I’m thinking about printing my own Dactyl exactly to my measurements but I don’t want to print too many iterations before landing on my preferred layout. Any tips on how I could achieve that?
my suggestion is to use a skeleton-edition style case so you print the minimum amount needed, and reuse the base plate. ie print only thumb plate til you get the position close, etc.
trying to link the keyboard parameters to measurable features of your hand helps some, but honestly there’s no substitute for typing on it and realizing what you don’t like :)
i’ve has a recent breakthrough (implementing hierarchical/delegated column placement) that makes merging multiple plates with differing centers of rotation just work when switching from an open case style to a closed case.
you could take my model and replace the cylindrical column spacing for pinkie and index with a flat spacing to have something less intense.
i don’t have a clone, but it would be easy to do, for the dactyl fingers. the columns have a standard spacing I believe and the rows are placed on a cylinder with some radius and and a fixed angle (π/32 radians maybe?). then you can either replicate the column and Z stagger they use or tune your own.
the DM thumb is actively bad for me tho so if start with a simple 3 key arc (i think there is a tester for the arc placement) and add and remove keys as you try it out.
A bit late to the game, but I happened to stumble upon the github to this very dactyl design today. Here you go, in case you ever felt like making it yourself.
There’s a 3D hand model roaming around somewhere that you can put into the Dactyl model and give it a try. Also, if you know anyone with a Kinesis Advantage (2 or 360) you can test drive a default Dactyl (it’s based on that). I 3D printed mine blindly knowing that I have smaller than average hands and want more aggressive stagger + tent and it worked out really well for me.
Also check out Ergogen and Ergopad for truly customized to your hand experiences. This video is a great primer.
Cut it up! Print only thumbs for a while that you can “locate” to a standard set of finger keywells. Do the same for other features you’re wanting to customize.
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