Big same. None of my friends are too into it like I am so I tend to keep it all to myself or my GF.
I saw you’re into splits and staggered columnar boards above and I wanted to share my own developments to a comrade.
This is one that I’m still early in design on. I need to revisit the bottom part of it to fit a bigger keycap, I’m thinking either 1.25 or 1.5U. My plans are to make this one my daily driver that i take to and from work so I’m gonna put in a nice!nano for BT.
This one is one that I’ve already completed a hand-wired prototype for and I’ve just been lagging on programming it for QMK. This is the left-hand side of the split, I wanted a southpaw design with a columnar stagger and this is what i came up with. I’ll probably end up having to revisit the stagger amounts later but by the time I started on the board above, I was nearly done wiring this one. The cap sizes for the modifers on the left and space/layer keys at the bottom probably have to change as well as 1.5U/2U was probably too big. My plan for this one is just to have a comfy end-game board.
My father works at a machine shop so I can easily have a fully aluminum case made for these and I’m thankful for that. I also have to work on designing actual PCBs for these because hand-wiring is a pain in the ass; it was a nice experience, but I probably will never do it again.
The top one is giving me big Atreus maybe mixed with Revuing. I used to want to make a Revuing while I was trying to figure out what board I felt would work for me. I can dig it. I don’t have a number row or an F key row but I like seeing stuff like this tried more as it just makes more sense to me in general. I think I’m one of those “tiny board” exception to the rule people tho.
The bottom one, to me looks like what the Sea Breeze should have been. I’d much rather have a 10 key instead of dedicated nav keys. Unless you are putting the nav cluster on the right? But also southpaw number pad is based as fuck. I don’t get why people spend their entire life using a row staggered keyboard with a big ass numberpad between the alphas and their mouse. I think that is me being a elitist dweeb tho. But I don’t have to reach all the way across my desk to move the mouse lol.
Curious about how that thumb cluster turns out too. I have put way too much thought into what a perfect thumb cluster should be like lol. I thought I needed 3 per half at one point, and now use 2 per. I used to want an Ergodox at one point to and that thing has like 7 per side.
Yeah, the Atreus was a big inspiration for that design. I tried a planck style board for a while but I just can’t do it; I need the number row.
For the bottom one I’m just having the 10 key on the left and nothing on the right. I’ve been looking a southpaw ortho or staggered ortho as well as a split but they all have certain compromises that I don’t vibe with so I decided to just design my own.
I thought I needed 3 per half at one point, and now use 2 per.
I’m thinking the same tbh. I might end up moving one of them closer to the alphas.
I’m eager to see the end result to both of these.
For sure! I’ll ping you if I remember whenever my adhd decides to cycle back to hyperfocus.
So I think I want a gamepad that can also work as a “both halves” solution and am toying around with a hybrid of ortho and column stagger. This is based on my time gaming on a Ferris/Cantor. My thought is that the QWE/ASD/ZXC grid would be ortho, and the pinky column would be lower by 1/2 to 3/4 of a full key unit(1/2u basically) and possibly splayed slightly. The lateral index would be slightly staggered, like 1/4. Thumb cluster would be 2-4ish but not sure. I would want it staggerd between the bottom right key, similar to Ferris, for clearance between thumb and index finger. It’s probably a basic premise but I’ve only seen the hybrid grid/stagger like once. I think it’s a good balance between comfort and ergonomics. I can try and whip something up in the keyboard layout editor if none of that makes sense.
I have no CAD experience nor do I have that much experience with QMK/Vial’'s firmware from scratch.
Quick and rough concept. This allows for WASD usage without that stretch from full column stagger but also still allows for that pinky comfort, and takes a bit of strain off the lateral index stretching too. Thumb cluster needs some work.
Ah yeah! This was kind of my thought with the stagger on my split design. The Mod/Q/W Columns are unstaggered for comfort when switching between WASD and typing posture. The way I did it makes sense to my hands specifically, but I think yours makes more sense in general.
Big same. None of my friends are too into it like I am so I tend to keep it all to myself or my GF.
