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If You Can't Buy the Keyboard You Want, Build It Instead

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Re: If You Can't Buy the Keyboard You Want, Build It Instead

#241

Post by johnlinvc »

cyphar wrote: post #80
ganonm wrote: post #49

Around 2 years ago now, I took the plunge and bought myself an Ergodox EZ split island keyboard. Quite franky, it is the biggest quantum leap in the ergonomic experience of interacting with a computer I have seen since learning Vim. It is comfortable, effortless and fast. If you spend any significant time interacting with computers it is a complete no brainer to invest in optimising the IO channel between your brain…

I'll be honest, I bought an Ergodox EZ a year or so ago and have consistently struggled to get comfortable using it. I have set up quite a few useful macros for programs I use daily like tmux as well as making it more vim-friendly (after many interations) and yet I still find it a serious chore to get past the fact that the keys feel un-naturally placed. Eventually I just give up and switch back to my laptop keyboard…

I don't use toggles for these common symbols like /\'[-+] . The trick is that you make the top row as same as a normal keyboard, move ]\ from second row to the bottom row as they seldom get typed (] got auto completion most of the time).

Following is my mapping. https://configure.ergodox-ez.com/ergodox-ez/layouts/zLQW4/la...

Re: If You Can't Buy the Keyboard You Want, Build It Instead

#242

Post by ianhowson »

cjbprime wrote: post #134
spectramax wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you please recommend if you know of any low profile mechanical keyboards? Are they made by Cherry MX guys?

Sure, I'm using this one, it's great: https://www.amazon.com/Mechanical-Keyboard-Extra-Thin-Switch... Mostly they use Kailh switches, not Cherry MX but you probably can't tell the difference.

+1 for the Havit. It's cheap and feels great.

It's noisy, though.

Re: If You Can't Buy the Keyboard You Want, Build It Instead

#243

Post by peterburkimsher »

Aeolun wrote: post #215
peterburkimsher wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your list of "Bed, Office chair, Keyboard and mouse, Monitors, Cooking basics like ... a pan or two." (all except footwear) aligns very well with my list of "things that don't fit on a plane". Unfortunately my life isn't stable enough to invest in something that I can't carry with me when I have to move. It's luxuries like these that I've often had to go without entirely (having a chair and desk is so nice compared t…

They do, however, fit in a shipping container. By the time you paid for all of these things, shipping them is a lot cheaper than buying them all again.

Shipping takes several months, and assumes I know the address in the destination before I set off. By the time a shipping container would arrive, I'd already have been there for 90 days, and need to leave again.

Re: If You Can't Buy the Keyboard You Want, Build It Instead

#244

Post by nkrisc »

memn0nis wrote: post #221

Are mechanical keyboards that much "better" (I know this is subjective) than normal laptop keyboards (I have a macbook pro). I'm considering buying one but they are quite expensive...

You don't have to start with an expensive one. I recently bought a G.Skill K360 for $50: https://www.tomshardware.com/news/gskill-km360-mechanical-ke...

It's the first mechanical keyboard I've consistently used and ever owned and it's better than any other keyboard I've used before. I'm sure there a far superior mechanical keyboards, but this one only cost me $50.

Frankly you can tell where they cut corners, but it doesn't bother me in the least. I knew I what I was getting and I'm very happy with it. It's cheap enough, light enough, and small enough that I'd buy a second one just to use with my laptop.

Re: If You Can't Buy the Keyboard You Want, Build It Instead

#245

Post by jandrese »

aspaceman wrote: post #170
username90 wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is RSI even that normal? I have never heard anyone talk about it in real life, only in these threads does it seem like everyone has it.

It's really common for computer programmers. In every big corp I've been in, there's usually one of 10 people who has an issue with it and uses some weird keyboard. I have pretty bad RSI and it comes from just being a computer user since I was 3 and developing bad habits along the way.

My impression is that it hits data entry clerks a lot harder than programmers. Programmers end up having to stop and take breaks frequently to think about what they're doing.

A thought occurs: Are RSI issues worse with enterprise Java programmers and other people who end up having to write tons of boilerplate around all of their code?

Re: If You Can't Buy the Keyboard You Want, Build It Instead

#246

Post by Aeolun »

peterburkimsher wrote: post #243
Aeolun wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They do, however, fit in a shipping container. By the time you paid for all of these things, shipping them is a lot cheaper than buying them all again.

Shipping takes several months, and assumes I know the address in the destination before I set off. By the time a shipping container would arrive, I'd already have been there for 90 days, and need to leave again.

Ah, yeah, if you move every 90 days it may be a bit harder. I was thinking more about 1-2 yearish span.

Re: If You Can't Buy the Keyboard You Want, Build It Instead

#247

Post by Wistar »

I did just that. I hired Darrell Fandrich to build it. He started with a 5'10" case and soundboard built in Guangzhou, China but discarded the soundboard. We chose a scale design by Lothar Schell and a Holy Grail stringing scale by Fandrich with strings custom wound for the scale by Mapes in Kentucky. The stringing scale included special Mapes aluminum strings that cover the first six notes above the point where the overstring section begins—these are designed to better blend the the overstring transition which can otherwise be notchy. A custom soundboard was crafted in Boston from hand-picked straight-grain Siberian spruce and milled to a diaphragmatic shape that mimics Steinway soundboards where the center is about half an inch thick but, to enhance liveness and sustain power, tapers down to about 1/4 inch at the edges where it meets the case. A custom Renner action was added and outfitted with Abel Royal Blue grand hammers. Key weighting and fine voicing conducted in stages over the course of several months finished it off. That was in 1998-99 and it is still the best keyboard I have ever used.

Re: If You Can't Buy the Keyboard You Want, Build It Instead

#248

Post by zenexer »

egypturnash wrote: post #149
zenexer wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you elaborate? This album is about a person who built their own keyboard, but it sounds like you're describing a company. Are you saying that company designs custom keyboards?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phantom_of_the_Opera

I got the potential reference. I just don’t understand what’s being said here—is it a joke?

Re: If You Can't Buy the Keyboard You Want, Build It Instead

#249

Post by zenexer »

Wistar wrote: post #247

I did just that. I hired Darrell Fandrich to build it. He started with a 5'10" case and soundboard built in Guangzhou, China but discarded the soundboard. We chose a scale design by Lothar Schell and a Holy Grail stringing scale by Fandrich with strings custom wound for the scale by Mapes in Kentucky. The stringing scale included special Mapes aluminum strings that cover the first six notes above the point where the…

This article is about computer keyboards, not musical keyboards. What you’ve posted doesn’t make sense in the context of this topic.
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