This is an old post, preserved for reference.
The products and services mentioned within are no longer available.
I recently build a BBC Micro USB keyboard, from the external keyboard of a Viglen BBC case.
That worked well and it is a very nice keyboard to use. There were a couple of problems. One, a few of the keys weren't working properly, and two, the original keyboard had a paper overlay that was too tatty to use, so I had removed it.
The BBC keyboard is made up of individual key switches, so it was a case of identifying the ones which weren't working and replacing them.
The switches are desoldered from the back and then unclip from the front.
A donor keyboard then provides replacement switches, and it's ready to go again.
The key caps were then washed and reinstalled. Two of the arrow keys were marked, so I swapped the 4 arrow keys and the copy key from my set of spares.
That just left the case, I didn't think I could be able to neatly cut out a suitable black paper label like the original, so I masked and painted the black area.
That's better, much more like a BBC.
More USB keyboards are available for sale in my Etsy store, or contact me if you are looking for something custom.
