KEYCAPS FROM TYPEWRITERS: which typewriters to buy

[OhManIAmWorried]

Hi everyone! I've read a nice amount of threads like this recently, and wanted to share my results.

Living in Ukraine Мої вітаннячка), I'm struggling at search for any common cherry-compatible typewriters, but there are plenty of Soviet one's for sale.  )
In this post I would like to gather all the typewriters (I could find) that you should or should not buy for gathering caps.
My apologies for restarting the theme, but I am sure, that this thread is useful, since it gathers most of the information, you could find, in one place.
It would be great to hear something from those, who have tried to disasemble Soviet writers.

PS: Please, correct me if I am wrong at my Engrish or with my statements. 

Cherry compatible:

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Triumph Adler Satellite 4
Triumph Adler Satellite 3
Triumph Adler Satellite 510
Triumph Adler Satellite 825
Triumph Adler SE 410
Triumph Adler SE 525
Triumph Adler SE 500DS
Triumph Adler Royal Alpha 700D
Triumph Adler Royal Alpha 610
Triumph Adler Royal Alpha 115
Triumph Adler Royal Alpha 110
Triumph Adler Royal Beta 8100
Triumph Adler Meteor II
Triumph Adler Satellite 510
Triumph Adler Satellite 825
Triumph Adler BSM 100 (SC)
Triumph Adler CompacTA SE 700 (DS)
Triumph Adler CompacTA 600 (DS)
Triumph Adler Gabriele 7007L
Triumph Adler Gabriele 8008L
Triumph Adler Gabriele 9009 (C)
Triumph Adler SE 505
Triumph Adler SE 515
Triumph Adler 525 (Cherry mx/m8 adapter switches)
Triumph Adler Beta 8050
Royal Beta 220
AEG Olympia Carrera
AEG Olympia Carrera Si (linear clears/marquardt linear switches)
AEG Olympia ES 72
AEG Olympia Standard 200i (linear clears)
Hermes H16 (same as TA Gabrielle 7007L)
XEROX 6001 RX (same as TA CompacTA) (Cherry MY switches)
Xerox 6012 (Cherry MY)

Alps compatible:

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Sharp ZX-330 (SKCL Green + SKCL Cream spacebar)
Canon AP x50 series: 150,450,550(maybe) (Caps indicator should be rectangular and top-centered)
Canon S-16 (SA, or very similar profile) (Alps SKEW switches + 1 SKCL Green)
Sharp PA-1000
Panasonic ThermalWriter 12
Canon AP360
Canon AP 830
Canon AP 500-II https://typewriterdatabase.com/1985-canon-ap500ii.7282.typewriter

Uncompatible with kb switches:

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Triumph Adler TWEN T 180 (Membrane)
Triumph Adler Gabrielle 110 (DS) (Amstrad)
Triumph Adler Gabrielle 100 (DS) (Amstrad)
Triumph Adler TWEN T 180
Triumph Adler Royal Beta 8000 (or are they?)
Triumph Adler Gabriele Cyclo
Samsung SQ-1000 (domes, sadly)
Canon QS-100 (idk, membrane slider stuff)
Canon Typestar 6 ("looks like a box switch")
Canon AP 830 (SMK inverse mount)
AEG Olympia Compact i Startype (Marquardt Two Fingers)
AEG Olympia Carrera II (OEM caps) (membrane with slider)
AEG Olympia Professional 200i (Marquardt Two Fingers)
Olivetti Praxis 20 (membrane with slider) https://writelephant.com/tag/juki/
Optima SP50 (membrane with slider)

Other standarts:

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Brother ax 12 (Topre compatible)
Brother ce 60 (Topre compatible)
Brother em 1 (Topre compatible) (untested)
Brother ax 20 (Topre compatible) (Topre compatible)

Typewriters, I would like to read something about:

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Optima SP50
Canon AP550
Canon QS100
Olivetti ET Personal 510-II
Xerox 6001

And following are the links that I used:

