ErgoMechKeyboards

I've taken it too far haven't I?

I just got a ZSA Moonlander and I've been... on an adventure with it. Turns out my typing technique was total garbage so I've had to essentially start re-learning how to touch type. That, plus the ortho layout, plus the other ways my layout is now changed (special chars) has made the learning curve feel steep.

Going through all this has made me wonder some things about the long-term, and so I was hoping to lean on folks with more experience for some answers.

1. Does learning to touch type on ortho (or a new layout w/ thumb clusters and such) mess with your ability to touch type on normal staggered boards? I still use my laptop when I travel and there is no shot I'll be lugging around an ergo board.

2. Is it worth going crazy with it and trying to learn workman or colemak at the same time? On some level I feel like it might not be that much harder, since it feels like I'm re-learning to touch type anyway.

3. Would it be better to start with a keyboard that's just split, but otherwise the same (Instead of ortho and alternative layout etc)? And maybe later move on to a crazier layout?

I received my Sunsets from lowprokb.ca last night and managed to install them in my ZSA Voyager today.

First impressions... these switches are LOVELY to type on. The original browns I ordered with my Voyager felt heavy, and tiring after longer sessions - not to knock on Browns, everyone has a different experience... but I am very happy with my purchase.

This is how I imagine most split keyboard users to look

This board:

• Is tiny, less than 10x10 cm for each half, making it easy to carry in a point-and-shoot camera carrying bag.
• Can be made wired or wireless. The wireless version (the one I built) only supports two thumb keys instead of three on each side to leave space for the battery.
• Is cheap (as far as split keyboards go): the whole build cost me less than 90 euros with shipping. The reversible PCB greatly helps with this.
• Can be modified to fit your hands: the four stagger values (pinky to ring, ring to middle, middle to index, index to inner) are defined at the top of the ergogen YAML file and should be changeable without having to worry too much about the rest.
• Supports Kailh Choc hotswap sockets for the switches.

GitHub repo

I'm not going to delete any of the posts relating to the past days drama, but they are locked and any future posts about it will be removed.

I love the Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic keyboard, but they were discontinued earlier this year. Can anyone recommend a replacement?

Specifically, I'm hoping for something with: Ergo shape, Thin / low height, Minimal travel, Minimal pressure, Completely silent

Hi all,

I've been typing on the first keyboard I ever bought for about 7 years now (Sharkoon Skiller Pro +) and, after trying out some of the shiny mechanical keyboards my friends bought over the years (Roccat Vulkan Pro, Steelseries Apex Pro, etc), decided I wanted a new keyboard as well.

I've done a little research on keyboards as a whole and have a few favorites, but recently I came across ergonomic keyboards, such as shown in this community. Now, I'm unsure wether I want to go with a traditional board (my top candidate is the Meletix Zoom98 with Morandi Switches) or try something completely different.

I'm looking for stories and advice right now, to get the most out of the money i'm willing to spend on a keyboard (buying multiple is not an option at the price point of for example the Zoom98).

Looking forward to this :)

Hi all,

I'm hoping for some troubleshooting tips. I have a self-build split keyboard using Blackpills.

If I flash either side with 'SPLIT_KEYBOARD = no' in my rules.mk, then both sides work fine (but both working as the left side). If however I set 'SPLIT_KEYBOARD = yes', then both sides stop working.

It's driving me insane!

These are the relevant details of rules.mk:

MCU = STM32F401
BOOTLOADER = stm32-dfu
SPLIT_KEYBOARD = yes
SERIAL_DRIVER = usart

And config.h:

#pragma once
#define HAL_USE_SERIAL TRUE
#define SOFT_SERIAL_PIN A12
#define MASTER_LEFT
#define MATRIX_ROWS 6
#define MATRIX_COLS 6
#define SERIAL_USART_DRIVER SD1
#define SERIAL_USART_TX_PAL_MODE 7

And halconf.h:

#pragma once
#define SERIAL_USB_BUFFERS_SIZE 256
#include_next 

And mcuconf.h:

#pragma once
#include_next 
#undef STM32_SERIAL_USE_USART1
#define STM32_SERIAL_USE_USART1 TRUE

Please help! I've been at this for three days.

Hi, I'm in the process of soldering up a left and right sofle v2.1 deck, but for both after following the wiring guide I get to the final led and it doesn't work (indicator, backlights and all per key lights work, bar the final per key light)

Is this expected? Solder looks good but I was thinking there might need to be something else done to complete the last led in the chain? Or just unlucky that this has happened at the end of both. I've replaced the LEDs twice and used same process as all the other LEDs. I don't want to add all the diodes and sockets only to have to start again. Now I've replaced and resoldered a few times I'm worried about PCB integrity. These are my 5th and 6th boards 😖😔

I have leftovers key-caps, but unfortunately no leftover switches.

We are starting a new series of "community spotlight" posts, where we highlight interesting and useful projects in the ZMK ecosystem. The first post is penned by Nick Coutsos, talking about the Keymap Editor project which lets you edit your ZMK keymaps with a graphical interface.

I absolutely love my new Voyager. This is my first ZSA board and between the awesome staff, polished configuration of Oryx and the superb build quality of the board, I have zero regrets about my purchase.

I have fallen down the layout configuration spiral changing things to suit my needs and comfort - adding home row mods (which are totally game changing for me) and adjusting timings to deal with roll as well as combinations that make my working life easier, I can report that I feel pretty darn productive.

This board is also my first choc and hot-swap... I bought some Sunsets this morning from lowprokb.ca - I'm excited to see what a lighter switch does for me.