I saw you’re into splits and staggered columnar boards above and I wanted to share my own developments to a comrade.
This is one that I’m still early in design on. I need to revisit the bottom part of it to fit a bigger keycap, I’m thinking either 1.25 or 1.5U. My plans are to make this one my daily driver that i take to and from work so I’m gonna put in a nice!nano for BT.
This one is one that I’ve already completed a hand-wired prototype for and I’ve just been lagging on programming it for QMK. This is the left-hand side of the split, I wanted a southpaw design with a columnar stagger and this is what i came up with. I’ll probably end up having to revisit the stagger amounts later but by the time I started on the board above, I was nearly done wiring this one. The cap sizes for the modifers on the left and space/layer keys at the bottom probably have to change as well as 1.5U/2U was probably too big. My plan for this one is just to have a comfy end-game board.
My father works at a machine shop so I can easily have a fully aluminum case made for these and I’m thankful for that. I also have to work on designing actual PCBs for these because hand-wiring is a pain in the ass; it was a nice experience, but I probably will never do it again.
The top one is giving me big Atreus maybe mixed with Revuing. I used to want to make a Revuing while I was trying to figure out what board I felt would work for me. I can dig it. I don’t have a number row or an F key row but I like seeing stuff like this tried more as it just makes more sense to me in general. I think I’m one of those “tiny board” exception to the rule people tho.
The bottom one, to me looks like what the Sea Breeze should have been. I’d much rather have a 10 key instead of dedicated nav keys. Unless you are putting the nav cluster on the right? But also southpaw number pad is based as fuck. I don’t get why people spend their entire life using a row staggered keyboard with a big ass numberpad between the alphas and their mouse. I think that is me being a elitist dweeb tho. But I don’t have to reach all the way across my desk to move the mouse lol.
Curious about how that thumb cluster turns out too. I have put way too much thought into what a perfect thumb cluster should be like lol. I thought I needed 3 per half at one point, and now use 2 per. I used to want an Ergodox at one point to and that thing has like 7 per side.
I’m eager to see the end result to both of these.
Yeah, the Atreus was a big inspiration for that design. I tried a planck style board for a while but I just can’t do it; I need the number row.
For the bottom one I’m just having the 10 key on the left and nothing on the right. I’ve been looking a southpaw ortho or staggered ortho as well as a split but they all have certain compromises that I don’t vibe with so I decided to just design my own.
I’m thinking the same tbh. I might end up moving one of them closer to the alphas.
For sure! I’ll ping you if I remember whenever my adhd decides to cycle back to hyperfocus.
More about asking about designing.
So I think I want a gamepad that can also work as a “both halves” solution and am toying around with a hybrid of ortho and column stagger. This is based on my time gaming on a Ferris/Cantor. My thought is that the QWE/ASD/ZXC grid would be ortho, and the pinky column would be lower by 1/2 to 3/4 of a full key unit(1/2u basically) and possibly splayed slightly. The lateral index would be slightly staggered, like 1/4. Thumb cluster would be 2-4ish but not sure. I would want it staggerd between the bottom right key, similar to Ferris, for clearance between thumb and index finger. It’s probably a basic premise but I’ve only seen the hybrid grid/stagger like once. I think it’s a good balance between comfort and ergonomics. I can try and whip something up in the keyboard layout editor if none of that makes sense.
I have no CAD experience nor do I have that much experience with QMK/Vial’'s firmware from scratch.
Speaking of hyperfocus!
http://www.keyboard-layout-editor.com/#/gists/b10c6797345b134ff609458e49660dfe
Quick and rough concept. This allows for WASD usage without that stretch from full column stagger but also still allows for that pinky comfort, and takes a bit of strain off the lateral index stretching too. Thumb cluster needs some work.
Ah yeah! This was kind of my thought with the stagger on my split design. The Mod/Q/W Columns are unstaggered for comfort when switching between WASD and typing posture. The way I did it makes sense to my hands specifically, but I think yours makes more sense in general.