Model M parts

[Hellmark]

Ok, as some of you may know, I am currently stuck on rubber domes at both home and work, after my model M at home died.

Now, I've gone through some of my things in storage, and come up with an incomplete model M (1390131). This was an ebay find from quite some time ago that I had as a spare, after my first one died, and forgot about. It is missing the SDL cable,  and the numpad's enter key. The post for the enter key seems a bit larger than the ones on my Lexmark M's (which actually have an insert), so I can't harvest from one of my others. Other than that, it is in rather clean shape.

Now my plan is to get this one going for work, and then as I'm saving get another board, and take the better of the two to where it will get the most use. Part of that means hold off on a USB SDL cable, and get a AT or PS/2 SDL cable. Figured I'd check first here, and see what I could come up with for the parts I need.

[dorkvader]

you can buy a keycap and barrel insert from unicomp, though some users might have one.

[Hellmark]

Do the ones from Unicomp have stabilizers? I pulled a barrel insert and keycamp from a newer Lexmark era M, but the key wasn't functional, really mushy and not anywhere near normal.

[ninjadoc]

clickykeyboards.com has some parts and I've seen one or two individuals selling keys on eBay recently

[do_Og@n]

I have some extra IBM caps laying around. I'll look through them and get back to you.

[dorkvader]

Do the ones from Unicomp have stabilizers? I pulled a barrel insert and keycamp from a newer Lexmark era M, but the key wasn't functional, really mushy and not anywhere near normal.

My 1390120 was missing the numberpad enterkey when I got it. Lacking a stabilized model M key and not wanting to take one from my model F, I installed a stabilizer from a terminal model M and a keycap from a unicomp medical keyboard. it worked fine for me, especially after a bolt mod.

I own a later M that has a similar mushiness, but was caused by a large amount of rivets missing from the ares. Even if you are successful in procuring a wire-stabilized keycap, I suspect it will not fix your issue. I recommend opening the keyboard, and performing a bolt-mod.

It is entirely possible that I am misunderstanding your problem. While I well know the differences between older wire stabilized keycaps and never ones with a post-and-insert design, I don't know specifically what you mean by "The post for the enter key seems a bit larger than the ones on my Lexmark M's (which actually have an insert)". If you have a later production 1390131, it might have come without a wire stabilizer for that key, but replacing both the insert and the keycap should work, unless you get an insert designed for horizontal keys.

Finally, knowing the quirks of IBM, you may have found an entirely new keycap mounting design, in which case, I encourage you to document it for the good of the community.

I wish you good luck in your search.