demibyte

Yes I will share on this sub. Since you are interested though you are welcome take a look at my github early. Added a 3x5 version of the case there as well (not tested printing).

Hand-wiring shouldn't be much more difficult than my first build with per key pcbs. It is pretty thin though and assembly will be a bit tricky regardless of how it's wired. For printing I've only tried with MJF and SLS and I didn't really take into consideration any limitations of Resin or FDM printing. I don't think there is anything that would make printing any of the parts with those techniques (though maybe some parts are a little thin for FDM) so keep that in mind.

I'll be posting with more details on the board once I've consider it finished but happy to share here as well.

As far as modifications I made:

• adjusted stagger of each column
• adjusted splay 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

Lot of my modifications make the board less configurable but provide an easier and sturdier build. Making this a 5 column build would not be difficult. The original is 5 columns by default and 6 with an extension plate. Modified version is all one piece but modifying the CAD to chop off a column would be no problem.

Currently the thumb cluster has a mix of DES profile caps on MX switches and CS profile caps on choc switches.

Aside from the 3D printed parts build just uses some heat press inserts and screws.

I'll be happy to share the modified files once I've got everything finalized and organized, hopefully that will be later this week.

My heavily modified version of the Explorer RxCT. This current iteration is almost complete, some additional custom keys for the thumb cluster on the way right now and not 100% sold on the current key I've got on here. Thumb cluster angle is adjustable and keys can be swapped for either choc or mx.

Also another iteration on the base plate with modified 1/4" mounting point for better balance is in the works.

Yeah personally I was never able to fully get used to home row mods. Even after a fair bit of tuning I found that invariably home row mods would start to get in the way of typing speed around the ~60wpm mark. People are always so quick to recommend home row mods as the ultimate solution to finger movement that I tried to stick with it for a fair while but finally switched to dedicated keys for mods and couldn't be happier (plus I finally smashed the 60wpm barrier).

Personally I have shift on both thumb clusters and alt-cmd-ctrl on the left most column of my left split (3x6 layout), the keys that used to be there were moved to combos to make space (ESC is two left most keys middle row, TAB is two left most keys of top row). I've got some of the mods duplicated elsewhere on other layers as well just depending on the use case. Also not using home row mods means you can (probably) use auto shift as well which can potentially eliminate the need for a fully dedicated shift key.

There are not nearly as many options for choc keys, particularly if you are mainly interested in ascetics. You can can get dyed mbk caps, off the top of my head I know Clickety Split has them. I'm sure you can find similar for different regions as well.

There is also Asymplex for both a variety of solid color CS profile as well as the occasional batch of artisan keycaps made. Also solid color DES caps with choc stems.

You could try out QMKs swap hands feature. I've not tried using myself but have considered doing so for this use case exactly.

Created a repo for the PCB here: https://github.com/mroukema/enigma-dual-hs

Both the kicad and ready to print gerber files zipped together.

All the 3D printed parts were a just under 95usd. This total could have been lower but due to the modular nature of the keyboard there are a number of small parts that are at or below the minimum volume and thus the cost for printing them ended up getting rounded up to $1 min part cost which added up. I'm working on consolidating some of the parts into larger pieces to limit this and reduce the total parts count for my next build. The down side is of course less modularity but I've already got a good idea of what I want so that is no big deal.

I couldn't find any that were dual hotswap compatible so I made my own. They are choc + mx hotswap compatible and 18.1x18.1mm. I haven't added them to any repo yet but happy to share if you want.

I didn't design it myself but I think everything was originally parametric design so should be easy enough if you had those. You could try reaching out to the designer and see if he would be willing to share. DreaM117er Even without the original cad files it wouldn't be to hard to modify starting from the STL. The thumb clusters are modular and adjustable so a lot more customizability within the existing design there.

Wow that could actually be really sick. I kinda worry that it would end up being a mediocre mouse and suffer as a keyboard as a result but even still...

The flexible pcbs look great, very interested for the next build. Also potentially interested in the "pad" mcu you are working on there.

I'm transitioning from a flat split keyboard already so the difference isn't really that great and it didn't take long. In general though I've found the best way to learn new layouts is to just jump in and start using it. Practice practice practice. Oh and skip the labeled keys, they will only hurt your learning speed.

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