IBM Keyboard chimney support frame

Actually, I don't think the type M is as robust as the older (PC / XT keyboard and the 84 key AT keyboard). The older ones had a lot more metal in them and were not assembled by heat stakes. Incidentally, the type M uses conventional membrane swtich contacts (operated byu the flaps), the older ones arew capacitive and presumably more reliable. I ahve had a couple of type M's where the heat stakes have broken away during normal use. The result is that some of the flaps move out of position and those keeys then fail to work (or in some cases appear to be stuck down). Anyway, whact I did to mine was to cut the black key frame into rows. Then dril lout all the heat stake posts and tap them M2.5. Then fit screws through them. Assemble a row of flaps at a time to the baseplate/ memberane layers and fix them with M2.5 nuts. How bad is it? Is it just split into rows (not a problem, it's easier to assmble that way) or are some of the key locations broken? AFAIK it was never avaialble as a spare part from IBM (other than as the complete keyswitch assembly, less most of the keycaps). If you can find anotehr broken keyboard soe that you can have all rows intact, then you can fit parts of the 2 frames to the same baseplate. Why not? I think they did. The older capacitve keyboards had one of those sqaure iBM metal-can ICs in them, so I would think that was an IBM design/manufacture. -tony