ErgoMechKeyboards

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/2186491

Corne Choc Low Profile Split Ergonomical Keyboard created by foostan. Built by kriscables

Many years ago I had a ThinkPad and I had such a nice workflow using the track point. I had good precision without having to move my hands. Now I've moved to a split keyboard (kinesis freestyle edge currently) but I'm wanting to get something similar back.

What options exist for integrated pointing devices such as trackballs, track points, or touchpads? All I've seen is the UHKB and some 3d printed models.

Headsup! Orders for first batch close tonight at midnight (CDT)

(4c) DIY kits are now open for orders on compression keyboards!

I have been designing and fine tuning the (4c) since late 2022, and am excited to share this product with the world. This first batch will be an extremely limited run.

Orders will be shipped out beginning in just 3 weeks from today 7/25/23.

Note: if you are purchasing the (4c) PCB kit, please check out our wiki for information on building a (4c) and uploading a custom layout! There is also a build guide video that takes you through all the soldering and assembly directions of the (4c) and its accompanying case.

With regards to cases, you can also purchase a 3D printed (4c) case from compression keyboards and they will ship out alongside the PCB kits. In addition, if you have your own 3D printer you can print your own case by heading to the wiki for files and more information.

The wiki with details on part selection, building, design files, and compiling firmware is here: https://compressionkeyboards.com/blogs/wiki

travel case has become magnetic, its almost the footprint of a phone. Magnetic wrist rest accessory anyone?

Thanks to everyone on the subreddit (now lemmy community!) that encouraged me to pursue making these real! I'm so happy to be giving back to the community and making these designs available to everyone on Github.

I've slowly been going down the rabbit hole of ergo keyboards and want to replace my current "normal" full-size keyboard, but the sheer amount of variation there is, even disregarding the usual differences like rgb or some extra macro keys or whatever, is kind of giving me decision paralysis, so I'd like some help.

I know what I definitely want:

• Split
• Tentable
• Ortholinear
• Supports QMK

But that still leaves a lot of questions open.

I like the look and portability of heavily vertically staggered 42-key keyboards (three rows and three keys per thumb cluster), and while for programming that's definitely enough, especially for certain games that seems like a questionable choice, since you'd need a lot of layers for a good experience.

Then I looked further into keyboards with four rows, which definitely seem more appealing, but at that point I'm wondering if for convenience's sake, it might be better to just get something like the Moonlander which has more than enough keys, but is also just really big and leads to a lot of finger movement which isn't necessarily a problem, but also just isn't really... well, neat.

What kind of keyboards do you all have and what do you use them for? Are there any you'd recommend? Should I just go with something akin to the Moonlander or are there any tangible advantages to something like the Piantor apart from portability?

Hey there, fellow keyboard enthusiasts! This is my first post in this amazing community, and I couldn't be more excited to share some love and passion with all of you!

Let me take you on a quick recap of my keyboard journey and give you a sneak peek of a project that I'm incredibly proud of - the "Vesuveus."

A project inspired by all of your amazing works, and I can't wait to show you what I've been working on.

It's name /vɛˈsuːviuəs/ is derived by the volcano Vesuvius at Naples 🍕🤏.

It all began with the Ferris Sweep, a keyboard that introduced me to the world of ergonomic mechanical keyboards. Then I moved on to the bgkeeb (bottom right corner), but the 34 keys didn't quite match my workflow needs.

Next, I explored the Frame-48 layout and started designing some handwired boards. However, 48 keys felt like too many and didn't align with the ergonomic keyboard concept that I had in mind.

After numerous tests (you can see them scattered all over the place), I finally found the sweet spot - the 40-key layout. The small white board you see in the picture represents the first prototype of my project. But even though it was a great start, the thumb cluster keys were too close, and the flat, low height didn't quite fit the MCU.

So, I went back to the drawing board and made some crucial improvements. The red silhouette in the picture showcases the next version of Vesuveus. I spaced the thumb keys a bit and added a 3-degree angle to increase the height at the back, creating more room for the MCU and reducing the need for a wrist rest. And because I'm a bit of a madman, I even changed the radius of the angles because I wanted every detail to be just right.

I'm beyond thrilled to share this project with all of you, and I hope you'll find it as exciting as I do! The "Vesuveus" is all about achieving that perfect balance between usability, comfort, and design, and I'm eager to see how it will find its place in the world of mechanical keyboards.

Stay tuned for more updates and a complete reveal of the "Vesuveus" coming soon. I'm looking forward to sharing this journey with all of you and being a part of this incredible community. Thank you for having me here, and let's keep spreading the keyboard love together!

For more details and updates on the "Vesuveus" project, you can check out the GitHub repo. I've just updated the readme, and once the keyboard is ready, I'll be uploading the STL files and more information about this exciting project.

!! UPDATE: Case and plate are ready !!

• fixed some little spacing issue on the thumb cluster, now everything clicks and clacks as should!
• added more vertical space for the MCU (tented the back with an 3° angle) -> reduces the need of a wrist rest!

To do:

• Firmware and layout testing!
• Build guide (video and text)
• Add latest build pics!

Would be looking for just the case alone, not a full kit.

[Vendor] Corne Cherry Acrylic Tenting Case Kit now available at kriscables.com

After receiving the PCBs and 3D printed key caps from PCBWay, I assembled everything with the case plates I picked up last week for a first fit-check and sound-check.

