rasz_pl wrote on 2026-08-24, 07:52:
The scissor mechanism that limits the upwards key travel is usually made from nylon, sadly superglue can't do anything with that.
scotretro wrote on 2026-08-24, 12:59:Thanks for the reply […]
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Thanks for the reply
The hinge moves/rotates on both the board side and the keycap so I think not plausible...
I imagine a solution might be to replace the hinge with some kind of generic 'lift' mechanism or a hinge of a different design that has a stationary panel each side, but havent been able to find anything that would work - so im open to any creative ideas! The rubber dome still triggers the keypress, the keycap could be attached to the dome but it would be very wobbly
I considered some kind of spring that would sit around the dome but no luck finding anything
A spring isn't going to limit upward travel, the rubber dome is effectively doing most of what a spring would do. It would still be wobbly as well.
I have 3d printed a keycap: Re: What retro activity did you get up to today?
Though I didn't need to replace the scissor mechanism, that will be very tricky to replicate.
If you have a 3d printer it really needs resin or an FDM printer with a .25mm nozzle to get enough detail. I only have FDM and it's only just good enough. Course then you'd need some 3d model or scan of the key shape, photogrammetry might work out well.
Something you could also consider is swapping over a key that you don't like / won't use on the keyboard and trade with the tab key, I did that in a few places with my Acer Travelmate 8000 keyboard because the key plastic has become very brittle on them for some reason. On the picturebook I'd probably trade for the right ctrl key and superglue the broken key to the rubber dome if that's still attached too
Looks like you're in the same situation I was with my unobtainable Acer Travelmate 8000 keyboard that I got a bit obsessed with when I found it was impossible to get a replacement - the PCG-C1 picturebook parts are a different level of rare and they don't seem to get parted out any more.