Uh… better keyboard?
I think it’s safe to say that you know what is a standard keyboard. It’s highly likely that you are using one when you navigated to this very page. In fact, even the virtual keyboards that are in your phone right now has this layout!
The keyboard I am using right now. The GarudaGear GG100B (not sponsored of course).
The standard keyboard has this peculiar layout that was purpose-built for the typewriters of the time. This was a necessary measure for those typewriters so that the levers don’t get stuck with each other. When the first computer keyboards were built, they just stuck to that layout for the most part as that’s what they were used to at that time. And in turn, that’s what we’re used to up to now. After all, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Nonetheless, fix it we will! With the modern advancements in technology and fabrication of said technology, it is now possible for anyone (yes! Including you!) to try and innovate on one of the most ubiquitous tools in the modern age. One key problem with keyboards is comfort. No matter how soft your wrist rests are, you may feel some pain after some time. That’s because keyboards doesn’t really take into account our anatomy; keyboard’s force us to take an unnatural position to use them, and it will strain our muscles overtime. The standard keyboard may not be broken, but our arms will.
The solution to the pain problem? Make it ergonomic! These types of keyboards have an unusual shape to make sure that you’re not gonna cramp out anytime soon. They come in a lot of shapes and sizes; from the more conventional keyboard but split into two, to what I can describe as a clusterf***. More about it later!
This keyboard dates back to around the 1970's! Even back then they had it figured it out somewhat.
The motivation behind this project
When I stumbled into a video about this sort of thing, something clicked in my head; “Maybe if I make one of these keyboards, it would improve my typing experience and quality-of-life!” As some of y’all already know, I am a programmer! I coded our games both past and present. Being a programmer requires that you type for hours on end making and fixing the parts of a program. To code fast, not only do you need to think about the piece of code you need to implement but also type it. I’m a slow typer, and I have a pretty unorthodox way of typing; my fingers go where it shouldn’t be and I sometime butterfinger two keys at the same time among many typing blunders. While I know it just needs a lot of practice on my part, I also think it’s because of the archaic layout of the keyboard that’s stubling me.
Green is for the left hand, blue is for the right, and the red markings are the usual resting place of the fingers. In short, what...
The thing is, I feel like the keyboard’s not made to be typed with the left hand. Everything kinda flows towards the left, and the only hand that can move fluidly is the right hand. The flow makes it rather awkward for the left hand to move from key to key. In fact, I think it expects you to have two right hands!
Yea... like J. Geil and his mother... I think keyboards were made for them.
Like I said, it was a thing they did so that the mechanical typewriters of the time work, but come on man! We can do better now! I’ve also been itching to make something so what’s a better time than now right?
Split-decisions
Now I got my mind set on building an ergonomic keyboard, I need to figure out how am I gonna approach it. From the get-go, I want the keyboard to be split, that means a keyboard’s half could be far apart from the other so my arms don’t have to huddle up and make it awkward for each other the longer I type. I also have a limited budget of around 50 freedom bucks (converted), so I have to be thrifty with my choices.
Crafting method
With that out of the way, I need to decide if I’m gonna have a PCB be manufactured or handwire everything. I also wanted the keyboard to be hotswappable. There are some keyboard builds which lets you hotswap your keys while the whole thing’s handwired. Apparently you don’t need to solder if you go for that route, and if you want to solder there’s a neat generator for a 3D printed solution too. I want to solder and I don’t have the luxury to 3D print parts on a whim, so PCB it is.
If you’re wondering if manufacturing one will take a chunk out of it, don’t worry, I was wondering about that too AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH. I used PCBShopper to determine where I should manufacture the PCBs once I decided on the board I will make (you’ll know about that soon), and it recommended that I should get it done by JLCPCB (not sponsored, they just happen to be the cheapest option) and I also made use of their first-time customer coupon, so it all checks out! I also did some reasearch about this too just for good measure.
Keying in my switches
As for key switches, I really wanted to go for the low profile ones as they’re smaller and more portable. The one thing that stops me from going through with this is the nightmare of the lack of standardization of the sockets and legs; Kailh’s a bit worse in this regard cause NOT EVEN THE DIFFERENT VERSIONS HAVE THE SAME LEGS AND VERSION 1 HAS THIS- THIS WEIRD CAP SOCKET!!! Yea no, I’m not dealing with that right now. Standard MX keys it is!
This doesn't even include the Redragon ones. Yes, THOSE HAVE A DIFFERENT CONNECTOR LEG!
Though, that also opens up a lot more possibilities with what type and configuration my switches will be. Since I wanted tactile (can’t stand linear) and silent, then I went with the Outemu Silent Lemon V2. It’s (relatively) affordable, and it fulfills my criterias for my switches. Look, I don’t care about the sound of it. As long as it functiond and good to type on, I’m all a-ok!
The big question
With all of that sorted out, I now have to decide if I want to make a PCB from scratch or with tools like Ergogen, or use a pre-existing build and use that. I initially wanted to make my own ortholinear layout; where the keys are aligned with each other in a grid. This would also make my transition into the new keyboard smoother, especially when it comes to gaming. Maybe it was time, or my braincells, but I was having difficulty with making one with the tools available right now. I don’t want to have to deal with a faulty print as I don’t have the funds to reprint if ever. I will make my own keyboard in the near future when I have the resorces to experiment yet (and believe me, I will also make an post about it when it’s time).
The ortholinear layout I created using Keyboard Layout Editor. Still needs some work, and that's future me's problem.
For now though, I’ve also eyeing out on two custom keyboards, the ErgoDash and the Lily58 Pro. Both keyboards have the columnar stagger layout, which means there’s a shift on the column instead of the standard’s row. At first, I wanted to go for the former as the layout of it isn’t too far off the standard. The hotswap issue could be solved using millmax sockets anyways so it’s not a big issue. The simplicity, and the use of a more conventional hotswap sockets, made me go for the Lily58 Pro instead.
The Lily58 itself. From what I could tell, Pro or not they share the same layout. Image came from the GitHub repository.
What about gaming?
Since this keyboard will become my main keyboard, I need to think about how this will stack up when it comes to gaming. Latency (or input lag) is one of two things I am concerned about since any input delay will, most likely, determine how well I’ll perform especially in more time critical actions; like making a precise jump to make it to the other side or else I’d either lose time or outright die. The Mirage Window jump to vents in CS2 is a good example. After looking it up, I don’t think this should be too much of a concern as the input lag should not go past 14ms at least for keyboards that uses the QMK firmware (which the Lily58 uses). One good thing about custom keyboards is that I can do something about it, even if a bit. I’ll make a non-scientific input lag test once I make the keyboard.
Another concern that’s brought up by my final decision to use a columnar stagger keyboard is how I’ll position my fingers and how comfortable it is during longer sessions.
Red dots are the default places for four out of five of my fingers. Green is where I rest my thumb on the spacebar. Blue is the travel of my respective fingers for their actions (not including extra ones like reloading). The Lily58 (left) positions are for speculation.
One thing that sticks out to me about this setup is the lack of a key below the shift key. Either I need to reposition my pinkie finger next to my ring finger (represented by the smaller red dot) and adjust accordingly, or get used to shifting my pinkie upwards for the action that was supposed to go to the key below the shift key where control will sit in the Lily58. Then there’s the fact that my ring finger no longer alings with my index finger. I’m not sure if this will make it more straining for my hand to game with in longer sessions. It would be ironic, given that the whole purpose of this keyboard is to not make it a pain to use for an extended amount of time, but it’s something that future me would have to determine. So far in my theoretical trials by mimicking the layout on a flat surface and pretend to play with it, I don’t think it’ll be so bad. It’s something I’ll get used to that’s for sure!
Now we wait
Finally after that’s all said but not yet done, I’ve ordered everything and now we have to wait for everything to arrive before I can build and use it. As of the publishing this post, everything’s here except for the PCBs themselves and a set of screws needed to put everything into the case. I find it funny that almost all of the parts are with me, but the very heart of this build is still being delivered.
Stay tuned for part 2 where I assemble everything up! While you’re here, I stream every Saturdays 9PM +8 GMT! I don’t have an RSS feed or any systems to notify y’all when another post comes out, so the streams also serves as update for any happenings in this website.