Mechanical Keyboards

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Happy 40s day! (feddit.org)

submitted 2 days ago by waht@feddit.org to c/mechanical_keyboards@programming.dev

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This is "krill" a 3d printed, handwired 40% keyboard I designed using FreeCAD.

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[–] somegeek@programming.dev 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

This looks super cool but what is the usecase? Isn't it too limited?

[–] waht@feddit.org 1 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

Thanks! No, not at all. I have been using boards this small daily for almost 6 years now.

Basically all keys from a full-size keyboard are on my keymap, just not on the base layer. Most keys I can reach by pressing 2 keys, which is equal to typing an uppercase key.

For example on the split spacebars, the left bar does space when pressed shortly, and switches to a layer with numbers and symbols when pressed. The right bar would do enter / switch to navigation layer where there is arrows. Another key thing (no pun indended) is to use whats called home-row modifiers. That basically means gui, shift, alt and control are where your fingers rest (e.g. left hand A, S, D, F).

The main benefit over a full-size board for me is that I don't have to move my fingers more than one row up/down (and index fingers one row in ofc). I have also fun tinkering with layouts and like the small form factor. Getting used to the layout took around one or two weeks - I already had a bigger keyboard with QMK where I added the smaller keymap so I could switch while learning.