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https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/wiki/typewriter_key_modifications
http://wiki.geekhack.org/index.php?title=Typewriters
https://deskthority.net/photos-f62/t-a-gabriele-7007l-caps-t3508.html
https://deskthority.net/photos-f62/mx-compatible-aeg-olympia-typewriter-keycaps-t1316.html#p22605
http://imgur.com/a/2VrDJ
http://www.ebay.com/itm/TA-Royal-Beta-8000-Electric-Typewriter-/370509686712?pt=BI_Typewriters_Word_Processors&hash=item56441927b8&afsrc=1&rmvSB=true
https://deskthority.net/photos-f62/triumph-adler-typewriters-typewriters-typewriters-t8466.html
https://deskthority.net/videos-f63/triumph-adler-typewriter-cherry-m6-gabriele-8008l-t6648.html
https://deskthority.net/photos-f62/triumph-adler-typewriter-cherry-mx-blacks-linear-clears-high-stems-t15165.html
https://deskthority.net/wiki/Triumph-Adler
https://deskthority.net/for-sale-f55/work-1985-olympia-compact-i-teleprinter-t16918.html#p378126
https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/6wydec/i_dont_really_know_much_about_mechanical/
https://deskthority.net/photos-f62/sharp-zx-330-typewriter-t17300.html#p384539
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNCajKG-q8-MJLsdPO8dpv23yqjgpVi1EBa9R5XJfVltb-C6B8DtvXjH25fsptTTQ?key=eldKbmt3OEF4WkdPWFdNbG1YTkF2Y0o4dmtzX2tn
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=57366.0
https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/6zk5vs/so_i_just_found_this_machine_and_im_not_sure_what/
https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/79s1gq/found_that_typewriter_guess_what/
https://deskthority.net/photos-f62/triumph-adler-typewriters-typewriters-typewriters-t8466.html#p400453

Post will update with further reasearch and your feedback, feel free to criticize, as I am new to this stuff.

May make this into a table with mentioning switch types later, with more knowledge of switch types.
UPD: this format seem to satisfy everyone, as no complains are seen. Editing would take too much time, anyway. Proves can be found by visiting refered pages, thanks for reading!

[Marvellion]

Quite useful, thanks!

[SBJ]

Wow thank you for this.

[Coreda]

So bookmarked. And great first post!

[OhManIAmWorried]

Thank you all for good words.  One more Canon (QS 100) turned out to be membrane (I guess), list updated.

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[xantiema]

How about Nakajima Ax160?

[OhManIAmWorried]

How about Nakajima Ax160?

Sadly, I am not that confident in recognizing keycap standarts, and even if I was, I won't say a thing without closeups of the keys, which I can't find via Google.
All I can tell is that Cherry caps are said to have straight sides, not-that-curved corners and sharp typeface, but those are difficult for me to see.

[Findecanor]

There is a wiki page about this. Please cross-check your findings with that one and update it.
But please update it only with typewriters that you have examined in person!

Cherry's (or GMK's) own caps were used on some Triumph-Adler typewriters with Cherry MX or Cherry MY switches - and those can be recognized by being grey, having sharp corners and having Cherry's font.
There are other keycaps with the exact same colour scheme, keycap sizes and font but with rounded corners - and those do not fit Cherry MX. It is often difficult to tell those two types apart just from images (for instance on eBay): you would need an exceptionally sharp image or inspect them in person.

Then there are some keycap sets with completely different shapes and colours that also fit Cherry MX.

[OhManIAmWorried]

There is a wiki page about this. Please cross-check your findings with that one and update it.
But please update it only with typewriters that you have examined in person!

Cherry's (or GMK's) own caps were used on some Triumph-Adler typewriters with Cherry MX or Cherry MY switches - and those can be recognized by being grey, having sharp corners and having Cherry's font.
There are other keycaps with the exact same colour scheme, keycap sizes and font but with rounded corners - and those do not fit Cherry MX. It is often difficult to tell those two types apart just from images (for instance on eBay): you would need an exceptionally sharp image or inspect them in person.

Then there are some keycap sets with completely different shapes and colours that also fit Cherry MX.

Wiki page about TA was one of the sources for this post. All the other information is taken from given links and my research (I ask sellers to remove a cap to show me the mounting), which I am constantly making. I can't gurantee that each and every typewriter is in correct category, as my own research is about 5-10% of the list. However, all the rest was not taken from head and post has links to prove those.
Hopefully, I'll find some willing to create a table similar to TA wiki, but for me it has close to no sense, as this list was formed to gather the info in one place.

