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I 3d printed a custom sized keyboard using open source software and hardware designs.
(lemmy.dbzer0.com)
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/45765963
The design is based on the excellent Dactyl keyboard, generated with https://ryanis.cool/cosmos/ and it runs the excellent qmk firmware. It is handwired:
and I have also made a palm support using inkscape and openscad
All printed on a reprap prusa i3 derivative.
This helps me use my computer with less pain, so I want to call out all the wonderful projects and people who contribute to them which made it possible.
Total cost? $60 aud, amortised filament ~15 bucks worth maybe? and a lot of my time haha.
Very cool!
Honest question, does using a keyboard like this make you forget how to use a standard one?
I know op did it for the pain, so it's a moot point. But if I did it just because it's cool, and to avoid injury in the future, would I mess up my normal keyboard abilities?
I also switched to colemakdh with a series of layers and qmk tricks. My typing is quite slow so far, around 30 wpm, I was never an amazing typist but I haven't noticed difficulty with standard qwerty layouts.
It's not like you get confused between a harp and a guitar, or a spoon and a knife.
for me, switching to dvorak about 10 years ago has made me absolutely useless at typing qwerty… i get used to it after 5min, but much slower than i used to be and wow is it paiiiiiin (both literally in my wrists - the reason i switched, and figuratively in that i feel like im fighting the keyboard for every word)
… or perhaps you mean the differences in physical layout
I haven't noticed difficulty. Maybe because the layout is so different, maybe I will with time, or maybe I'm just ~~better than you~~ lucky :p
I see you've played knifey spoony before
I'm new to this convo, but how's your typing speed, now?
Impressive build, btw! Still liking your keyboard? How have the 3D printed keycaps held up?
I am maybe slightly faster than I was on qwerty once you account for accuracy (more accurate on this). I actually had some injury issues that stopped me practicing or writing much in general, but I would say I vastly prefer colemakdh and ergo keyboards to type on anyway.
I spent a lot of time fussing around the symbols layer (brackets, logical operators etc) and that's been a huge comfort gain for coding.
Keycaps have held up fine, the ridges accumulate dead skin a bit and need regular cleaning to not look disgusting. I actually have a resin printer now and since I've settled on my layout have been meaning to print some embossed smooth keycaps.
Oh that's great! I moved to colemak about a year ago due to hand/wrist/finger pain, and it's helped a lot. My average typing speed is probably about the same as it had been with qwerty. My highest typing test speed (which isn't very important) with colemak hasn't reached my highest qwerty speed, though.
My qwerty speed now? Garbage. I even have to look to type lmao
I really need to switch to an ergo split keeb though, because switching to colemak alone hasn't eliminated all of the pain. I've been inspired by your post and might (ADHD lol) get around to building one soon!
That's good to hear. Ew, hands are nasty, aren't they? If I actually end up doing this, I think I'll try printing the caps, but might end up buying some in the end. Thanks for the info!
I would strongly recommend it. After switching I can barely tolerate normal keyboards as I now notice how much strain I'm under using them.
Just the ability to move around with your postural changes is so great. It's very easy to make your own and I thoroughly endorse it.
I did it! Thank you for the inspiration and encouragement!
I was gonna use Cosmos for the case, but when I went to download my final design, it kept erroring 🙃 So, I went with Skeletyl instead. It's designed around a PCB, but I hand-wired it instead.
I took inspiration from a Joe Scotto video and got away with using one microcontroller by connecting the two halves with a network cable (plus one extra wire because I needed 9 total). I can only include one image in this reply, but might make a post about the build with more photos.
Well done! bet you got a lot better at soldering quickly haha!
Thanks! Haha I did!
Sold!
As someone who runs an ergodox ez with a custom key layout and who goes in to work from time to time using normal QWERTY keyboards (both English and German configuration), you do not lose anything. It's incredibly easy to switch between every config you have.
I also think most people would appreciate a split keyboard setup because it's so much better for posture and health and comfortability. Would highly recommend.
Oh now this is different than I've heard, some others have had issues switching back and forth. So maybe I will give it a try, once I've got qwerty up to a decent speed and I feel comfortable with it.
Right now it's a problem because if I'm in a hurry, I'm tempted to type the old way, or a broken mixture of the two that messes with what I've learned. Not good. Gotta slow down and do it right, bah..
Thanks for the recommendations, I'm gonna put a 3d printed split board on my list of things I'll definitely get to some day and totally won't get pushed off the back of the furthest back burner lol
Lol. For context, it took me maybe two weeks to get back up to full speed on a new typing layout. When I moved to Germany they moved some keys around on standard qwerty and it took me a couple of days.
If you're already touch typing I think most changes are easy to adapt to and don't overwrite previous muscle memory. Your brain is powerful, believe it is and it will work.
That's good to know, thanks! I'm still just learning to touch type. I spent a few decades typing fast enough but always looking at the keys. This year I've started learning touch typing, I'm only a half dozen hours in, so still pretty new.
But when I get good I'll take this into consideration! Thanks!
I use Colemak on phone and Qwerty on desktop, and never think about it.
Interesting 🤔 why? Just curious
I tried other layouts because it's easy with an on-screen phone keyboard, just an oftion in the app menu, and Colemak felt the most intuitive to use. I didn't have to get used to it, it felt natural from the start.
It's not as easy to switch with a physical keyboard, with so many games having movement and other functions tied to specific keys that assume a qwerty layout, so I kept using what I was used to in that circumstance. I don't even think about it.
One of these days, I'll probably buy/set up a physical Colemak keyboard, and see how that is with games.
Neat!
I know I'm late but my keyboard has a physical switch I can use to change layouts.
I really can't type on QWERTY anymore but if I'm too lazy to change/remap the game to work with Colemak I'll just flip it to QWERTY to play.
Though if the game has chat you want to use you don't have much choice but to remap the controls.
How does that work? Does it move all the keys around for you or is it, like, double-sided? Or it just changes the layout used by the system while you're in a game? That sounds useful as long as you aren't typing in chat.
My keyboard has no letters on it, so the layout doesn't matter. I made myself learn to not look at it.
The switch changes what the keyboard is telling the computer I'm pressing. The computer itself is set to QWERTY.
I've never seen one like that before. Very interesting!