LK201 key cap removal

[thunter0512]

I would like to clean the filthy key caps of the LK201 keyboard I got with my DECmate III.
Like several other keyboards in the past I tried my key cap remover gadget to pull one of the function key caps off.
I got the key cap off, but one of barbs broke off.
These barbs hold the key caps into the key mechanism.
Rather then break more I thought I better ask here if there is a "proper" way to remove the LK201 key caps.

 

[Alegend]

Perhaps there is (or was) a better way to remove the keycaps.
I think the keycaps material was once hard, but has degraded and now the barb holds itself together using nothing but a combination of luck, hope and faith.
I found them too brittle to remove.

-Alon.