close enough (usually between 2 and 2.2). you could probably go blue too without any problems.
 
but be aware that IBM used a common vcc for LEDs, not common ground. don't put the LEDs in backwards or they will not light.
 
i ordered a rework station recently. swaping LEDs to red (to match my key caps) might be a good test/first project. if i do it, i will do a write-up.

[0100010]

I never swapped the LEDs in my board, wanted to originally - but then decided I liked the green contrast.

EDIT : In the below pic you can see the different LED cover - the green light from the LED shines through very dimly.

[xmagusx]

Any suggestions for purple LEDs?

Also, is the o-ring mod used to quiet cherries possible and/or worthwhile on a model m?

[Jack]

No, but try this: http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=9761.0
I couldn't find the stuff at Walmart here, but there was some at Target.

[fohat.digs]

Any suggestions for purple LEDs?

Also, is the o-ring mod used to quiet cherries possible and/or worthwhile on a model m?

I have tried to make O-rings work on buckling springs, including dental bands, the thinnest and softest I have seen.

As far as I can tell, it just isn't going to work, probably because of the violence of the actual buckling of the spring so near the bottom of the stroke.

[wcass]

Any suggestions for purple LEDs?

i went to digikey to find purple LEDs - there wern't a lot. narrow it down to just through-hole type and you get ... 1.
forward voltage is 3.2 (closer to 2 than most blues) but the brightness is crazy high - 2200 mcd.
you can search yourself for purple LEDs that might work. for classic IBM must be through hole, should be 5mm wide (but 3mm will work too). you probably want a brightness around 100.

another thing you might try is to use a red LED and paint the lens blue. you could test it out before doing any soldering. use a 330 ohm resistor and 5v from USB.