Look for an old Lexmark (IBM) Model M keyboard... most of the material in the manufacturing of it is metal.. albeit the keys are a hard basically unbreakable plastic. They're about $80
Well, I don't just sit and fix mice. I'm pulling the asphalt shingle roof off my house next week. Then, we'll be installing the plywood sheets that have weathered, then the insulation sheets, then the corrugated metal sheets. I think, next week, I won't be on the forum much.
Be careful up there on the roof. We do not want to hear you next post came from a hospital bed. Roofing is not my thing but I imagine I would help if a friend asked me too. (I have not the first clue how to though.)
All you need is a Chinese company that you can outsource. If you have the factory here, you'll be paying the union workers $25/hour to bend the sheet metal and need to provide retirement pensions, healthcare. Perhaps you can have robots and just a few employees. If I were to start a manufacturing company, I'd do it somewhere else than here. The keys would have to be stamped out of stainless too. There are a number of shapes we've all grown accustomed to. Would you go ergonomic? I don't know if I'd want one of those keyboards that are shifted into the curved lines. Then, their would be the other languages that would need to be covered. How about a keyboard with Chinese characters - or Hindi script? There are many languages out there. I wonder if keyboard companies have to worry about carpal tunnel syndrome? Also, what happens if it heats up in the Sun? You might need to heat sink the whole thing. I wonder what it would cost compared to the $15 plastic Logitech one.
If I had a metal keyboard that cost $100, I'd probably clean it and change out the sticky switches etc. I used to get old keyboards from friends who wouldn't want them. I'd wash them in soapy water, blow them out with air, and leave them in a box in the garage for the rainy day. I did recycle a few of them over the years as I built up systems for my kids and my wife. It's not too difficult to replace the micro-switches under the keys that don't work. It is a pain to figure out how to disassemble them all, do the big wash and dry, then order the micro-switches from somewhere instead of just buying another $15 dollar Logitech. There is the diminishing returns issue. What's my time worth, one might ask.
I had a synthesizer with microswitch controls for all the adjustments. A friend borrowed it and was eating some kind of medicated oatmeal when he fell right into the synth. Many switches just stopped working. I bought the replacements and spent a lot of time re-soldering them back onto the PC board. It never worked the same. I should have replaced all the switches - looking back at how it went. These things don't have a warranty and the contacts will coat with dirt. It would be useful to isolate the contacts from the outside world to keep them clean.
Speaking of Corvettes... I kinda like the new ones they've been coming out with. Saw one on the road the other day... not sure what year they updated the exterior exactly but the newest ones look much nicer than most of the ones they were making in the 00s IMO.
I'm so happy with my vehicles at the moment. The cars have been sitting, waiting for parts from one to go onto another. Scrap metal is getting expensive and rare. We've got a guy, with an ad at the Post Office, offering to come tow away your car to the scrap yard for $300. It doesn't have to be running. I wonder what he gets for the car after gas, towing, tires and all that - plus, all the pink slip hassles. Maybe there's money in it. I know that NAPA used to pay for old batteries because they need to recycle the lead. I don't know if it's still happening.
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I had a synthesizer with microswitch controls for all the adjustments. A friend borrowed it and was eating some kind of medicated oatmeal when he fell right into the synth. Many switches just stopped working. I bought the replacements and spent a lot of time re-soldering them back onto the PC board. It never worked the same. I should have replaced all the switches - looking back at how it went. These things don't have a warranty and the contacts will coat with dirt. It would be useful to isolate the contacts from the outside world to keep them clean.