IMO the way this post is supposed to be used is:
1. Check for each TW on EBay etc.
(After finding the TW mentioned in a list ->)
2. Do a search in google, as there is likely to be a prove, since I had to take my info from somewhere
3*. Use links given in post to read something usefull if needed

I'll try to send some updates when each another seller replies to prove my findings and mark my findings in some way, so no probs with that.

Also, thanks for the info, I've seen all this tips before, and with that many of them I'd sure be glad if someone could operate with them more efficient, then I do  ).

[Troif]

Thanks! I still need to obtain a nice POM OG Cherry keycaps... I already have the HADadapter kit so that would be awesome.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Vindicare_JJL]

So I recently bought a ce-60 typwriter from brother.



The keycaps look topre compatible since they look/are the same as the keycaps from the ax12 from brother.



So I think you can add this to the topre compatible list. I unfortunately don't have a topre keyboard (yet ), so I can't test it myself.

Great list btw, I'm really curious whether the olivetti personal et 510 is compatible, so I will follow this!

[OhManIAmWorried]

So I recently bought a ce-60 typwriter from brother.

(Attachment Link) (Attachment Link)

The keycaps look topre compatible since they look/are the same as the keycaps from the ax12 from brother.

(Attachment Link)

So I think you can add this to the topre compatible list. I unfortunately don't have a topre keyboard (yet ), so I can't test it myself.

Great list btw, I'm really curious whether the olivetti personal et 510 is compatible, so I will follow this!

Updated

[OhManIAmWorried]

AEG Olympia Carrera II with oem caps has membrane with slider switch type, non compatible with anything. Post updated.

[OhManIAmWorried]

TA 525 with cherry mx/m8 switches added.

[subcat]

Great list! Do you have any experience with the TA SE 1035?
https://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/OTYwWDE2MDA=/z/9m8AAOSwEPtZYgmN/$_32.JPG
Terrible pic, I know 

[AdrianMan]

Brother AX-20, Topre compatible I guess

[AdrianMan]

Brother EM-1 Typewriter

SA Profile keycaps

Also Topre compatible.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/IclRdAbducR061ml2

[Findecanor]

Brother AX-20, Topre compatible I guess

Guess? Likely, because other Brother typewriters have been confirmed to be, but you should really try it before making a claim that it is.
I have tested caps from other Japanese typewriters before that have had similar-looking mounts but not been Topre-compatible.

[OhManIAmWorried]

The topic is moving somewhere, thanks for sharing, guys. All "brothers" with unconfirmed Topres will be marked.

Also, Sharp zx 330 with SKCL Green Alps is added to Alps category.

[OhManIAmWorried]

Great list! Do you have any experience with the TA SE 1035?
https://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/OTYwWDE2MDA=/z/9m8AAOSwEPtZYgmN/$_32.JPG
Terrible pic, I know 

If nothing shows on Internet I can't help much. TA are quite rare in my country. I've only seen uncompatibles and don't know much about this particular one.

My guesses are - MX compatible, spherical, dsa-like profile. From dim pieces of photography I've found, I believe, those are identical to TA 310 ones.
Good luck 

[AdrianMan]

Brother AX-20, Topre compatible I guess

Guess? Likely, because other Brother typewriters have been confirmed to be, but you should really try it before making a claim that it is.
I have tested caps from other Japanese typewriters before that have had similar-looking mounts but not been Topre-compatible.

I got the pics from used typewriters sellers in my country.

They look exactly the same as the confirmed brother typewriters.

In this post we can see some pics and the author said they have good fit.

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=57366.0

Just trying to get a good database of compatible keycaps

[OhManIAmWorried]

Brother AX-20, Topre compatible I guess

Guess? Likely, because other Brother typewriters have been confirmed to be, but you should really try it before making a claim that it is.
I have tested caps from other Japanese typewriters before that have had similar-looking mounts but not been Topre-compatible.

I got the pics from used typewriters sellers in my country.

They look exactly the same as the confirmed brother typewriters.

In this post we can see some pics and the author said they have good fit.

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=57366.0

Just trying to get a good database of compatible keycaps

Updated

[mhinsch]

I just ebayed a Canon 6300. It has beautiful double-shot keycaps but unfortunately they are neither Alps nor Cherry compatible (the connector looks like an inverted elongated Cherry).

