Reverse computing is not only about physical preservation, but also about electronics and computer science. On the ten-year time scale, plastic is a terrible material, and the forces of the sun, air, and water are ruthless to these materials. [Drygol] has been trying to save and update the keycap technology for a long time, and decided to try some interesting vacuum forming technology to get something new. However, it is a pity that it did not go as planned.

The basic idea is to use a vacuum forming machine to coat the keycaps with a thin layer of translucent plastic, which is both beautiful and prevents them from falling off. The initial small-scale test was promising, creating a key with a tight, well-fitting blue plastic packaging, through which the original label can still be seen.

However, it turns out that the expansion of this process is worrying. The uneven heating of the plastic film and the lack of rigidity of the brackets used to stretch it onto the keycaps led to poor results. The final product showed many wrinkles and was clearly unattractive.

However, [Drygol] did not give up and plans to build a new vacuum table with higher performance. As we can imagine, this technology is an accessible way to color the keycaps of the old Cyberdeck or Chiptune equipment without the need to permanently modify the keys. If you have an idea on how to make this work, please comment in the comments.

We have also seen [Drygol]'s works in this field before, such as this extremely modified Amiga. If you want to carry out your own retro repair, please be sure to contact us!

"On a ten-year timescale, plastic is a terrible material, and the power of the sun, air, and water is ruthless to these materials."

The mouse wears out every four years, and each one is made of plastic. One comment even complained about resilience. If it is expensive, a metal mouse will be very interesting.

"The mouse wears out every four years..." My God, what do you use it for? After 20 hours of daily use, my Logitech Cordless Optical Mouse is still my daily driver. Once something viable and cordless replaced the ball-shaped Mies, I bought it. A new pair of AA is replaced every year, and the interior is cleaned every 3-4 years. It is still better than any other product I have tried.

I think I used to have a mouse that stopped reliably responding to clicks, but I'm pretty sure it was because I had a very high grip on that particular mouse design and pushed the button about an inch away from the switch. In addition, replacing the feet has covered a lot of wear and tear. I'm pretty sure there is a working Intellimouse Explorer in my trash can.

The strange thing is that they are all Logitech, including wireless. Most failure modes are switches. The latest is the correct switch. The other one is the wheel. The other is on the left. The battery life of the wireless is very bad. This time I am trying G. Skoll Haiti with a better switch. As for the use, in addition to usual, the rest is the game.

I fixed the right-click switch of many mice. Carefully scrape off the 4 melted pins on the top, and then pry open the metal cover. Remove the plunger and the broken metal dome. Find another mouse that died for other reasons, and then pull out its *left* button switch. Place the snap dome into the other switch, and then carefully apply a very small amount of super glue with a magnifying glass and needle. Put the plunger back in place, and then carefully press the metal cap back to the remaining part of the 4 plastic studs. Resist the urge to use the mouse for several hours to ensure that the glue has dried.

Since the wires broke where the wires entered the mouse, I also shortened many of the mouse wires by an inch. Many internal "strain relief" devices have been modified and the holes have been enlarged, so the rope can still be prevented from being pulled, but its movement is not restricted so strongly. The strange thing is that the disconnection problem is almost unique to high-priced mice. Inexpensive ones have flexible strain relief molded on the wires.

I really want to see that the input device I brought back is Microsoft Trackball Optical 1.0, which has a thumb and finger version. But there is an improvement! Replacing steel bearing points with silicon carbide *just like other trackballs*. A few years ago, someone asked the bank to buy worn MSTBO1 and refurbish them by replacing the steel bearing points with silicon carbide balls in some way. Then they will sell them for 60 to 70 dollars.

I bought a bunch of defective returned thumb MSTBO1, they are easy to repair. They have two red LEDs, one provides "Look at me! I am optical!" lighting, and the other provides light for motion sensing. The location of the transistor for the sensor LED is very close to the ribs in the upper housing. Careless assembly may damage the transistor and break one of its leads. Apparently there is a simple functional test on the assembly line, including plugging it into a USB port and checking if it lights up. Well, when only the decorative LED is working, it will "light up", but it will be darker than the sports LED. So they will get QA passes, but they will be broken. Use an iron and a small amount of solder to easily repair the break, and then carefully bend the transistor a bit before reassembling.

This is one of the well-known problems of testing things that are not the functionality you want to provide.

20 years ago, the mouse they made had a lower failure rate. I guess... it’s just that the rubber on my G502 will wear out in 4 years, but, of course, it depends on my usage. Coupled with the terrible double-click syndrome sometimes encountered (pointing to lower switch reliability)

What model of mouse are you using?

It's like it says on tin foil: "Logitech Cordless Optical Mouse" circa 2001.

If there is a model number on the sticker, it has long been worn out.

Old 27 MHz technology. Not encrypted at all. I can hear it on the radio receiver. Someone can connect Van Eyck with me from a block away. The cheap modern switch mode power supply is too close to the receiver to completely DOS me too.

My mouse is big enough to move on its own and start a family.

My old Logitech G5 played very hard games for a few years, traveled across the ocean with me, and is now used as a daily driver by my wife. It is ~15 years old.

It is true that it was a great mouse in that era.

My G5 has a new cable, new switch, and new slide rail. However, it is still an excellent mouse.

