This is incredibly frustrating (Signature Plastics):

[dgreekstallion]

I am in the process of trying to source custom keycaps for the IBM Model F & M boards. I thought I had some luck with Signature Plastics, but alas... No. Here's what they said:

"Danny-
We have tooling that molds what I believe to be the top cap on the Model M
(I don't know for certain as it is similar to another type of keycap), it is
proprietary tooling that belongs to another customer - hence I can't sell to
anyone but that customer. Sorry!"

So apparently they can most likely do them but someone else owns the tooling. Great.

[damorgue]

Unicomp sells some if you don't already know about them.

[boost]

Well, it's only fair since that person(s) paid for the tooling. If you're able to get in contact with the person(s) you can ask for permission to use the tools...

also, unicomp sells BS keys.
http://www.unicomp.com/

edit: too slow as damorgue linked it.lol

[dgreekstallion]

fohat.digs is refurbishing a Model F for me, and the process of trying to source custom keycaps (Unicomp ones look to be rubbish) has been rather aggravating, haha.

[boost]

fohat.digs is refurbishing a Model F for me, and the process of trying to source custom keycaps (Unicomp ones look to be rubbish) has been rather aggravating, haha.

are the ones from SP DS or PP?

[dgreekstallion]

fohat.digs is refurbishing a Model F for me, and the process of trying to source custom keycaps (Unicomp ones look to be rubbish) has been rather aggravating, haha.

are the ones from SP DS or PP?

You know it appears they offer DS and Sublimated. Their range of options is mind-boggling.

[Techno Trousers]

Unicomp caps are definitely NOT rubbish. I bought three full 101 sets of pebble and pearl for my own F 122 project. They are all well made and two piece. I've compared them directly to 1986 vintage classic Model M caps, and they are very hard to tell apart, other than the fact that the vintage caps have green and brown on selected keys (alt, num pad arrows), and the Unicomp versions are all black text.

There seems to be a fair amount of disdain for Unicomp around here. I need to post some cap comparison photos one day soon to counter some of the misinformation.

[dgreekstallion]

Unicomp caps are definitely NOT rubbish. I bought three full 101 sets of pebble and pearl for my own F 122 project. They are all well made and two piece. I've compared them directly to 1986 vintage classic Model M caps, and they are very hard to tell apart, other than the fact that the vintage caps have green and brown on selected keys (alt, num pad arrows), and the Unicomp versions are all black text.

There seems to be a fair amount of disdain for Unicomp around here. I need to post some cap comparison photos one day soon to counter some of the misinformation.

That's contrary to what I have read but I do not disbelieve you.

[Krogenar]

Unicomp caps are definitely NOT rubbish. I bought three full 101 sets of pebble and pearl for my own F 122 project. They are all well made and two piece. I've compared them directly to 1986 vintage classic Model M caps, and they are very hard to tell apart, other than the fact that the vintage caps have green and brown on selected keys (alt, num pad arrows), and the Unicomp versions are all black text.

There seems to be a fair amount of disdain for Unicomp around here. I need to post some cap comparison photos one day soon to counter some of the misinformation.

That's contrary to what I have read but I do not disbelieve you.

Unicomp caps are definitely NOT rubbish. I bought three full 101 sets of pebble and pearl for my own F 122 project. They are all well made and two piece. I've compared them directly to 1986 vintage classic Model M caps, and they are very hard to tell apart, other than the fact that the vintage caps have green and brown on selected keys (alt, num pad arrows), and the Unicomp versions are all black text.

There seems to be a fair amount of disdain for Unicomp around here. I need to post some cap comparison photos one day soon to counter some of the misinformation.

I agree -- the BS keycaps from Unicomp are very good -- well, at least I've never had any trouble with them at all.

[dgreekstallion]

Well now I am waiting on them to reply to my order. So far I've had no luck.

[CPTBadAss]

I tried a Unicomp board on Monday and I literally forgot it was a Unicomp board. The quality seemed just as good as the IBM stuff, both the caps and the board itself.

[damorgue]

I think Unicomp have some of the original tooling for them even. I always thought of their caps to be fairly identical to the original caps anyway. Sure, they do less fancy stuff than SP, but we are not even close to have SP make our own molds. Unicomp were going to offer RA (red on white) but I don't know what happened with that or if it went through or not.

[rknize]

Unicomp's key cap quality has varied over the years, which is probably why the OP has a mixed impression.  For a time, their caps had an excessive amount of flashing around the bottom.  This comes from overusing a worn-out mold.  They seem to be better now.  The ones I got a month or two ago are no better or worse than stock IBM caps.

