
How to Cannibalize a perfectly good keyboard:
I was able to make the keypad for this terminal by disassembling an "AppleDesign Keyboard".
After unscrewing and removing everything from it, you're left with two layers of plastic with metal contacts on each layer, and an underlayer of backing foam. That, and the small ADB circuit board where the two layers of plastic connect and plug in. I duck taped these two connectors to their inputs. They fall out very easily otherwise.
When the two layers of plastic - metal contacts are tapped, they connect, and register as a key being pressed on the macintosh. So, I took a piece of regular paper and slid it in bettween the two layers of contacts (all the keys other than the Keypad). This prevents them from being triggered when you bend the under layers around a cut piece of metal (also from the keyboard).
I tapped the three layers (top two plastic/metal contact layers + foam padding) together, the tapped it, in a bent position around the metal rectangle (which is slightly smaller than the size of the Styrofoam faceplates keypad.)
As seen in the diagram from the inside, the keypad extends slightly more into the foam on one side than the other. This is to add support; this is something people will be pressing and tapping on constantly. I pressed by hand some finishing nails in behind the keypad's metal to add even more support.
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