[egypturnash]

This is lovely and kind of tempting but, like every keyboard-nerd keyboard, it's made by and for someone who wants the smallest possible number of keys in front of them and a bunch of toggleable modes.

I want more keys. I want my dedicated f-keys back so that when I launch an action in Illustrator I don't have to hold down the fn key, along with whatever other modifier key I may be using to distinguish between a couple other action assigned to that key. I have turned my capslock into command-alt-shift and that helps a lot, I want additional meta keys that I can use for command-shift and command-alt while still having the existing meta keys, not less - this has nine unmarked keys in the default layout, and two of those are probably slated for becoming space and return; my Mac has exactly the same number of meta keys if I count capslock, and dedicated space/return buttons.

Their Moonlander's much more sensible, with a baker's dozen of meta keys around each half's keyboard block. Hitting a little one-handed chord almost seems reasonable, compared to all the one-handed stretches I've got in my daily art routine. I'd be super-tempted by this or an Ergodox EZ if they were putting them on sale because they are no longer the new hotness, they might actually see integration into my workflow, but there's absolutely no price difference.

Maybe I'll just get baked and spend an hour futzing with this idea I just had to make the f-keys of my Mac's keyboard accessible by having Karabiner translate a chord of (fkey)+(the key to its left) into (fkey). I already have the baked part. And that works on my existing laptop keyboard as well as the 90%-identical Apple wireless board on my desk...

EDIT:

I did indeed spend an hour swearing at Karabiner's config file and make f(n)+f(-1) into f(n) and it is wonderful, and I am going to make a fn+f(n)=(nothing) rule to train myself to use it. Thanks for the inspiration, keyboard with too few bucky bits!

[rince]

The [Kinesis Freestyle Edge](https://gaming.kinesis-ergo.com/edge/) is what you want. It's a full keyboard, with extra keys you can map, and you can choose what switch you want. It's marketed for gamers, but it's good for everyone.

My one complaint is I find the space bar too large. I started used the Freestyle after decades of MS Natural keyboards. It took a while to get used to the size of the space bar.

[mastercheif]

I remapped the left spacebar to cmd for my Mac. Makes keybaord shortcuts much easier on the hands.

[RobertRoberts]

> I want more keys. I want my dedicated f-keys back...

This is my issue as well. I want a "normal" keyboard, only ergonomic, split, with all the fancy joint happiness that brings.

It seems these are impossible to find without some kind of 3d printing and DIY from scratch.

I am not able to invest in learning a new keyboarding process because I have to work on too many different computers over a year span that I have no control over, and I don't want my muscle memory to erode because of one special keyboard on my home workstation.

[Pet_Ant]

If you want to go the DIY route there is https://wylderbuilds.com/shop/p/dactyl-manuform-resin-print which offers a 6x7 option

Can see the options here: https://wylderbuilds.com/all-sizes

[RobertRoberts]

This _could_ be the ideal keyboard. But to find out, I'd have to invest a lot of hours of effort for DIY and/or spend a lot of money. And then what if it's terrible in the end?

This is part of the challenge I face, so I am living with MS ergonomic keyboards until I can either try one of these first, or take a risk.

[k2enemy]

I could not agree more. What I would love is the Microsoft sculpt keyboard but with low profile mechanical switches and a wired connection.

The closest I've found is the Perixx PERIBOARD which I have not yet tried in person. If anyone has other suggestions, it would be much appreciated.

[RobertRoberts]

I agree, and I like the suggestion of the Perixx keyboard. (seems like a knock-off brand though, any ideas on quality?)

MS ergo keyboard's (current mainstay) keys fail every so often, so I have to buy a new one every so often. So yes, something with mechanical keys would be great.

[llamaimperative]

FWIW I have a fairly wacky keyboard (36-key Corne) that uses lots of clever layering to hit different symbols. It took a bit to learn as my daily driver but 1) it's awesome to have all your keys so accessible to the home row, and 2) I haven't experienced any degradation in my muscle memory of normal keyboards, and I only use a normal keyboard (like my MBP) maybe a few times per month.

[anotherevan]

Yes! Really want a good 80% keyboard (basically a standard keyboard with the number pad chopped off) with some added thumb keys, but everything else mostly positioned where you expect. QMK for configuring.

