cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/45765963
The design is based on the excellent Dactyl keyboard, generated with https://ryanis.cool/cosmos/ and it runs the excellent qmk firmware. It is handwired:
and I have also made a palm support using inkscape and openscad
All printed on a reprap prusa i3 derivative.
This helps me use my computer with less pain, so I want to call out all the wonderful projects and people who contribute to them which made it possible.
Total cost? $60 aud, amortised filament ~15 bucks worth maybe? and a lot of my time haha.
Okay, Star Platinum.
Man, 3d printing is punk as fuck, I love when people post bespoke shit.
Tinkering with electronics alone indoors is like the opposite of punk.
Don’t tell me that you’re one of those people that think punk is all about attitude and loud music. DIY and community building is punk af.
Very cool!
Honest question, does using a keyboard like this make you forget how to use a standard one?
I know op did it for the pain, so it’s a moot point. But if I did it just because it’s cool, and to avoid injury in the future, would I mess up my normal keyboard abilities?
I also switched to colemakdh with a series of layers and qmk tricks. My typing is quite slow so far, around 30 wpm, I was never an amazing typist but I haven’t noticed difficulty with standard qwerty layouts.
It’s not like you get confused between a harp and a guitar, or a spoon and a knife.
I’m new to this convo, but how’s your typing speed, now?
Impressive build, btw! Still liking your keyboard? How have the 3D printed keycaps held up?
I am maybe slightly faster than I was on qwerty once you account for accuracy (more accurate on this). I actually had some injury issues that stopped me practicing or writing much in general, but I would say I vastly prefer colemakdh and ergo keyboards to type on anyway.
I spent a lot of time fussing around the symbols layer (brackets, logical operators etc) and that’s been a huge comfort gain for coding.
Keycaps have held up fine, the ridges accumulate dead skin a bit and need regular cleaning to not look disgusting. I actually have a resin printer now and since I’ve settled on my layout have been meaning to print some embossed smooth keycaps.
Oh that’s great! I moved to colemak about a year ago due to hand/wrist/finger pain, and it’s helped a lot. My average typing speed is probably about the same as it had been with qwerty. My highest typing test speed (which isn’t very important) with colemak hasn’t reached my highest qwerty speed, though.
My qwerty speed now? Garbage. I even have to look to type lmao
I really need to switch to an ergo split keeb though, because switching to colemak alone hasn’t eliminated all of the pain. I’ve been inspired by your post and might (ADHD lol) get around to building one soon!
That’s good to hear. Ew, hands are nasty, aren’t they? If I actually end up doing this, I think I’ll try printing the caps, but might end up buying some in the end. Thanks for the info!
I would strongly recommend it. After switching I can barely tolerate normal keyboards as I now notice how much strain I’m under using them.
Just the ability to move around with your postural changes is so great. It’s very easy to make your own and I thoroughly endorse it.
Sold!
for me, switching to dvorak about 10 years ago has made me absolutely useless at typing qwerty… i get used to it after 5min, but much slower than i used to be and wow is it paiiiiiin (both literally in my wrists - the reason i switched, and figuratively in that i feel like im fighting the keyboard for every word)
… or perhaps you mean the differences in physical layout
