deskthority

Today I found an old MX3000 keyboard in the dumpster. The case looked pretty bad, but to my surprise the keycaps still looked very good!



According to the wiki it seems like this keyboard is indeed pretty old? Based on the serial number it's supposed to be from 1995.





I removed the keycaps, cleaned them with dental tabs (twice) and afterwards with a toothbrush and warm water. Finally I polished and dried them using a microfibre towel.



Almost all of them look pretty flawless and they feel fantastic!

I decided to put them on my Novatouch, combined with some RGB modifiers.





more images in this imgur album

For me, the case was beyond repair. If you think it is worth fixing and have some ideas how, please let me know!

Nice old Cherry doubleshots. A worthy upgrade for the NovaTouch. You done good!

Lucky you! I don't tend to make such good dumpster finds. Not the first time I have seen someone find a G80-3000 either ...

The visible marks on the case are from the wire having been wrapped around the keyboard. Don't do that!

Nice find!

Nice find! Now you need to find a HADapter kit to complete your Novatouch.

Findecanor wrote: The visible marks on the case are from the wire having been wrapped around the keyboard. Don't do that!

Never did that, but good to know that this can cause scratches this deep. :O

Malenky wrote: Nice find! Now you need to find a HADapter kit to complete your Novatouch.

True! I saw that round 2 is just around the corner

Nice find, before this mech hype in the 1990's it was nothing special to find a Cherry like this (or nicer) in the trash in Germany. Of course Wodan has shown us what is still thrown out today.

Nice find! I love how those Cherry doubleshots instantly add a touch of class to any keyboard.

It's an upgrade for sure!

Now for part 2: open the switches and send the stems to DanielT or me because they will be nicely old and worn.
OR learn to solder and desolder all them switches! Step 3 is using them in your first custom build (now that you know how to solder)

I am not a huge fan of MX Blacks myself, but if you want to have the case with all the switches I can send it to you

If you are looking for a replacement case, I can see what I can do

G81 cases should also work, they are usually much cheaper to get because unless they have good caps, it's just garbage.

Wodan wrote: If you are looking for a replacement case, I can see what I can do

Thanks, at the moment I am very happy with the Novatouch/Cherry Keycap combo. Very satisfying sound, super smooth feeling.

I split the keycaps on a TKL and a Numpad, so I was able to reuse basically everything except the bottom row.

Solid find. Nothing like a good fine in a dumpster.

I think finding great keyboard in the trash is quite a euphoric experience ... like a treasure hunter!

It has never happened to me.

I once found an old G81-3000SAD at my University, boy was I happy! While it's not that rare I was searching for one anyway and it was in great condition as well.

XMIT004 was a trash find.
I don't think I'll ever get this lucky again.

The best vintage keycaps always need a good soap rubbing bath when you buy them. So in this case, dumpster finds are even better because it's free!

As they say, one man's trash is another man's treasure. Beautiful find!