25 Keyboard Fixed

[John Garza (3665)]

Looks great Tony!

Glad to see another 25 restored. One of my favorite machines.

For cleaning under the keyboard strips, I've had good success with ultra fine sandpaper (800 grit) with a plastic backing as used in model building. Cut a thin strip, thread it under the metal ribbon - press down on the metal bulge and pull the sandpaper through. Usually only one pass is needed. When all the keys are done, I then spray with deoxit to flush out any residue. I have also tried a variant of your plastic scrubber, using an xacto knife to add holes and 'teeth' to the scrubbing end for more difficult jobs. I worry about the tradeoff on effective cleaning vs. damaging metal. In the end, corrosion is like cancer. If you don't get all of it - it will eventually spread in an oxygen atmosphere.

And I like the idea of using hot glue. You can pick it off more easily than slicing off the top of a gorilla glue mushroom cap like I use. I wonder how it will hold up over time though. When I refurb a Woodstock keyboard and switches, I don't expect to have to go back in there again in another 20-30 years. So I don't mind the tradeoff of a more time consuming disassembly for a more secure mechanical bond. But as you said: 'strength in numbers!'. Great thinking.

-J