Aside from the obvious clean, bolt mod and replace missing parts, I wished to ask some advice on my plan. Firstly, I'd say half of the springs have a little rust on the top or the bottom. Does the matter for any reason, whether it be function, feel or acoustics?
Secondly, shortly after getting that M I ended purchasing a pristine M122 from a diligent sole who had already done all the work to it, so I feel I already have a great example of what a good buckling spring board should sound and feel like. Thus, the plan for my beat up M isn't just repair but light modification. I'm thinking quieter and lighter? The custom keyboard enthusiast in me is thinking, lube the inner barrels of the barrel plate, lube where the flippers make contact with the barrel plate, lube the springs and grease the stabilisers. I've seen on YouTube some have greased buckling springs to great effect but I can't find much detail about the lubricant used, longevity and/or possible negative effects of such a mod. Does anyone have any thoughts or experience of this? I've heard the floss mod is popular but I'm more familiar with using lubricants for such a thing with my experience of modern keyboards.
Thirdly, can one purchase lighter Model M springs? I heard one of the reasons people prefer Fs to Ms is the slightly lighter key feel. I don't have a Model F but I do have two Ms! Again, does anyone have any advice or ideas regarding this?
I kind like that my Model M looks a bit beat up but I'm willing to put the work in to get a great sound and typing experience out of it so far as I can.
Spoiler: