4 ms·

I have a gallery of split keyboards, including this one. It's useful if you need an overview of what's available. I have an ErgoDash with a Dvorak layout and

I have a gallery of split keyboards, including this one. It's useful if you need an overview of what's available. I have an ErgoDash with a Dvorak layout and a 3D printed adjustable tenting stand. The Djinn is fairly similar, though the additions are features I don't care for (encoders, screens, LEDs). I've bought most of the parts to make a Lagrange, but still need to order the PCBs. I expect this to be an improvement on the ErgoDash, since I can include the missing keys (F1-F12 etc). Just buying a Kinesis Advantage2 would probably have been a whole lot less effort. https://aposymbiont.github.io/split-keyboards/ https://aposymbiont.github.io/split-keyboards/ (And a discussion from nine months ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26179311 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26179311 )

sokoloff 5y ago
Wow. That’s quite the collection. I thought it was a splurge to buy my first Kinesis about 22 years ago. Since upgraded it to the USB (always the Advantage style) and love it.
- Cullinet 5y ago
  ergonomic keyboard design surely is begging someone to write their thesis on the subjects involved with figuring out the difference between individual preference and the non empirical / subjective measures of preference and selection priority. I have always believed that the problem with ergonomic keyboard design could be solved for a majority of cases with one single design, optimised over a number of generations rapidly in about 3 years (or a more optimal period allowing you to iterate retail cycles and customer reviews and reactions as well as observations in actual use) and make a excellent long term investment for a relatively small amount of capital. the capital amount of course wouldn't be small in every individual view of small, but I can definitely imagine the required capital investment can be kept in check within less than -$3mm and return overall very well real inflation adjusted over a very decent length of time. (i tend to presume the existence of very strong IP law knowledge in the design and development and management team - this i would like to be overlapping roles - but about one third of the capital in any project like this would be allocated by me to legal and IP rights protection in any event because you don't want to be responsible for that with only product development experience no matter how well educated in IP law and practice you are . Product liability and environmental and ethical concerns would receive a significant budget today as well , especially when everything is outsourced (Logitech since 30 years effectively in the beginning ...)
  - __mharrison__ 5y ago
    I think this isn't a one size fits all thing. Hand sizes are different. Some appear to be more prone to RSI. Some use emacs. Might be some placebo effect as well. Happy to be proven wrong.
    - castlecrasher2 5y ago
      I think varying hand sizes and especially finger sizes proves you right.
colemannugent 5y ago
Thanks for putting this together. You're doing the Lord's work.
- Cullinet 5y ago
  interestingly the project name is used (with various spellings) to have a Koranic meaning approximately of a unaligned or as yet not spiritually directed spirit : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jinn https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jinn
bedobi 5y ago
which of these come preassembled and are in stock? pretty much all of them seem to be DIY, or, simply out of stock
- galcerte 5y ago
  The UHK and the ErgoDox are the two most prominent preassembled ones. The former is out of stock, though.
  - thefunnyman 5y ago
    The Moonlander is another recent option. Had mine for a few months and absolutely love it but it’s also my first split so not much for me to compare to.
- Symbiote 5y ago
  I may need to go through the whole list and mark more of them as unavailable, but in theory the ones under "Mass Produced" should be available fairly quickly from a large enough retailer that your employer would be willing to buy them. The ones under "Assembled" are from small businesses or side businesses, or at times may be unavailable for months, or have week+ delays before delivery. There are some companies like https://falba.tech/ https://falba.tech/ (EU) and https://bastardkb.com/ https://bastardkb.com/ (Canada?) who make several models. https://www.reddit.com/r/ErgoMechKeyboards/ https://www.reddit.com/r/ErgoMechKeyboards/ is the best place to ask if you have other questions, including on other suppliers.
__mharrison__ 5y ago
What do you use the knobs for?
- junon 5y ago
  Without meta key, volume/mute (on press). With meta key, skip/pause (media keys).
- bikingbismuth 5y ago
  I use the encoder knob on my macropad for gimicy undo/redo. Left undoes, right redoes. I’ve also used it for volume, page up/down, and zoom.
- Symbiote 5y ago
  My keyboard didn't come with knobs, but with some carefully placed extra wires and some spare pins on the controller I added them. I used them for PgUp/PgDown (to scroll up/down in a terminal), mouse wheel scroll, and cursor keys. However, my hack job eventually caused problems. I think I had an intermittent short somewhere. I removed the knobs, and I don't miss them. I may add a knob on a horizontal rather than vertical axis, but I should 3D print something to hold it in the correct place if I do this.
tadfisher 5y ago
Mine isn't there: https://github.com/tadfisher/nyx-kb https://github.com/tadfisher/nyx-kb Of course, I need to do a better job at advertising and keeping up with trends like OLED screens and rotary knobs. But as a plain-Jane Bluetooth split ortho keyboard, I fervently enjoy typing on it.
- Symbiote 5y ago
  Thanks -- added!
zuhsetaqi 5y ago
Nice list. Does anyone have experience with the uhk.io[0]? [0] https://ultimatehackingkeyboard.com/ https://ultimatehackingkeyboard.com/
- willmorrison 5y ago
  I’ve used one for over a year and love it. Their software is easy to use for rebinding keys and setting up layers, the build quality is great, and the tented configuration has helped me with occasional wrist pain. I haven’t used the new UHK, any of their addons, or the palm rest, so I can’t speak to those.
  - zuhsetaqi 5y ago
    Did you use any other comparable keyboards beforehand and how did they compare? And which switches did you get. I borrowed a daskeyboard [0] from a friend with Cherry Brown switches which I like but I think a little more actuation force would be nice. Do you know anything about the Brown Boxed which uhk offers? Are they exactly the same as the regular ones except with more actuation force? [0]https://www.daskeyboard.com/de/daskeyboard-4-ultimate/ https://www.daskeyboard.com/de/daskeyboard-4-ultimate/
    - Symbiote 5y ago
      I haven't used that keyboard or those switches, but when I was building my own (from a kit) I purchased a "switch tester" with about 80 different keys. I found the type I liked, then sold the tester for about 90% of what it cost -- I think I used /r/MechMarket to do that.
    - willmorrison 5y ago
      I looked at some other split keyboards online and determined the UHK would be best for me because of their customization software (UHK agent), adjustable feet for tenting, and module system. My UHK has their brown switches because I didn’t enjoy the blues I was using before. They seem just like cherry mx browns to me.
- 5y ago
palmetieri2000 5y ago
Sweet list and just what I've been looking for lately, thanks so much. https://github.com/YangPiCui/ErgonomicVerticalKeyboard https://github.com/YangPiCui/ErgonomicVerticalKeyboard This one is hilarious, the design caught my eye with its unique shape and the mandatory pro-Mormon proclamation (which at first I thought was a joke about the shape of the hands on the keyboard being prayer-like) until the creator told me to repent my sins.
bmn__ 5y ago
https://keebfolio.netlify.app https://keebfolio.netlify.app https://github.com/diimdeep/awesome-split-keyboards https://github.com/diimdeep/awesome-split-keyboards
davidjytang 5y ago
thank you for showing me your gallery. immense enjoyment.

