My Journey From Mechanical to Ergonomic Keyboards | New ErgoMech Open Sourced (Kaly42) + Video!

philong, 10 months ago

The more reachable thumb keys look very interesting! But I’m wondering that aren’t there more keyboards like this? Are there any tradeoffs? I’m thinking of the Cantor, Piantor, Corne, etc.

I currently have a Cantor that I like very much. The inner thumb keys are somewhat annoying, but not complete deal breakers to me.

Dwctor, 10 months ago (edited 10 months ago)

I would argue that the only trade-off is that my keyboard has no case or screws for tenting, I just use the bare PCB. In a future version I will add screws for a case and tenting though, then I would argue no trade-off when compared, for example, to the Cantor. (The Piantor has better microcontroller in the RP and the Corne just has amazing community support).

The thumb keys were only deal breakers because of my hands and condition at that time, I still think the Cantor is a good keyboard, but it’s just not for me. (I also like the thumb keys closer together!)

Oh, and I didn’t find any other keyboards like the Kaly. I did look for a while, but didn’t find anything like it, so eventually just decided to make my own! (I was quite against doing a full design at the start, but warmed up to it by the end).

lostbard, 10 months ago

Nice planter pics in the repo!

Can you tell me about the keycaps you’re using? They look “pointier” than the low profile choc keycaps I got from MK Ultra.

Also, how was your experience using Ergogen with Blackpill? When I played with it a while back it really only had built-in footprints for Pro Micro.

Dwctor, 10 months ago

I got those keycaps from aliexpress and the choice was purely based on “This is the cheapest I can find”, but they are quite ok if you don’t mind flat keycaps! I think about 0.2$ per keycap. (and you get free shipping after getting enough of them).

As for Ergogen, sadly I also didn’t find any. I imported and used the footprint exclusively from the Kicad PCB stage onwards. It took a bit more of manual work but was quite worth it! Hope someone adds it and the RP controllers eventually, it would be great!

em2, 10 months ago

Very cool! I really like the ergonomics since carpal tunnel from long time use is a concern. The price point is also very welcoming.

Is there a version that could include the function keys as an additional top row? I understand the keys can be programmable, but having the f1-f12 keys on the top row would be preferable since I use them often.

apfel, 10 months ago

There’s many keebs similar to what you’re describing! Check out for example the Lily58 or Sofle, available e.g. from splitkb.com.

Dwctor, 10 months ago

Those are indeed great suggestions! However I feel that there is a missing market for keyboards with that size that have strong columnar stagger. If you know of any, please do inform us!

TeXitoi, 10 months ago

Sofle v2 (not the rgb version) has a descent stagger of 1/2u.

Dwctor, 10 months ago

I see, that is indeed much better! Although I do prefer stronger stagger (the Kaly is at aprox 0.9u IIRC). Thanks for the info!

em2, 10 months ago

Thanks for the link! Down the rabbit hole I goooooo!

Dwctor, 10 months ago

Sadly, to make a version like that, the cost (mostly of the switches and keycaps) would go up and you would need to add diodes to the build and config files. I don’t wish to deal with that currently, so sadly that project has been put on hold. (see my reply to the other comment too!) However, the Kaly42 is indeed cheap, if you source the parts well it can come in at about 50$!

ps: Thanks for the kind words!