DISCLAIMER: I'm not liable for any damage whatsoever when you follow this article. Do so at your own risk. It's not hard, it just takes a little time.
So you got a model F but the spacebar is killing you. First of all a word of warning: you will need to completely disassemble your precious model F until you can access the "hammers" and springs. If it is your first time taking the keyboard assembly apart, read some tutorials and ask around when you are in doubt - these keyboards are sturdy, but you can have a hard time reassembling them if you hastily popped it open.
Because you probably want to read this article before opening up your own keyboard, here is how mine looks on the inside (this is the backside of the black "front plate"). You can't safely remove the space bar until you are this far - we'll get to that later on.
Take a close look at the spacebar. As it turns out, the spacebar doesn't use a simple stabilizer, rather it has a second long spring to push it back up (picture taken on another occasion) :
This large spring is the target of this mod.
To get it loose, your best option is to take a flat-headed screwdriver or other prying implement to release the spring from a notch in the black plastic (you can see where it is locked when you push the spacebar cap up and down). As soon as the spring is out of this notch, it will pop up allowing you to push the end out of the notch in the space bar keycap. Removing the complete spring should now be easy: carefully lift the free end until you can free the other end from the black plastic support and keycap.
There she is. You may have noticed that the spring is bent like a V when looked at from the top or the front. If you measure the distance from the middle to the ends when looking at it from the front, it measures 6mm. My spring was bent until this distance was only 3mm, giving a nice 60g of force for the spacebar. Here are the dimensions of an unmodified spring:
Now the trick: hold it on your thigh like I did in the picture: keep the bend at the end horizontal when you hold it between your fingers and make sure the middle of the spring points down and away from you. Now push the ends straight down for about 3-5cm, the spring might curl a little around your leg.
Hold the spring in front of you and check that the spring is flatter but not completely flat. That should have done it.
Note: before I tell you how to put the spring back onto the keyboard, read the next heading for an assembly tip. You might want to read about it before putting the spacebar together so you don't have to take it apart again.
When you reseat the stabilizer spring, make sure you don't turn the spring upside down. The middle should push down on the plastic.
I've found that the best way to reseat the spring is to just lay it on the plastic retainer like it should be attached, then to lift the middle so you can put the ends into the slots on the spacebar keycap. Push the middle down again while you keep the ends in place with your index fingers. Now push one side into the ridges, then push the other.
Once the stabilizer is back in its spot you're set! Now you can go back to reassembling your model F. Tips can be found in the discussion of this mod: e.g.
a post by ch_123. More info can be found on Geekhack when searching for it.
[H=Bonus tip]Bonus Tip: Holding The Spacebar Hammer In Place[/H]
When assembling your keyboard again you'll need to press the plates back together while keeping all hammers in place. If you properly read a tutorial you'll know that you should remove all regular keycaps from the keyboard
except the spacebar. This last hammer can be a bit of trouble; you can simply squeeze the plates together and hope that the hammer will properly align with its barrel. If you are out of luck and trap the hammer between the back plate and the barrel you might end up with a non-functional spacebar or a broken hammer.
Seeing how I didn't want to take 5 retries to get the keyboard together, I devised the following trick:
[*]Get some thin fishing wire or some other low-friction but strong wire and a wide popsicle stick or a piece of cardboard. You don't need more than one meter, the exact length depends on how easily you can fasten it to the stick.
[*]Remove the spacebar keycap and its hammer.
[*]Thread a loop of wire through the spacebar barrel. Pull it until you can reach the top row of the keyboard.
[*]Put on the spacebar keycap and attach the stabilizer spring as described above. Check that the two strands of wire are passing through the hollow part of the keycap.
[*]Now put the hammer's "heel" with the spring through the loop. (Make sure not to get the spring caught in the wire!)
[*]Carefully pull the strands away from the keyboard to tighten the loop. The hammer will be pulled close to the barrel until it snaps into place.
[*]Roll the ends of the strands on the popsicle stick or whatever you chose. Keep on rolling until you reach the front plate and give it one last tug to pull everything together.
[*]Now assemble the keyboard as you usually would. When the strands are pulled, the hammer should remain in its place allowing you to push the plates together.
[*]Once the plates are properly locked turn the keyboard upside down and unroll the wire from the popsicle stick. Now carefully start pulling one end and after a little while you should have removed the wire altogether.
[*]Test the spacebar. If it still clicks, you did everything properly.
[/list]
The first time you try this technique it might as fiddly as just squishing the thing together. The main difference is that you know almost for sure the hammer sits in its place, something you mostly have to retry using the old-fashioned technique.
Please note that you can use something else than fishing wire. Another member, skcheng,
used floss made from Teflon for an even better effect (it is after all one of the slickest solid materials).
