ErgoMechKeyboards
Ergonomic, split and other weird keyboards
Rules
Keep it ergo
Posts must be of/about keyboards that have a clear delineation between the left and right halves of the keyboard, column stagger, or both. This includes one-handed (one half doesn't exist, what clearer delineation is that!?)
i.e. no regular non-split¹ row-stagger and no non-split¹ ortholinear²
¹ split meaning a separation of the halves, whether fixed in place or entirely separate, both are fine.
² ortholinear meaning keys layed out in a grid
No Spam
No excessive posting/"shilling" for commercial purposes. Vendors are permitted to promote their products/services but keep it to a minimum and use the [vendor] flair. Posts that appear to be marketing without being transparent about it will be removed.
No Buy/Sell/Trade
This subreddit is not a marketplace, please post on r/mechmarket or other relevant marketplace.
Some useful links
- EMK wiki
- Split keyboard compare tool
- Compare keycap profiles Looking for another set of keycaps - check this site to compare the different keycap profiles https://www.keycaps.info/
- Keymap database A database with all kinds of keymap layouts - some of them fits ergo keyboards - get inspired https://keymapdb.com/
view the rest of the comments
In my opinion, https://typeractive.xyz/pages/build offers a very compelling way to customize a build. They'll let you pick whatever features you want and send a partially completed kit (limited soldering needed). The only limitation is that they do currently only the Corne in either 42 or 36 keys, but will do either of those in either MX switches (taller, but a lot more options for switches and keycaps) or choc switches (low profile, but limited options for switches and keycaps).
One thing you have not mentioned is that you probably want to get everything with hot-swap sockets so that you can swap out switches, microcontrollers etc. I'm still in the beginning myself with my first board and I've swapped switches, taken them out, modded them, etc. There is a lot to learn, and you will not get your perfect board the first time. Socketing both means that you can try out tons of more options now for the switches, and that if you decide your first board is not to your liking at all, you can then move the switches and microcontrollers over to another board of a completely design, say going from a Corne to a Soffle, without needing to repurchase everything. The switches, keycaps, and microcontrollers are the majority of the cost in many boards.