I'm really happy with how everything fits, feels and sounds. Thanks to PCBWay for sponsoring the PCB and key cap production for this prototype.

The next step is soldering all the electronics and finishing the firmware. If all goes well I'll post more pictures with RGB backlight in a few days.

Especially on QMK/TMK, especially non-english ones.

Do you mangle the QWERTY layout to fit your needs, especially when there is no correspondence between QWERTY and you language's layout or do you send directly Unicode characters?

I'm working on a French, Bépo-inspired, completely custom layout with full access to diacritics and ligatures. The keyboard must be OS-agnostic as I'm using Linux at home and Windows at work, and should be completely compatible with the AZERTY layout as understood by the OS and need no install or configuration on the PC as work PCs are usually completely locked-down and don't allow input layout modification.

Letters like é, è, à, ç, and ù are directly accessible on the AZERTY keyboard, so a bit of mangling should work (despite ù being used in a single word in the entire language but whatevs)

My concerns are:

• ê, ë and so on are pretty common but need a dead key to be typed. Not ideal. It might be possible with a macro, but Unicode might be more efficient.
• æ and œ are completely absent from AZERTY and cannot even be directly typed on windows despite appearing on very common words like cœur or bœuf. They are hidden behind AltGr-A and AltGr-O in Linux tho. Unicode is a must.

Thanks!

I am looking for a low profile keyboard compatible with the choc switches. I plan to put the choc sunset on it. I was looking for something similar to the Corne, just without the ergo-split thing. A standard 65-75% would work.

Bonus for hot swappable and no soldering required.

Rapid prototyping is an incredible tool nowadays. I started working on this concept a few hours ago, and I can already try out if it works. Turns out, it kinda works. I will lower the pinky rows and

I love my printer!

... plus figured out the basics of qmk. Will need to get it up and running with full miryoku though as this is what i use on ALL my keyboards. So if anyone can tell how i now get the full miryoku on I'd be super happy to give it a try.

I just built cheapino 3x5_3 split and of course need to get miryoku on it - there's a qmk branch here https://github.com/tompi/qmk_firmware/tree/cheapino but could not find the board over at miryoku.

It also has a special encoder, wondering how one could use it in the most meaningful way with miryoku....

Could someone describe the steps or create a miryoku config?

When you are drilling new keys but you absolutely do not want to look at the layout map that shows the keys you are supposed to know already.

Hi, I thought that it is the high time to share my 42 keys layout. I hope that it will be useful for people who are just staring with programmable keyboards. Also I would be happy to hear your suggestions about possible improvements :)

I've bought Pine64 products before (pinephone and recently the pinetime) but I've heard Zach Freedman (void star labs) mention this before and rave about it. I wanted to hear from the ergo community what they thought about it before I bought one to start my keyboard building journey.

In addition, if I should buy one, what tips do you recommend be purchased? It looks like I can buy long/short versions of fine/gross tips. What's best for keyboard building? Here's a link to their pinecil products.

I just build my redox keyboard and I found a problem about the right hand side is not working when connecting via the TRRS cable

Not sure if this is allowed here, but I just wanted to let people know that I am selling a number of Ergo Mech boards. I am really only making this post because I know a lot of people who would be interested in these boards have migrated away from reddit. I currently have a listing on r/mechmarket, but I am working on getting them listed on keebswap.com. I may list them on eBay as well, but I would prefer to avoid eBay if possible. Please just let me know if you are interested, and if possible just give me a PM on reddit (for now!).

Timestamp

Split boards

Monoblocks

reddit post

Hey, I'm wondering if it's possible to use the PCB of one half of a split keyboard, as a one-handed keyboard?

Since the minimum order quantity at PCB fab shops is usually 5, we'd be able to make 2.5 split keyboards (assuming reversible PCB) if nothing goes wrong. I feel kind of bad for that 0.5 of a split keyboard, and I'm wondering if it's possible to simply rewrite/tweak the firmware, so that it can be used as a one-handed keyboard (something like the Eternal Keypad)?

I tried googling, and it appears that someone has asked this before on reddit, but I don't want to give reddit pageviews :|

Thank you for your time :)

Velcro stickers and rubber feet from the 1-Euro store, and the handle of an old toilet plunger.

I had to flatten the plunger handle on one side to make more of the velcro stickers connect.

With tenting I really would like to have more aggressive staggering for the pinky column though.

I am still waiting for my Ferris Sweep to arrive but in the meanwhile I have been keeping busy by drilling Colemak DH and learning QMK. I posted last week about some ideas I had for the layout I wanted to try, which I have since refined and managed to code up in QMK to the point that it compiles! This may sound a bit weird but I am deep learner - its how my brain works.

Anyway there is lots of documentation - which you might consider even more weird I don't know - let me know what you think. All subject to change especially when the .. firmware .. hits the .. metal .. I guess?

Which is your preferred thumb key for space and return on the sofle? Default has return on the left and space on the right. I've been using it opposite for a bit with space on the left and was liking that but figured I'd try it out in the default config for a bit. Not sure which I like more / which one feels more comfortable. What's your preference? Do you use space on the left or the right side? Is there a reason for the enter/return key being on the left and space on the right by default?

I found a good as new white Glove80 (Choc Brown) for a price that is far too low. I am normally not a fan of white hardware, but I think the white Glove80 looks pretty nice. Found out through the MoErgo Discord that there is a white Logitech Ergo M575 that goes really well with it.