Advice on restoring/diagnosing the issue with a Model F XT Badge

[Pastenseolith]

I recently bought a Model F XT off of eBay with the intention of restoring it. It is in proper working shape and all the components are there, it just needs some loving. As I was taking it apart I took a nice look at the badge and realized it looked, weird, almost corroded. I own a Model M with a silver badge so I am familiar with that, but not the XT. If I recall correctly both are made of aluminum and the characters on it are not etched, rather printed on. What is odd, is that aluminum shouldn't corrode at all. This is what mine looks like:


I also attached the image if for whatever reason the above link expires.

I read here that the lettering can actually fall off when in a harsh solution. If anyone has any advice on how I might go about restoring this please let me know. Thanks in advance!

[JP!]

This is pretty common actually, just some badges may be more noticeable than others. Aluminum is actually very prone to corrosion. However, aluminum corrosion is aluminum oxide, a very hard material that actually protects the aluminum from further corrosion.

I would think a reproduction badge could be made. I'd think there are some companies that could make this but it would probably need to be a group buy / minimum order to be cost effective.

[Pastenseolith]

Hm, tough break. I think I can piece together some sort of group buy based on this and the link I sent above. I will do some proper measurements with a caliper later.

[JP!]

I wanted to follow up with this company: https://www.case-badges.com/ but keyboard projects have not been less of a priority for me these days.

They sold a similar flat metal IBM badge / sticker on eBay a while back (.75"x.75" which is slightly smaller then these IBM badges) but they no longer offer it for sale but I would assume they might be able to make one.

[xxhellfirexx]

The yellow stuff on the badge might be some adhesive from the protective plastic layer that was present when the keyboard was new. Maybe try some Goo Gone to remove it?

[Pastenseolith]

The yellow stuff on the badge might be some adhesive from the protective plastic layer that was present when the keyboard was new. Maybe try some Goo Gone to remove it?

I thought the same, I tried picking at it to no avail, I am going to try that though when I get the chance.

[Pastenseolith]

Aight, so goo gone did not work, so I am going to look into buying 10 of those custom badges, and if they look good, I will sell the other 9. If it really works out and more than 10 want em, I will consider doing a group buy. Thanks for y'all's help. For reference if anyone else reads this thread:
The Model F XT badge is exactly 1 inch or 25.4 Millimeters. If you want to create your own badge, it should fit those dimensions.

[AJM]

Sorry, if that's a silly question, but I myself had badges that looked similar to that and later I found out, that the protective sticker was still on and underneath waited a shiny mind badge.
(The resolution of the picture is very low, but I thought I might be seeing the tiny edge of a sticker in the top left corner.)

[Pastenseolith]

Here is a better look, it is definitely not a sticker. I have reached out to case-badges and have not heard a response yet, but it is the weekend so they are probably off. When I get some stuff back, I will update.

[ddrfraser1]

Aight, so goo gone did not work, so I am going to look into buying 10 of those custom badges, and if they look good, I will sell the other 9. If it really works out and more than 10 want em, I will consider doing a group buy. Thanks for y'all's help. For reference if anyone else reads this thread:
The Model F XT badge is exactly 1 inch or 25.4 Millimeters. If you want to create your own badge, it should fit those dimensions.

I’d be in if they made a few black ones. I bought some of those .75x.75 stickers for a project but nothing beats the real thing.