Tandy 102 (strictly speaking not a typewriter, I know) has nice white on black Alps-compatible double shots (flat DSA-like profile, typewriter layout). Tandy WP-2 (which I assumed had the same keyboard) has cheap sticker key caps on a rubber dome.

EDIT

It appears the Canon has SMK (compatible?) switches.

EDIT 2

Ok, it's actually 6 tactile SMK switches (the ones with the LEDs) and otherwise rubber domes (but using the same mount).

EDIT 3

That's Canon AP 6300

[OhManIAmWorried]

AEG family grows. Here is an example of regular AEG Olympia Carrera with linear whites. Updated

[Myoth]

You missed the whole lot of typewriters that IBM has, almost all of them are usable with Buckling Springs.

I can help you with those if you are having a hard time

[AdrianMan]

Triumph Adler SE 515

Just got one and has MX Compatible keycaps.

[OhManIAmWorried]

You missed the whole lot of typewriters that IBM has, almost all of them are usable with Buckling Springs.

I can help you with those if you are having a hard time

Well, I don't have any IBM keyboards in my collection, so I didn't bother to make a research on this topic.
If you can post a list of Buckling spring/Solenoid compatible typewriters I'll be glad to include it in here.

[ingmar]

I bought a Canon AP 830 today, and discovered that it had  SMK inverse cross mount switches instead of the expected Alps ones. Buyer beware ... (Nice doubleshot caps, though.)

[Aran.E99]

Got a Canon S-16 in the mail today - it has SA (or very similar profile) doubleshot Alps mount keycaps and Alps SKEW switches (+ 1 SKCL Green) which are surprisingly not too bad. There are a fair few non-standard caps but higher models in the S series (and others) have additional caps which would be more ideal for bigger boards.

[ppCircle]

What about gabriele ta 100? I found one and keycaps looks cool but what mounting they have.

[Sintpinty]

I think alps mount. I'm not sure.

[2ter]

The XEROX 6001 RX is a Triumph Adler CompacTA typewriter and has a keyboard with Cherry MY switches and brown and green dye-subbed keycaps.

[krautcat]

Sorry for necroposting. I have begun harvesting keycaps and switches from old typewriters for my split keyboards with columnar staggering.

Can confirm following typewriters have Cherry MX-compatible keycaps.

Typewriter	Keyswitch	Keycap profile	Keycap material	Legends
Xerox 6012	Cherry MY	Cherry	PBT	Dye-sublimation (tri-color)
AEG Olympia Standard 200i	Cherry MX Olympia Clear	Non-standard sculpted (not OEM)	PBT	Laser infilled (?)

Uncompatible with any modern keyswitches.

Typewriter	Keyswitch	Keycap profile	Keycap material	Legends
AEG Olympia Professional 200i	Marquardt Two Fingers Typewriter	Sperical sculpted	ABS	Doubleshot

Also it seems Optima SP50 has keycaps incompatible with Cherry MX and ALPS keystems. Photos is from two auctions' (here and here) lots.

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[OhManIAmWorried]

Sorry for necroposting. I have begun harvesting keycaps and switches from old typewriters for my split keyboards with columnar staggering.

Can confirm following typewriters have Cherry MX-compatible keycaps.

Typewriter	Keyswitch	Keycap profile	Keycap material	Legends
Xerox 6012	Cherry MY	Cherry	PBT	Dye-sublimation (tri-color)
AEG Olympia Standard 200i	Cherry MX Olympia Clear	Non-standard sculpted (not OEM)	PBT	Laser infilled (?)

Uncompatible with any modern keyswitches.

Typewriter	Keyswitch	Keycap profile	Keycap material	Legends
AEG Olympia Professional 200i	Marquardt Two Fingers Typewriter	Sperical sculpted	ABS	Doubleshot

Also it seems Optima SP50 has keycaps incompatible with Cherry MX and ALPS keystems. Photos is from two auctions' (here and here) lots.

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(Attachment Link)
(Attachment Link)

Talking about necroposting, I have updated the lists. Thank you for your part.

