ErgoMechKeyboards
Ergonomic, split and other weird keyboards
Rules
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
No Spam
No excessive posting/"shilling" for commercial purposes. Vendors are permitted to promote their products/services but keep it to a minimum and use the [vendor] flair. Posts that appear to be marketing without being transparent about it will be removed.
No Buy/Sell/Trade
This subreddit is not a marketplace, please post on r/mechmarket or other relevant marketplace.
Some useful links
- EMK wiki
- Split keyboard compare tool
- Compare keycap profiles Looking for another set of keycaps - check this site to compare the different keycap profiles https://www.keycaps.info/
- Keymap database A database with all kinds of keymap layouts - some of them fits ergo keyboards - get inspired https://keymapdb.com/
view the rest of the comments
I had not even considered the other options! I guess I shouldve added more context.
I was thinking of a foot pedal that plugs in with a USB, that I could map to a keypress.
I've been slowly remapping my laptop keyboard, disabling arrow keys, esc, etc, in preperation for making a full mostly-seamless switch to ergo-mech. (I can't afford to buy an ergo board only to realize I can't handle the jump). Sadly some of my new chords are causing me more hand pain than I was already having. So I'm hoping to add a relatively cheap foot pedal as an intermediate step.
If you can solder, you can quite cheaply build your own ergo prototype, without habing to 3D print or buy PCBs: https://golem.hu/guide/cardboard-prototyping/
I did this, and am very happy. I got to stagger the keys as I like, place my thumb keys nicely, and know I can do it again easily and cheaply if I want something changed. Time's not free of course, but I value the freedom this gives me.
If you are handy with basic soldering and some programming, you could easily wire these to a controller, and program them to a key. That's what I did with the ones I had.