sokoloff 5y ago

Wow. That’s quite the collection. I thought it was a splurge to buy my first Kinesis about 22 years ago. Since upgraded it to the USB (always the Advantage style) and love it.

Cullinet 5y ago
ergonomic keyboard design surely is begging someone to write their thesis on the subjects involved with figuring out the difference between individual preference and the non empirical / subjective measures of preference and selection priority. I have always believed that the problem with ergonomic keyboard design could be solved for a majority of cases with one single design, optimised over a number of generations rapidly in about 3 years (or a more optimal period allowing you to iterate retail cycles and customer reviews and reactions as well as observations in actual use) and make a excellent long term investment for a relatively small amount of capital. the capital amount of course wouldn't be small in every individual view of small, but I can definitely imagine the required capital investment can be kept in check within less than -$3mm and return overall very well real inflation adjusted over a very decent length of time. (i tend to presume the existence of very strong IP law knowledge in the design and development and management team - this i would like to be overlapping roles - but about one third of the capital in any project like this would be allocated by me to legal and IP rights protection in any event because you don't want to be responsible for that with only product development experience no matter how well educated in IP law and practice you are . Product liability and environmental and ethical concerns would receive a significant budget today as well , especially when everything is outsourced (Logitech since 30 years effectively in the beginning ...)
- __mharrison__ 5y ago
  I think this isn't a one size fits all thing. Hand sizes are different. Some appear to be more prone to RSI. Some use emacs. Might be some placebo effect as well. Happy to be proven wrong.
  - castlecrasher2 5y ago
    I think varying hand sizes and especially finger sizes proves you right.

colemannugent 5y ago

Thanks for putting this together. You're doing the Lord's work.

