this post was submitted on 04 Aug 2023
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ErgoMechKeyboards

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Ergonomic, split and other weird keyboards

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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

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My first design! Github link to the repo with pcbs and 3d printed components: https://github.com/dnlbauer/corax56-keyboard

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I agree with the commenter who said they thought it could be a commercial project, it looks incredibly clean

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

Great work, looks like it could be a commercial product. I'm still not sure if I want choc V1 or V2, but if I go with V1, this might very well be the build I copy.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Aww crap, I might have to build another mechanical keyboard.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

This hobby in a nutshell.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Having had the PCBs printed, have you tried regular profile switches or do they make it look weird?

Looks great with the low profile ones!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Haven't tried regular-sized choc switches before, but they should work. One thing to consider would be that with the heigher switches, the scroll wheel might be harder to reach with the thumb because it might be physically hidden behind enter/space. Should not be a problem if you are used to use the index for the wheels though.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

That's a cool looking board!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Phew, that scrollwheel (EVQWGD001) is pricey. Raging between 8-15 EUR.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

That's because of scalpers, they aren't produced anymore alas. Someone on the Reddit mentioned wanting to make an alternative to that scroll wheel but I don't know if it went farther than just designs maybe.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

yeah they are a bit expensive. But they are worth it imho. Scrolling with the thumb on them feels very natural and the height is very similar to the chocs!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Looks awesome! I like how you designed the pinky cluster! I don't think I've seen that before on a board with 6 columns

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

there is another one that does something similar but that is not open source as far as I can tell: https://github.com/sprengboard/choccy

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

You might also like the Steel Tormentor. There are some really nice write ups about the process, too.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That's a beast! Looks great. The scroll wheels make a lot more sense to me than the inspirational ones you linked to in the github that have knobs near the thumbs. Course I guess the knobs are intended for the thumb and maybe scroll wheel would be pointer finger. Scroll wheel looks better imo.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I use my thumbs for the scrollwheels. My previous build was a sofle but the knobs always bothered me. They stick out too much, make it hard to transport the keyboard and I got into a habit of turning them with my thumb+index, so leaving the home row. With the wheels, using them feels much more natural!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

so you need to flip the nice!nano on the other side?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

No, you solder it in the same way for both sides.

The "flipping" is handled mostly internally. For The right hand side, the firmware just maps the rows and columns differently than for the left hand side. For pins where this is not possible (Vcc, Gnd,..), there are jumpers on the other side that need to be soldered.

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