Hi!
I’m doing technological archaeology work for a 80’s computing museum, and we’re studying the potential reconstruction of an 8-bit computer that featured a mechanical keyboard.
I am trying to identify the original parts - down to the keys used. And I confess that mechanical switches are not my forte. This is from 1986/1987 at most. Could a kind soul in this subreddit help me identify which brand they used from this picture? Is it even possible?
Thank you so so much!
Hugo
Do you happen to know the model name or are there any identifying marks on the PCB or if you know where the board came from should help others to identify. More pictures might help too. There are a lot of experts on vintage boards here that should be able to help.
It reminds me of the Sejin Futaba-mount dome which in an inverse mount swich. What you have is something else, but you can try looking for ‘inverse mount switches’
good call. I wonder if it is a proprietary switch (slider over dome) that is made to use pre-existing Futaba-mount switches or similar. I agree with @techbeezin that it would help to see some other features of the board to further identify it.
Agree with everybody else that we need more pictures and information. Whatever you’ve got, @hugojpinto, including what they feel like. When pressed slowly, do they descend smoothly, or is there a bump? If there’s a bump, is there an intentional sounding click?
This is giving me vibes of a slider-over-dome or foam&foil. Something about that top housing, though the Futaba is a good lead as well.
EDIT: Some of the housing’s mold markings and the general inverse cruciform mount remind me a bit of the Printec DS-7 dome over conductive pad (think video game control pad face buttons), but it’s definitely not the one on the deskthority wiki.
Unfortunately there is not really a “Model Name” 
-This is from an unreleased Timex Computer prototype keyboard, and only a few were made.
What I know is:
The feel is linear and silent, similar to a MX red switch.
Thanks for any help!!
I was also hopeful on someone recognizing the housing’s mound markings - those seem characteristic and would hopefully be unique to a brand.
This is another view of the keycaps:
Will look into it more later (it’s the wee hours here), but certainly seems like it might be a 3256 prototype. There is a little info on Wikipedia, with some links at the bottom. Those definitely seem a lot like the BASIC commands that were embedded on the keyboards of Timex Sinclair models that were released.
If it was a European project, that might hint at vendors like Devlin, Alphameric, Clare Pendar, or even Cherry, though the keycap profiles don’t really make me think of Cherry.
Wow crazy find & welcome to the site OP! I haven’t been feeling well the past few days but did do a little digging on this & came up empty handed so far. Although I did come across this website that specializes in Timex/Sinclair computers, https://www.timexsinclair.com/. I didn’t find anything closely matching on it, but these guys might be another group you may want to ask about this.
That is the one actually 
I didn’t think you guys would be interested in the backstory, but it is indeed the prototype for the would-be Timex TC3256.
We only have the keyboard and some chips (no fully functioning computer was yet found) - but I lead an engineering team trying to rebuild it from partial boards and schematics.
In the meantime, today I found documentation that would lead me to assume that they were planning to use FUTABA switches in the large production, but for the first units were using “DS Switches” (which are probably the ones pictured). I’ve been googling around, but cannot find any manufacturer that would go by DS.
Any ideas?
Best
Hugo
So these Printec-DS Sicotast S7 have some of the same housing markings and an inverse cruciform keycap mount, though the details are pretty different. Original company name was DS Keyboard Technic.
Went through company history on Printec DS website and saw this…
This would line up with a DS manufacturer name and the era would be correct.
Ah, beat me to the original company name!
They even sell an industrial keyboard that probably still has the descendants of the S7, to judge by the “Carbon Contact Technology” bullet point and liberal use of stepped caps. OP should also take a peek at that Dutch TDD keyboard linked from the deskthority page and compare the keycap Stems and the doubleshot injection molding to the Timex prototype.
Modern switches from the company - Printec-DS | Long-stroke buttons
Mystery Solved - They were indeed “DS-Keyboard Technic” switches.
Many many thanks for your help guys! I hope to come back to you with news regarding this 1987 relic, and eventually in exploring a similar alternative to rebuild such keyboard as closely as possible using modern day switches.
Back in 1987 they moulded keycaps to sit on those DS switches that would look like “PC-like” keyboard. This is a side picture taken from the RIGHT side (that is, top row is on the right of the image, space bar is on the left), not visible by the angle.
Now, being no keyboard expert, the central key profiles are obviously different from the top and bottom ones. Can I kindly ask you if these have specific lingo/names/specs in the keyboard community?
I’d try to explore finding a keycap set that would match the same kind of profiles they used, but I’m missing the correct terms.
Any help would be much appreciated!
Thanks - Hugo!
At a glance the closest keycap profile to the ones in your picture is most likely Cherry. There are LOTS of different keycap profiles especially nowadays and this picture chart shows some of them and how they compare to each other.
THAT is amazing! Thanks!
