First they came for my tenkey, and I was silent. Then they came for the regular number row...
this post was submitted on 08 Jul 2023
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Mechanical Keyboards
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numbers on home row, right space holds for numbers layer. nav layer has ten key on wasd block. I can see how this seems uncomfortable at first glance, but I am typing faster without having to move away from the home row.
Are you one of those vim elitist?
Nah, I just use what I'm most productive with. (Which happens to be vi*)
It looks nice
I'm sorry man, it looks cool, but I would absolutely hate using that
No worries, 40s are personal preference.
The lack of a Tab key is a radical political statement
Haha not sure what statement that is, mind to elaborate? I'm intrigued.
Tab is on ESC with space as modifier. I rarely use Tab, indention is mapped to leader + < or > in vi*.
An eternal argument by programmers about whether to use tabs or spaces to indent code, because across editors, a Tab is a single character and may show up differently than multiple spaces. Spaces, though, take longer to enter which others see as a was off time and energy. Needing to use a modifier to access Tab is not for me. It saves so much time in bash.
Most beautiful keyboard I've ever seen
That's the worst keyboard I've seen yet.
Why though? :)
It's missing essential keys or hides them unnecessarily behind modifiers. Some keys are in odd places (FN). On the other hand there are two space keys without good reason.
But the worst thing: it's a wired keyboard. Which means it's being used on a desk, which means there's enough space to have all keys.
It's just stupid. Some people like stuff others deem stupid and that's completely okay. I don't have to buy it, I don't have to like it. But omg is this a stupid, stupid keyboard. For the sake of stupidity.
FN is rarely used I have the function and media keys on that layer. It's deliberately there bc of the little use I make of it.
All my modifiers are at my thumbs, holding left space bar jumps to nav layer for hjkl as arrows and some other nav keys, holding right space jumps to my symbol/number layer.
Here's some similar layer setup on an ortho linear: https://ibb.co/SPqBvHM
It's not about real estate, if I would be devils advocate here, why have a shift key or why have ctrl key if you could have capital letters as separate keys? Or all of your symbols in extra keys to your numbers? It's all about low travel with your fingers, I rarely mistype bc I dont have to aim for a key that's far away, and I can customize the layout however I need it.
I'd encourage you to try some leaner layouts for a while, maybe you find out it's not stupid after all.
Thank you for explaining me how these weird keyboards are used. Very interesting even if I'm too old and not clever enough to even feel the necessity to try it.
Wait til you see my keyboards then lol
Love the color on that board!
It is most certainly a decision and I bet you vi faster than me.
Haha that could indeed be true. :) Cheers mate!
I'm spoiled by column staggered splits, so it'd probably be a meh typing experience for me, but lordy does it look awesome.
What can you tell us about the switches and caps?
Yea staggered splits are awesome, I'm currently designing my own PCB for a split staggered with less keys than the typical sofle et all. Similar to what Ben Vallack has built.
Nothing fancy:
- copper plate
- akko jelly black (lubed)
- akko stabs (lubed)
- WoB SAL profile
SAL is new to me - SA-ish, but not as high? (That's the impression I get from your picture).
And yes, still not 100% done with the layout of my Lily (are you ever), but certainly very glad I built it. Not sure I'm I'm ever ready for Vallack levels of key reduction, though...
Yea and r1-r4 are same angle/height as well (That's why the bs and esc are different profiles as they are r5. I really want something similar to MT3 WoBs but there isn't a set rn for double space bars, short enter and 1u backspace.
Yea Vallack is quite extreme. But I do like the concept, I'll see where I'll end up.
What keycaps are those? They're clean!
Tell us about that crazy looking USB cable. What is the part in the middle? Where can I buy one?
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