This was a bit of a saga! Obviously, the idea behind the Steampunk keyboard is that it should be a modern keyboard underneath, but with typewriter keys (and a bit of brass!). Given that the average (UK) keyboard is 102 keys and most typewriters have 42 (ish) keys, then I wanted at least three typewriters, or the equivalent number of keys.

Loose typewriter keys are very hard to get hold of! In the main - apart from us mad people that want to build Steampunk Keyboards with them, apparently they've very popular for jewellry, such as bracelets and necklaces. (?) Therefore there's a bit of a dearth out on places such as EBay.

However, there are quite reasonable amounts of typwriters around in varying conditions. There are also a lot of different types and makes of typewriter too! It all depends on how you want your keyboard to look and how much you want to spend.

The decision on which typewriters to go for was reasonably easy for me - a collegue mentioned that he had an old Imperial typewriter at home that I could have. Given that I already own an Imperial 55, I like the key style, so I've gone for Imperial typewriters.

EBay yeilded three more typewriters (one spare just in case one didn't turn up!), however all arrived safely for quite reasonable costs. In fact - as a sidenote - one is in such good condition that I am going to keep it intact. It's a 1937 Imperial Good Companion and it looks wonderful!

So that's the typewriters sorted!