Their custom printing process was previously done by hand using original equipment, so the alignment tended to be all over the place.  Even the standard legends tended to drift around from set to set, probably due to worn-out equipment.  They have recently purchased new dye-sub equipment and can not only do custom legends, but they can also do more colors.  Before they made this investment, they could not do things like this:

http://pckeyboard.com/page/category/SBLE

Unicomp tends to move slowly, but they eventually do get there.  They recently refreshed their entire line of keyboards, seemingly to reduce the number of part variations that they have to stock.  While some of the things they did with the new layouts are not the greatest, it shows that they are actively trying to keep their product line going.  Hopefully we'll see some movement on the custom key cap front fairly soon.

[Justblair]

I just bought a set of unicomp keys for my M122 refurbishment. If you look real close there is a tiny tone difference between the new and old pearl plastic. But that is to be expected of 19 years of ageing vs brand new. Even then I am using a mixture of both on the refurbed board and you would have difficulty telling old from new apart.

Other than that the quality of both the original and unicomp parts are both equally excellent.

I suspect that the previous post explains why the myth that unicomp is inferior came about, though I suspect that tone differences might be being confused with quality difference in some people's minds.

Only issue with Unicomp I have is I ordered windows keys after a discussion (Inc. Photos) and they sent the wrong ones. I have to admit that I have not informed them of the issue due to lethargy on my part!

[vivalarevolución]

Unicomp had some bad caps for awhile that faded and got sparkly after some use.  I have a Unicomp full of these keys.

The build quality of some Unicomp boards does fall short of the Model M for the boards they reduced the weight and size, like the EnduraPro and Spacesaver M.  That should be expected because the boards are smaller and lighter, will not feel as solid.

[dgreekstallion]

Unicomp's key cap quality has varied over the years, which is probably why the OP has a mixed impression.  For a time, their caps had an excessive amount of flashing around the bottom.  This comes from overusing a worn-out mold.  They seem to be better now.  The ones I got a month or two ago are no better or worse than stock IBM caps.

Their custom printing process was previously done by hand using original equipment, so the alignment tended to be all over the place.  Even the standard legends tended to drift around from set to set, probably due to worn-out equipment.  They have recently purchased new dye-sub equipment and can not only do custom legends, but they can also do more colors.  Before they made this investment, they could not do things like this:

http://pckeyboard.com/page/category/SBLE

Unicomp tends to move slowly, but they eventually do get there.  They recently refreshed their entire line of keyboards, seemingly to reduce the number of part variations that they have to stock.  While some of the things they did with the new layouts are not the greatest, it shows that they are actively trying to keep their product line going.  Hopefully we'll see some movement on the custom key cap front fairly soon.

Thanks for this information!!!

[rowdy]

Model M (F?) caps also available from:

http://shop.hooleon.com/collections/keyboard-tools/products/ibm-model-m-keyboard-keycaps

http://www.fentek-ind.com/keys.htm#.UhU-Iz_HB8E

[dgreekstallion]

Model M (F?) caps also available from:

http://shop.hooleon.com/collections/keyboard-tools/products/ibm-model-m-keyboard-keycaps

http://www.fentek-ind.com/keys.htm#.UhU-Iz_HB8E

Thanks, I talked with Fentek actually. Decent pricing, but I went ahead and bit the bullet. Just bought a full set of printed keycaps from Unicomp... Hopefully all goes well.

[rowdy]

Model M (F?) caps also available from:

http://shop.hooleon.com/collections/keyboard-tools/products/ibm-model-m-keyboard-keycaps

http://www.fentek-ind.com/keys.htm#.UhU-Iz_HB8E

Thanks, I talked with Fentek actually. Decent pricing, but I went ahead and bit the bullet. Just bought a full set of printed keycaps from Unicomp... Hopefully all goes well.

Let us know what they are like - I am likely to be purchasing a set in the near future.

[dgreekstallion]

Model M (F?) caps also available from:

http://shop.hooleon.com/collections/keyboard-tools/products/ibm-model-m-keyboard-keycaps

http://www.fentek-ind.com/keys.htm#.UhU-Iz_HB8E

Thanks, I talked with Fentek actually. Decent pricing, but I went ahead and bit the bullet. Just bought a full set of printed keycaps from Unicomp... Hopefully all goes well.

Let us know what they are like - I am likely to be purchasing a set in the near future.

I definitely will. Thanks for your help by the way.

[terrpn]

no problems with anything i have ever purchased from unicomp.

although i have never bought complete sets, all the replacement keys, rgb's, gh keys, misc............i have never had or seen  an issue- so i got there back.

would never hesitate to buy from again and there caps are as good as the originals on my model m

[dgreekstallion]

no problems with anything i have ever purchased from unicomp.

although i have never bought complete sets, all the replacement keys, rgb's, gh keys, misc............i have never had or seen  an issue- so i got there back.

would never hesitate to buy from again and there caps are as good as the originals on my model m

Apparently I was reading misinformation. Hopefully it works out well.