I'm a long time user of the Microsoft Ergonomic Natural 4000 but they are hard to find now. Don't like the MS Sculpt that much - spongy escape key and those flat keys in general. I've got one in a drawer as a backup for when the 4000 dies, but I'm not looking forward to it.

I recently got a Keyboardio 100[1] but am really finding it hard to adapt to. Moving things like many symbol keys (e.g. "[]\{}|/+=-_") to different locations or layers is a real pain for programming. I really don't know if I'll persist. Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful keyboard, but requires too much adaptation for me.

The closest potential I've found is the X-Bows Knight[2] although the cost of getting one out to the Antipodes makes it a risky proposition if I end up not coping with it.

[1] https://shop.keyboard.io/products/model-100 [2] https://x-bows.com/products/x-bows-knight-ergonomic-mechanic...

[tadfisher]

I made a low-profile split keyboard (with Bluetooth) based on the Moonlander layout, but a bit more ergonomic for my fingers: https://github.com/tadfisher/nyx-kb

I think this number of keys in this layout strikes a good balance between portability and usability.

[chaxor]

This is the keyboard everyone wants and needs. Right here.

The trouble is, I think most would be willing to maybe 'snap together' the keys and such, but not find a local PCB factory and have them create the boards and such.

Also, the cost should be only ~$100 or less if the device requires DIY.

I tried to quickly find information on how to create this board, or how to buy it directly from somewhere, or just how much it may cost to DIY, and I didn't easily see that type of information.

Ultimately, this is the best keyboard in this thread for this class (very portable, configurable, split kb). This is even better than the Voyager due to the added thumb keys.

[tadfisher]

> I tried to quickly find information on how to create this board, or how to buy it directly from somewhere, or just how much it may cost to DIY, and I didn't easily see that type of information.

This saddens me, because I put a _lot_ of work into the README for this project. There is a BOM list with all the part numbers you need, pre-made Gerbers for you to send to any PCB house, a vector image for SendCutSend, and step-by-step instructions for soldering and setup. Please give it a re-read and let me know what information is missing.

I'm sorry no one has adopted this board for "mass"-production. It really was a labor of love, and I'm not super into the custom keyboard scene. I could learn how to do some marketing, I suppose.

Thank you for the nice words and praise. It means a lot.

[_kb]

That’s an amazingly beautiful build.

[dotancohen]

You might like the Matias Ergo Pro. It is the most comfortable keyboard I've ever typed on, and I've owned literally dozens of mechanical, ergonomic, split, and specialty keyboards. It has all the function keys, and it has these terrific large modifier keys in front. I'm a heavy VIM user, but I still appreciate the terrific arrow cluster on that keyboard. And they've got an additional Ctrl key next to N - I love it.

Just be aware that the build quality is terrible. I had two Matias keyboards, neither lasted a year... And I type lightly, preferring 35 gram keys. At $250 each it is quite the investment. But, honestly, they are worth the price. They are _that_ comfortable.

[monsieurbanana]

You made me remember the Matias keyboards I bought. They are nice indeed, but I'll never buy one again and I'll always recommend against them for what you pointed out: the quality build is horrible.

I got one that broke after a month, I got a replacement (still had to pay like 50 euros of tax because they shipped from outside of europe) that also broke after a month. In both cases some keys started typing twice.

[dotancohen]

Yes, I also had the key-repeating issue, on both types of keys they offer (45 tactile and 35 gram silent if I remember correctly).

[neodymiumphish]

Sounds like you want something like the Dygma Defy. It has (I think) 8 thumb keys in addition to the standard keyboard array. It's ortholinear, which I find way more sensible.

[egypturnash]

Huh, yeah, that's a lot better-looking. It's actually got nine thumbkeys. Still got too few keys though, I already hate having the media control keys and f-keys crammed into two layers on a stock Mac keyboard and this makes both of them into layers on top of the numrow.

[neodymiumphish]

Fair enough. The configuration I use on my Corne Keyboard, which only has three thumb keys per side, allows for a ton of controls using just those 6 layers. I've found that it's remarkably useful for coding, writing, and manipulating the OS without needing to contort my fingers/hand in any way.

[wellthisisgreat]

Hey we’ll be releasing an open source keyboard that has an ergonomic layout and is about 75-80% size (arrows + F-row and macro row)

[anotherevan]

Who are you?