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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/
I fell into this rabbit hole when looking into all the options available when ordering an Ergodox EZ. I discovered the Iris keyboard and really liked its compact shape. I ended up not placing the order for that Ergodox and built myself an Iris v4 instead.
Iris turned out to be a good way to ease myself into the world of DIY split ergo boards. It's affordable, easy to assemble and has enough keys to ease the transition from full sized keyboards. It's a good starting point for experimenting with layers and other features that eventually may lead you to 40% or smaller layouts.
I also landed on the Iris rev 7, and it being my first I went with getting it prebuilt plus not having a soldering setup. Also, one decision was comparing the shape and size of keyboards using splitkb compare site. The Ergodox EZ and Moonlander were way too spread out for my hands to deal with so I chose Iris. Ended up cheaper than either with no included switches and now I'm practicing how to use only three rows and layers since it's way more comfortable to not move your hands from the home row.
That isn't to say I am not regretting it. The oryx software that ZSA has looks amazingly powerful out the box. VIA is annoyingly limited in how it utilizes its Any key so advanced configuration is also limited. Vial, while having more features, would require reflashing due to some tap_dance_count error which is annoying. If I had more time I would just use QMK but it's way faster prototyping visually and adjusting to how you end up using the keys daily.