My first “weird” mechanical keyboard was an early Planck version (I was trying to learn steno and it was a fairly cheap NKRO option). I ended up getting rid of it as I had trouble adapting to the layout and layers. I didn’t end up pursuing steno very far, but it was a good learning experience.
My first ergo split was much more recent with the Ergo travel that I was able to find very cheap on mechmarket. I still had to build it, but it was a good learning experience and forced me to learn more about flashing firmware, soldering, and the details of keyboard construction.
I’m now using a Draculad wireless after really learning Colemak dhk on a 34 key dilemma, both of which I really love. I don’t think I would be as comfortable with firmware and switching to zmk for the Draculad if I hadn’t had the experience getting zmk to work.
I’ve been happy to experience many years of custom keyboards and the advancements in firmware over that time, and I think I’ve found an end game solution with zmk/Draculad
How do you like the pinky stagger? ( I think that’s what it’s called). I’m modding a 42 key board to have a similar layout (I find moving the pinky up forces me to move my whole hand)
It only fulfills point 4 I think, but it does look like it might not be in line with the rules on the sidebar, so it will probably get removed (admittedly I don’t know if posts need to be manually approved here, so I’m not sure about this).
It might not be “hand-shaped”, but the use of layers (and tap-dance/home-row mods) will minimize hand-movement, which is another way to approach ergonomics.
Thanks for the explanation! Yeah, I misremembered what I read about the cheapino not using all of its 8P8C wires (it uses 7 out of 8), but that makes sense.
Not including switches and keycaps, two cheapinos would come to around $60 according to the prices listed on its GitHub (I don’t think I’d be confident to do the job myself, but going half with someone might be a cheap option).
What’s your budget? I have also been looking out for something similar, mostly on r/mechmarket (I have an ergo travel that I am trying to get to work consistently).