try the pics on this page https://www.minuszerodegrees.net/5160/keyboar … ard_support.htm

I dont know which ones looked like Model Ms but I think I have seen other XT capable keyboards that have the same feet mechanism.

Be mindful, model M had siblings.

Model F and pals, for example.

Oooppps my bad, after doing a search I couldnt find another keyboard other than the Model F that had that feet mechanism. I was sure I had another brand of keyboard that did but after looking through my collection I have one with similar swing down feet that works on my XT and has the model M key layout (Maxi switch) but they are activated by a push button design.

I must have thought it was the same knob design as my Model F.

Matrolisk wrote on 2025-08-06, 19:04:

I'm trying to find the keyboard that went with the computer my parents had when I was a kid. I can find similar ones but none ma […]
Show full quote

I'm trying to find the keyboard that went with the computer my parents had when I was a kid. I can find similar ones but none match it exactly.
It was used with an IBM 5160 Clone bought around 1987 so had an XT connection.

It looked like a model M keyboard

But had this switch to lower the feet

Combination of IBM Enhanced (frequently called "Model M") layout with Model F build? I like 😀

And the enter key was the big reverse L kind

Could you be more specific? This could be one of a few things:

- standard ISO Enter:

- "big ass enter" common on Alps-based keyboards:

- actually a (much more uncommon) reverse-L shape:

Also, how wide is the backspace key? Single size (ugh :r ) or proper double size?

Finally, how did it feel/sound?
- quiet linear (no click or bump)
- quiet tactile (no click but a bump at/near actuation)
- clicky (sound&feel hopefully at/near actuation)

The Model F leg extender mechanism indicates this clone manufacturer wanted to stay close to IBM look&feel, but combining that with Enhanced Layout is something IBM never did. But should have done...

I have seen model f keyboards with the feet knobs but they all had the function keys on the side. This one had them across the top.

The enter key was the "big ass enter" one.

Also the Caps Lock and other lights are exactly the same style as shown in the first picture.

Matrolisk wrote on 2025-08-08, 01:15:

I have seen model f keyboards with the feet knobs but they all had the function keys on the side. This one had them across the top.

Those exist too (F122 battleship comes to mind), but most have XT or AT (pre-Enhanced) layout with F-keys on the side.

The enter key was the "big ass enter" one.

OK, that makes it 99% likely your keyboard was one with Alps switches (which were some of the best out there)

Also the Caps Lock and other lights are exactly the same style as shown in the first picture.

So a clone of the model F case but with Enhanced layout and big-ass enter. That narrows it down a bit. I'll get looking.

What size was the backspace key?

spring buckling technology in these IBM keyboards is noisy and loud. Kind of twangy when hit noise.

I still have these.

Cheers,

pentiumspeed wrote on 2025-08-08, 14:30:

spring buckling technology in these IBM keyboards is noisy and loud. Kind of twangy when hit noise.

I still have these.

Cheers,

Except this isn't an IBM keyboard, it's a clone, and given the big-ass enter probably a clone with Alps (most likely SKCM) switches, not buckling springs. SKCM white can be pretty clicky too, though not twangy like the model F (the M is more of a thock sound)

Unfortunately I don't remember the size of the backspace key, it's been a long time. But I don't recall it being the small single one.

I'm slowly trying to rebuild the computer I grew up with and the keyboard is one of the parts I'm having trouble finding.

OK, I thing the picture of what kind of keyboard it is, is clear. Afraid I'm pulling up blanks though. What part of the world did you grow up in? Maybe a specific brand for that region might help.

Would have been from Canada. My dad recalls the company that he bought the computer from being call Tron.

It's been a long time since I last saw this thing. Sometime back in the nineties. But I very much remember the knobs for the feet and the function keys being across the top. (Play a lot of adventure games so F5 and F7 were my best friends)

Afraid last (and first) time I was in Canada was a year before that PC was bought, and the only computer-related thing I remember was begin impressed by an Atari 2600...

Maybe someone else might have a suggestion though.

But I might have a lead on something - a clone with a leg mechanism that works like the IBM Model F ones, even if it doesn't look exactly the same. The layout is a very close match for the Model M Enhanced, but with big-ass enter and a single-size (narrow) delete:

You can see the leg mechanism here:

Can't find a good pic of the side, but it has a button you press to extend the (spring-loaded) leg. Afraid that it's not a great keyboard otherwise, with pretty squishy rubber dome&slider mechanism, not the nice Alps switches that you normally find under big-ass enter keys.

I don't think it's your exact board, but something else from the brand might be. It's made by Maxi-Switch, but was sold to all kinds of OEMs. I have one that is Tandon-branded. There appears to be some confusion about the model number. I read it as 218603XC, but the site the pics come from instead take the P/N which in their case is 2186035E.