I was an Amiga user back in the day... had a 1000, then a 2500 (then sadly the demands of work required DOS...). When I got an Amiga again everything was great except for the keyboard. I must have been lucky with the detachable keyboard on the A2500 but the one on the A1200 was terrible, pure mush!

So I made this. It's a keyboard for the A1200 that can use any MX-compatible keys you like, though I recommend that you pick 5-pin ones designed for PCB mount if you can. I have built them with Gateron and Cherry Brown switches and it feels great!

The keyboard mounts into the case with 3D-printed parts that fit into the plastic moldings of the lower case. Because the PCB material is not really rigid enough to bridge completely across the width of the computer a stiffening bar of 10mmx3mm aluminium extrusion runs behind the PCB, supported by the mounts. You can find the STL files in the Github repo linked, both original Amiga and A1200.net versions are there. You can buy the aluminium bar just about anywhere that sells metal extrusions, like a hobby or hardware store.

Connection to the Amiga is via the FFC cable. The perfect cable is not available any more - this one is both too long (tuck it under the keyboard when assembled) and has one circuit too many for the connector on the Amiga motherboard. You have to examine the keyboard and see which side has a pad on the connector that is not connected to anything. Then very carefully with a sharp pair of scissors or a craft knife remove one of the silver stripes from the edge of the cable. You need to turn it into a 31-way connector - just take off the connector part, don't try to cut it all the way along the cable. If you remove just the silver it will plug in neatly and work fine. If you remove too much it will be possible to plug it in in the wrong position and it will be annoying to fit correctly, do not cut too much!

The only really difficult thing about this project is getting the keycaps. You will notice the Amiga uses many uncommon keycaps such as the 1.5U function keys and the 9U space bar. I was able to piece together a set from Signature Plastics, and recently various users on amibay have convinced them to make a full set but it is always going to cost $100+. You can use blanks if you like and that is far cheaper. The stabilizer for the 9U space bar basically does not exist anywhere unless you cannibalize an old keyboard, the easiest solution is to get a regular keyboard stabilizer and bend a new wire. I have hears of someone using a wire coat hanger for this, I used a bicycle spoke.

I know of no good solution for the caps lock key. The LED will show up as a red glow in the keyboard, you will not miss it when it is on, but you need to come up with a way to make a windowed 1U caps lock key if you really have to have that window, I have not been able to find one anywhere.

Here's the last one I made, showing the (very expensive) custom keycaps from Signature Plastics, mounted in an A1200.net translucent case.