Cullinet 5y ago
interestingly the project name is used (with various spellings) to have a Koranic meaning approximately of a unaligned or as yet not spiritually directed spirit : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jinn https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jinn

bedobi 5y ago

which of these come preassembled and are in stock? pretty much all of them seem to be DIY, or, simply out of stock

galcerte 5y ago
The UHK and the ErgoDox are the two most prominent preassembled ones. The former is out of stock, though.
- thefunnyman 5y ago
  The Moonlander is another recent option. Had mine for a few months and absolutely love it but it’s also my first split so not much for me to compare to.
Symbiote 5y ago
I may need to go through the whole list and mark more of them as unavailable, but in theory the ones under "Mass Produced" should be available fairly quickly from a large enough retailer that your employer would be willing to buy them. The ones under "Assembled" are from small businesses or side businesses, or at times may be unavailable for months, or have week+ delays before delivery. There are some companies like https://falba.tech/ https://falba.tech/ (EU) and https://bastardkb.com/ https://bastardkb.com/ (Canada?) who make several models. https://www.reddit.com/r/ErgoMechKeyboards/ https://www.reddit.com/r/ErgoMechKeyboards/ is the best place to ask if you have other questions, including on other suppliers.

__mharrison__ 5y ago

What do you use the knobs for?

junon 5y ago
Without meta key, volume/mute (on press). With meta key, skip/pause (media keys).
bikingbismuth 5y ago
I use the encoder knob on my macropad for gimicy undo/redo. Left undoes, right redoes. I’ve also used it for volume, page up/down, and zoom.
Symbiote 5y ago
My keyboard didn't come with knobs, but with some carefully placed extra wires and some spare pins on the controller I added them. I used them for PgUp/PgDown (to scroll up/down in a terminal), mouse wheel scroll, and cursor keys. However, my hack job eventually caused problems. I think I had an intermittent short somewhere. I removed the knobs, and I don't miss them. I may add a knob on a horizontal rather than vertical axis, but I should 3D print something to hold it in the correct place if I do this.

tadfisher 5y ago

Mine isn't there: https://github.com/tadfisher/nyx-kb https://github.com/tadfisher/nyx-kb Of course, I need to do a better job at advertising and keeping up with trends like OLED screens and rotary knobs. But as a plain-Jane Bluetooth split ortho keyboard, I fervently enjoy typing on it.

Symbiote 5y ago
Thanks -- added!

zuhsetaqi 5y ago

Nice list. Does anyone have experience with the uhk.io[0]? [0] https://ultimatehackingkeyboard.com/ https://ultimatehackingkeyboard.com/

willmorrison 5y ago
I’ve used one for over a year and love it. Their software is easy to use for rebinding keys and setting up layers, the build quality is great, and the tented configuration has helped me with occasional wrist pain. I haven’t used the new UHK, any of their addons, or the palm rest, so I can’t speak to those.
- zuhsetaqi 5y ago
  Did you use any other comparable keyboards beforehand and how did they compare? And which switches did you get. I borrowed a daskeyboard [0] from a friend with Cherry Brown switches which I like but I think a little more actuation force would be nice. Do you know anything about the Brown Boxed which uhk offers? Are they exactly the same as the regular ones except with more actuation force? [0]https://www.daskeyboard.com/de/daskeyboard-4-ultimate/ https://www.daskeyboard.com/de/daskeyboard-4-ultimate/
  - Symbiote 5y ago
    I haven't used that keyboard or those switches, but when I was building my own (from a kit) I purchased a "switch tester" with about 80 different keys. I found the type I liked, then sold the tester for about 90% of what it cost -- I think I used /r/MechMarket to do that.
  - willmorrison 5y ago
    I looked at some other split keyboards online and determined the UHK would be best for me because of their customization software (UHK agent), adjustable feet for tenting, and module system. My UHK has their brown switches because I didn’t enjoy the blues I was using before. They seem just like cherry mx browns to me.
5y ago

palmetieri2000 5y ago

Sweet list and just what I've been looking for lately, thanks so much. https://github.com/YangPiCui/ErgonomicVerticalKeyboard https://github.com/YangPiCui/ErgonomicVerticalKeyboard This one is hilarious, the design caught my eye with its unique shape and the mandatory pro-Mormon proclamation (which at first I thought was a joke about the shape of the hands on the keyboard being prayer-like) until the creator told me to repent my sins.

bmn__ 5y ago

https://keebfolio.netlify.app https://keebfolio.netlify.app https://github.com/diimdeep/awesome-split-keyboards https://github.com/diimdeep/awesome-split-keyboards

davidjytang 5y ago

thank you for showing me your gallery. immense enjoyment.