Just excited to share my experience with community.

I added a trackpoint to a corne-cherry (crkbd) keyboard for ergonomic pointing bliss!

Build details: https://github.com/joh/crkbd-trackpoint

So, I've made the mistake of entering a keyboard store in Berlin. Nothing ergonomic there, so all they deal with are great looking boards, heavy, well built, and quiet!

I've built and designed my share of boards, and the sound hadn't bothered me at all until recently. I've designed my first 3d printed case, it's a one piece, just needs a bottom cover.

It acts like an amplifier to my typing. It's not a pleasant sound at all.

What would be the best way to design a quieter one piece board? What materials could make a difference? I was thinking of a metal switch plate, can It be used together with 3d printed layers? Wood? Should I use foam?

Looking for a choc build (more difficult due to lack of silent choc switches) as well as an mx build (probably bobba u4 switches, which will take care of most of the noise)

Thanks!

While looking for my first ergo mech keyboard, I wanted something small with choc switches (and spacing), splay and wireless support. The Hillside 46 looked really nice but I wanted to make some changes to it including support for the nice!view, a large battery and the cirque trackpad. That prompted creating a fork of the Hillside 46 called the HillSideView (HSV). The main features that the HSV adds over the Hillside 46 are:

• nice!view e-paper display for better battery life
• Cleaner outer pinky column cut-off
• Support for a cirque trackpad with an FFC connector on the PCB itself
• Case design with support for large 750-3000 mAh batteries under the PCB
• Magnetic tenting stand with the case
• Under PCB mount for the MCU for a cleaner top display mounting

Some links:

• Repo
• BOM
• Short build guide
• ZMK keymap

More images here: https://imgur.com/a/YDMosnA

I built the rexxlp 12u a while ago but honestly 36 keys and miryoku is all I need. So when the 10u came out, thx @[email protected] I had to build it.

It was a tiny challenge for me, due to not properly following the guide. My big fat learning was that the tape on top of the sockets really really makes sense - I had some shorts between pins and then some socket pins were not even connected after I pulled out the board (XIAO ble) with too much force. Now I know.

What do you think?

Great progress on #revxlp 10u now that batteries arrives. This time, even with pogo pins...

Hardware assembly almost done. Just got some software issues now - like always I try to get #miryoku on and did build the uf2 file already (the same way I did for the 12u version... hmm), copied over. Now a few keys seem to work but emitting very unexpected (not my miryoku colemak mod dh) keys... Do we need a special miryoku build?

If you're looking for a keyboard that's not only works well but also looks beautiful, we have you covered.

We at https://ergomech.store have designed and manufactured quite a few aluminum case for various open source keyboard models at unbelievable price and the products are loved by our customers.

We have a close partnership with a CNC shop, so close that we can make custom design with extremely compatitive price as well. So if you're looking for a custom designed case, just let us know, we will make it happen.

And of course, we still have various models in stock. Go to the website and see if you have anything you like.

As if Ergomechkeyboards needs more Cheapino’s. I had my spare parts laying around and built this for a friend. Thought I’d share a quick photo. Still love this project

Finally completed my Explorer Pi V2 build. My primary goals for V2 was to adjust economics to fit my hand, improve build quality while reducing total part count, and to create a better thumb cluster. A lot of these changes trade modularity to achieve these goals, which is not a big loss as I get closer to endgame design.

Thumb cluster was my biggest complaint with the original; being modular made the whole assembly too weak and key spacing to large; not to mention inflating the part count. So I made a one piece design with additional mounting support. Also went with a six key, two row design. Finally I make the switch plate compatible with either MX or Choc switches (and swappable). Used my Enigma Dual Hot Swap pcbs for the thumb cluster keys. This thumb cluster is probably going to see some future iterations. I've made things fully modular in case I want to swap it out for a new one later.

I've made quite a few changes to the original to arrive at this point including:

• adjusted stagger of each column
• adjusted splay and height on the pinky columns
• used flexible pcbs (from the BigSkree)
• made the switch plate one piece per side (orig was individual columns)
• added side walls to the switch plate
• added additional support to the thumb cluster so it has less wobble
• one piece, 6 key thumb cluster
• support for both choc and mx switches on thumb cluster
• added ARRI locating holes to the 1/4" mounting point
• reduced total count of required inserts and screws
• reduced diameter of the 1/4" insert hole to better fit the inserts I was able to source
• adjusted 1/4" mount location for better center of balance.

While I originally was planning on taking more build photos and putting together a guide for this iteration I had a bit of a lightbulb moment while assembling this for how to improve the entire build dramatically so that going to be a goal for V3 now.

As a slight aside I came up with a pretty good mounting solution for this board. Each half has a stand using these rubber coated magnets, a low profile hawklock and super low small ballhead mounts. With my v2.5 base plate I modified the 1/4" center of balance so that these stands balance well enough on a non magnetic surface to type on. They are also rubber coated so surface damage as well as sliding are minimized. Then for my main setup to make things even more secure I simply place a piece of sheet steel under my desk pad. I'm liking this enough that I'm starting to wonder about the embedding some steel in the desk permanently.

Keycaps:

• DES alphas R2-R4
• 4x DES Thumbs R5x
• 2x DES R5 1.25u
• 2x cDES R5x
• 2x CS 1.25u
• 2x Gravity 1.25u

Switches:

• MX Boba U4
• Choc Sunsets

The Boba U4's are the second switch I've tried on here and still not satisfied. Anyone have some good silent tactile switch suggestions?

Links:

• Github
• Original build
• Enigma Dual Hot Swap