Commodore SX-64 keyboard restoration

FYI that compelling marketing image at the top is from a "1983 commercial from Australia made for the Commodore SX-64, the portable version of the famous home computer Commodore 64". The full ad, which is quite the blast from the past with some delightful Aussie flavour, can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95cGh9EeMIY.

Thank you everyone for warm words. Such feedback means a lot to me :) More of this kind of refurbs are on my blog already -> https://retrohax.net/?s=extreme

That metal scaffold is an excellent idea, usually epoxying shards of plastic back together isn't really viable on its own.

I remember the SX-64. This was the computer I started coding (basic). Impressive graphics capabilities.

This "portable" computer was so heavy I couldn't lift it from the ground (I was 5 o 6 at that time).

That's awesome! SX-64's are a rare beast. I remember seeing my first and only one at a user group meeting back in the 80s. We all came in with our duffel bags of C64s, 1541s, and then had to lug in our monitors or TVs. Then this one guy rolls in with his computer all in his hand and we were amazed. Of course most of us were there pirating games, but he was just running some demos and basking in the attention. That is until the guy with an Amiga 1000 came by. Those were the days...

Just the other day over on YT the channel retro recipes also did a refurbish on a Commodore SX-64[1] for anyone who's interested.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlWsR5WN9e4&t=0s

Not gonna lie, that looked janky as fuck, until he showed the finished picture. Nice work.

C64 has a special place in my heart, and I will never forgive myself for selling mine. It was the mid 90's and I had just gotten a shiny new 486.

I am curious about the silicon oil. I assume this is a solution for places where there is not a lot of rubbing/use? Some searching did not turn up any indication this was a common use nor permanent.

Reading the title I thought this was going to be repairing a failure of the keyboard itself and thought that maybe all keyboards on these "portable" computers. I've got a Compaq Portable 1 and and Osborne 1, both with bad keyboards when I got them. The Compaq was as simple as replacing the foam touch pads while the Osborne looks like it'll be a bit more work.

Here’s a very recent SX-64 restoration on Retro Recipes: https://youtu.be/MlWsR5WN9e4

Cool hack, SX 64 computers are expensive and they don't make parts for them anymore.

Great blog there with many interesting retro projects. I enjoyed the one where he bought 32 Atari 65xe's in various states of decay and restored a number of them for resale. Truly a labor of love.

A friend of mine had one of those, I remember that I was most in awe over the integrated disk station. Great job with the restoration!

not all heroes wear capes