I have two ThinkPad mice, when they turn black and have a glowing scroll/click wheel. Still works perfectly. A ThinkPad Bluetooth mouse, I had to scrape off its paint-it became sticky-but otherwise it looked like new. The original PS/2 mouse (32 years old-mouse with vertical sides and rubber-coated steel balls) that came with my PS/2 Model 50Z is also perfect (except for ergonomics, which is terrible). A Logitech infrared scroll/click wheel is also perfect.

You can't find any ergonomic, reliable and durable products in the store.

The shape and depth of most keycaps will make any large number of vacuum forming very difficult (this is not the ideal shape for a reliable single key formed at a time). I think you need a device to hold all the keycaps in the correct position, maybe a few extra holes are drilled in each keycap to help distribute the vacuum. But the real helper (and the really tricky part) is a smoothing tool that quickly forces the covering plastic to be flat and smooth on important areas, preventing it from being webbed.

I think you'd better create a "fake keyboard" as a mold, fix all keycaps with a "lid", provide small gaps on the keys, and fill it with two-part epoxy resin-put filling holes and gates, Let the resin be on the bottom/underside of each keycap, so it is easy to sand the excess filler to be flush with the original key below, and leave the surface finish as good as the original mold (assuming you have applied the resin appropriately Degassing, using pressure tanks, finely detailed resins, etc.-this is a complete art form-I am just a novice-if you can use a cnc/3d printer to "easily" make a master, it still looks Is a better choice). It does not require permanent changes to the original keys-after demolding on the original keys, the resin can't actually stick to them, but it should be good enough to not fall off.

In view of the obvious wrinkles at the corners of the cap, it seems that the attractiveness provided by the confrontation is not deep enough. I guess that doing too many keycaps at the same time will cause the vacuum pressure to be distributed in too many areas, probably to save energy and material costs.

For all letter keys, I will skip the flat vacuum table altogether and try a customized one-key mold. Suppose a round steel tube has a smooth flange (that is, a smooth surface on a lathe), in which a small circle of plastic is clamped, and a single key is inserted into the tube and a vacuum is applied. This may be enough to form the sides, so that the top concave dents are vacuum treated.

Space bar and other long key molding can be downgraded to vacuum gauge.

"Vacuum pressure" *twitches* There is no such thing as "vacuum pressure". You have a vacuum or pressure to measure relative to the ambient pressure of the instrument used for measurement.

That is, you are in a spacecraft or submarine, and its instruments have ports that are open to the outside of the vehicle. For spacecraft, it reads the vacuum. For submarines, it reads the pressure. Go outside and put the meter there too, with its ports open to the inside. In both cases, the gauge will read the pressure, but for the submarine, it can be said that it reads the degree of vacuum relative to the external pressure of the submarine.

In these cases, the meter reading is not "vacuum pressure". This is the degree of vacuum relative to the pressure on the other side of some barriers. But 100% vacuum is always zero pressure-although it is still not "vacuum pressure". This is why 100% of the earth’s vacuum is measured in inches or millimeters of mercury. 29.92 inches of mercury is the maximum height that the nominal sea level pressure of the earth can support one column of mercury in the tube. The top of the tube is sealed, and the bottom of the opening is placed downward in a mercury container. Over 29.92 inches high, the mercury pulls down to create a vacuum at the top. As the air pressure drops, the mercury column will also be pulled down, forming a larger vacuum space above it.

Another example is tire (or tire) pressure. The meter displays 30 PSI. This is wrong. The pressure is actually 30 PSI *plus the ambient pressure at the time and outside the measured tire*. For practical purposes, people may ignore the "extra" because it is balanced by external pressure. However, if you load 30 PSI into a tire at the top of a 5,000-foot mountain pass, and then drive to sea level, the tire pressure will be displayed as lower although the actual pressure inside the tire has not changed.

This is a very long comment, saying that "gauge pressure is different from absolute pressure".

guess what? Everyone else knows what the gentleman who needs a name is talking about.

Maybe putting the key with the vacuum hole in the corner instead of on the side may help.

Why are metal mouse and keycap not the same thing? They should be.

I will buy a metal wireless mouse immediately.

They will be very cold. You need to wear gloves to use them, except on hot days.

Assuming you live in a climate controlled/heated house, they won't be that bad. At first it feels cold to the touch and heats up quickly. How fast depends on how much thermal mass they have and whether the air has how much surface area to dissipate heat-this can be sold as a feature-never sweat anymore, this mouse keeps your hands cool, etc... ..

They can be very expensive. The plastic parts in the mouse may cost less than a dollar to manufacture in quantity. Metal needs to be machined, or cast and then machined, so it is expensive. This can be done, but the price will be very expensive.

Make one, record it and tell me-maybe I will post an article on ol' Hacks a Days!

It is best to use different techniques to create the female shape and then vacuum form it into the cavity. This shrinkage will also make it fit better.

I recommend truck bed liner spray. Your keys will not fall apart soon.

Create a similar extruded skirt to continue the outline of the keycap [put the keycap inside and on top of it], wrinkles will appear under/outside the keycap and can be trimmed.

Oppose pls en coin caisson de Bullage

Make a keycap? Why not use what our kids (old students) have played with decades ago... VacuForm.

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