Leading Edge DC-3014 Restoration attempt

SpacemanToby · 23 Jul 2018, 18:55

I got this keyboard In a lot of electronics on Craigslist. It was in pretty bad shape. Used retrobrite to try and restore some of the color. It worked ok. The grey caps still have some discoloring.

The cable was ruined on it so I'm hand wiring. All of the switches have been opened and cleaned. I'm not painting the plate, but I gave it a good scrub and it cleaned up pretty well. The only really unfortunate part is that the red on the badge faded a little in the retrobrite solution. If I was doing it again I would risk damaging the badge and remove it.

This is my first blue alps experience and it's such a good keyboard.

Dingster · 23 Jul 2018, 19:20

Pretty amazing restoration

Retrobrite works wonders

mike52787 · 23 Jul 2018, 19:21

is the case severely warped or is that a trick of the camera?

I can provide you a pinout of the cable if you need it.

SpacemanToby · 23 Jul 2018, 19:33

mike52787 wrote: ↑is the case severely warped or is that a trick of the camera?

I can provide you a pinout of the cable if you need it.

Ok so I'm not crazy. I feel like all the pictures I've been taking lately are slightly warped in the middle. It's definitely not warped in real life. I wonder if there's something wrong with my phone's camera or if I have a setting turned on or something.

I've already mostly hand wired it, but I kept the pcb so I might eventually want the pin out.

mike52787 · 23 Jul 2018, 19:44

I noticed a similar bleaching on the LE logo with mine. a friend recently retrobrited it for me, and the red faded from the logo. I just replaced the logo with one from a dc-2014 I scrapped for switches awhile back. here's a potato pic of the finished product.

SpacemanToby · 23 Jul 2018, 19:49

Looks sharp. I also have a leading edge computer that went with it, but the badge on the computer is slightly smaller than the one on the keyboard.

mike52787 · 23 Jul 2018, 19:50

Ask around, im sure there are lots of dc-2014 carcasses sitting in people's closets after being scrapped for blue alps.

//gainsborough · 23 Jul 2018, 21:30

excellent restoration! I'm pretty jealous =P

I have at least one 2014 lying around if you would like the badge - I could just snail mail it to you in a normal envelope if you're interested.