referenced the next post
... an Arduino. Next post coming soon!... ----- In the meantime: The first thing I did was buy some mechanical switch samplers to see which ones I liked. Yes! There are many, many kinds. I highly recommend samplers as trial and error with full boards would be expensive. I liked: - Gateron browns. Similar to Kailh; nicer than Cherry which had more slop/play, IMO. - Kailh speed copper. Love the high activation point, right at the top, which makes them feel very responsive. Their upstroke is fairly loud and they feel like they take a tad more activation effort without the run-up you get with browns. - Kailh box whites. I don't actually want clickies, but these were pretty cool. Not super loud despite the click on the upstroke too. I've since got a few to try with layer and modifier keys. If pressure is applied to the top of the keycap they can activate very slightly before clicking. I occasionally get double activations with mechanical keys that I didn't with the MS 4k. I don't know if this is a thing, or I'm actually making mistakes. Not always the same keys and I've used two sets of switches, so it's probably just me getting used to them and not hammering as much. I then got a cheap (ish/relatively) mechanical board with my favorite switches. The plan was to use the switches in the one I end up making, and also see how I like using a full board. I was surprised how quickly my wrist pain returned when using this thing, even with a wrist pad and attempts to reverse tilt it. ![keycheron][8] [1]: https://img.heuristic42.com/img/86b71fbeecb5.jpg [2]: https://img.heuristic42.com/img/e2b1adc90872.jpg [3]: https://img.heuristic42.com/img/4da676ab6bb0.jpg [4]: https://img.heuristic42.com/img/4ea23af157bb.jpg [5]: https://img.heuristic42.com/img/30b3e46f2f32.jpg [6]: https://img.heuristic42.com/img/ee20c3130fa5.jpg [7]: https://img.heuristic42.com/img/43287bc10976.jpg [8]: https://img.heuristic42.com/img/8a0328addff7.jpg[**... and so I did.**](/blog/55/derbard-custom-split-mechanical-keyboard-prototype/) ----- Beforehand: The first thing I did was buy some mechanical switch samplers to see which ones I liked. Yes! There are many, many kinds. I highly recommend samplers as trial and error with full boards would be expensive. I liked: - Gateron browns. Similar to Kailh; nicer than Cherry which had more slop/play, IMO. - Kailh speed copper. Love the high activation point, right at the top, which makes them feel very responsive. Their upstroke is fairly loud and they feel like they take a tad more activation effort without the run-up you get with browns. - Kailh box whites. I don't actually want clickies, but these were pretty cool. Not super loud despite the click on the upstroke too. I've since got a few to try with layer and modifier keys. If pressure is applied to the top of the keycap they can activate very slightly before clicking. I occasionally get double activations with mechanical keys that I didn't with the MS 4k. I don't know if this is a thing, or I'm actually making mistakes. Not always the same keys and I've used two sets of switches, so it's probably just me getting used to them and not hammering as much. I then got a cheap (ish/relatively) mechanical board with my favorite switches. The plan was to use the switches in the one I end up making, and also see how I like using a full board. I was surprised how quickly my wrist pain returned when using this thing, even with a wrist pad and attempts to reverse tilt it. ![keycheron][8] [1]: https://img.heuristic42.com/img/86b71fbeecb5.jpg [2]: https://img.heuristic42.com/img/e2b1adc90872.jpg [3]: https://img.heuristic42.com/img/4da676ab6bb0.jpg [4]: https://img.heuristic42.com/img/4ea23af157bb.jpg [5]: https://img.heuristic42.com/img/30b3e46f2f32.jpg [6]: https://img.heuristic42.com/img/ee20c3130fa5.jpg [7]: https://img.heuristic42.com/img/43287bc10976.jpg [8]: https://img.heuristic42.com/img/8a0328addff7.jpg
first draft
![Cloud Nine C989 ErgoFS][4] Ooh, there's a whole community of people out there that build their own keyboards! ![enter image description here][5] [src](https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/lsh3f7/making_a_mechanical_version_of_the_microsoft/) That sounds like a lot of work. Definitely, hats off to these people, but I just want something I can buy. So down the rabbit hole I go... - https://github.com/diimdeep/awesome-split-keyboards - https://gist.github.com/itod/ae27b30f7517dc18b8df110c1d98bccb Thoughts... - They're all just flat. Probably because PCBs and plates are far easier to make flat. (Afterthought: could be better but not terrible with good tenting adjustment) - They're missing half the keys, like a navigation panel. (Afterthought: getting used to a thumb cluster and layers is possible - e.g. hold a button with your thumb and press I, J, K, L for arrows) - Some split boards have customizable buttons between the T, G, B and Y, H, N letters on each half - what a great idea!! - Some "columner" boards like Ergodox give kind of an arc/sweep to keys like the MS 4k. - The Moonlander can be tilted and tented but to give it a backwards tilt means the thumb cluster must be at an overly steep angle. Also the palm rests cannot be raised, out of the box. ![enter image description here][6] - Some boards like the Dactyl-Manuform are just 3D printed and you can have any shape you want!! ![enter image description here][7] So nothing fits exactly what I want. Screw it. I own a 3D printer. **I'll build my own keyboard!** (with blackjack...) How hard can this be! All I need to do is some simple soldering with some switches and diodes to an Arduino. Next post coming soon!... ----- In the meantime: The first thing I did was buy some mechanical switch samplers to see which ones I liked. Yes! There are many, many kinds. I highly recommend samplers as trial and error with full boards would be expensive. I liked: - Gateron browns. Similar to Kailh; nicer than Cherry which had more slop/play, IMO. - Kailh speed copper. Love the high activation point, right at the top, which makes them feel very responsive. Their upstroke is fairly loud and they feel like they take a tad more activation effort without the run-up you get with browns. - Kailh box whites. I don't actually want clickies, but these were pretty cool. Not super loud despite the click on the upstroke too. I've since got a few to try with layer and modifier keys. If pressure is applied to the top of the keycap they can activate very slightly before clicking. I occasionally get double activations with mechanical keys that I didn't with the MS 4k. I don't know if this is a thing, or I'm actually making mistakes. Not always the same keys and I've used two sets of switches, so it's probably just me getting used to them and not hammering as much. I then got a cheap (ish/relatively) mechanical board with my favorite switches. The plan was to use the switches in the one I end up making, and also see how I like using a full board. I was surprised how quickly my wrist pain returned when using this thing, even with a wrist pad and attempts to reverse tilt it. ![keycheron][8] [1]: https://img.heuristic42.com/img/86b71fbeecb5.jpg [2]: https://img.heuristic42.com/img/e2b1adc90872.jpg [3]: https://img.heuristic42.com/img/4da676ab6bb0.jpg [4]: https://img.heuristic42.com/img/4ea23af157bb.jpg [5]: https://img.heuristic42.com/img/30b3e46f2f32.jpg [6]: https://img.heuristic42.com/img/ee20c3130fa5.jpg [7]: https://img.heuristic42.com/img/43287bc10976.jpg [8]: https://img.heuristic42.com/img/8a0328addff7.jpg