[Darthbaggins]

I thought certain late 80's early 90's IBM TW's had an ALPs or Beamspring compatible stem - might check the one my mom has so I can get everyone a model number and verification (fortunately she should still have it - if so free caps for me, just no board to use them with, yet).

[krautcat]

Be careful, AEG Olympia Standard 200i can be equipped with keyboard with Marquardt Two Fingers Typewriter switches. I knew that typewriter I have bought today probably will have this switches (keycaps was very suspicious) and I can confirm this typerwriter has Marquardts. But it is easy to distinct keyboards with different keyswitches (MX Olympia Clears and Maurquardts) from each other.

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Anyway, my keyboard has interesting mix of ABS keycaps, doubleshot ones and maybe pad printed ABS? I don't know which type of technology is used in keycaps with double legends, cyrillic and latin, but I couldn't find any proofs they're doubleshot.

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[Cacklefruit]

Hey, guys. I wanna ask you about the typewriters i found on the internet and if any of them compatible with MX, Alps, or Topre. Or atleast are they double-shot or Dyesub
.
I tried to ask the owners to pull the caps but they don't wanna do it because they are afraid, and i can't check on them because i live pretty far away from them
Here's the list:
.
- Panasonic Panaword FW-17 (Japan)
- Sharp WD-A550 (Japan)
- Sharp PA-3100
- Sharp PA-3100 ii
- Underwood 650
- Royal SE 700 DS
- Brother AX-450
- Brother AX-325
- Brother AX-250
- Brother AX-15
- Canon S60
- Olivetti ET Personal 510
- Olympia Splendid
- Casio Casiowriter CW-20
.
Thanks in advance, cheers!

[Cacklefruit]

Hey, guys. I wanna ask you about the typewriters i found on the internet and if any of them compatible with MX, Alps, or Topre. Or atleast are they double-shot or Dyesub
.
I tried to ask the owners to pull the caps but they don't wanna do it because they are afraid, and i can't check on them because i live pretty far away from them
Here's the list:
.
- Panasonic Panaword FW-17 (Japan)
- Sharp WD-A550 (Japan)
- Sharp PA-3100
- Sharp PA-3100 ii
- Underwood 650
- Royal SE 700 DS
- Brother AX-450
- Brother AX-325
- Brother AX-250
- Brother AX-15
- Canon S60
- Olivetti ET Personal 510
- Olympia Splendid
- Casio Casiowriter CW-20
.
Thanks in advance, cheers!

So, i was talking with Mr. mcmaxmcmc on twitter and here's his answer
.
1. Panasonic Panaword FW-17 (Japan) (can't find pic, but doesn't seem good)
2. Sharp WD-A550 (Japan) (Spring over memb of some sort iirc, not good)
3. Sharp PA-3100 (Alps Integrated Dome)
4. Sharp PA-3100 ii (Mitsumi something iirc)
5. Underwood 650 (NULL)
6. Royal SE 700 DS (Cherry MY)
7. Brother AX-450 (Brother Dome with Slider)
8. Brother AX-325 (Brother Dome with Slider)
9. Brother AX-250 (Brother Dome with Slider)
10. Brother AX-15 (SMK Spring over membrane)
11. Canon S60 (NULL)
12. Olivetti ET Personal 510 (Olivetti Domes?)
13. Olympia Splendid (SMK Spring over membrane)
14. Casio Casiowriter CW-20 (NULL)
.
He's not 100% sure though.
I think i'm gonna buy:
3. Sharp PA-3100 (Alps Integrated Dome)
6. Royal SE 700 DS (Cherry MY)

[andresteare]

Report back when you try them, I'm curious of the mount of those switches

[Sturmtiger]

Can confirm Cannon AP-150 is an alps dome with slider but with green alps LED switch for the caps lock key.

[kyrremann]

I've checked Junki Sierra 3400 and Canon ES10. Neither of them are MX.

[Cacklefruit]

Is it safe to say the "Triumph Adler SE Series" are all MX compatible keycaps?
.
https://etzone.org/2016/12/15/adler-se-series-electronic-typewriters/

[Cacklefruit]

I just bought Triumph Adler Gabriele SE 310's keyboard and it's compatible with MX stem. It's doubleshot ABS with Cherry M9 switches. Mine's come with white stem.

[kyrremann]

Esselte Scribona 10 does not support MX-stems.