Interesting Layouts

[mrbishop]

So I've been wanting to try an ortho so here we go

Show Image

sent from my chess board

Too bad you didn't make the keys have a chess-pattern. Then you could really send it from your chessboard...

funny you say that. i totally have enough keys to do it in both colors. but i think it would hurt my eyes. we'll see tho. i may do it for a photo just for kicks xD  :thumb: :p

[DeTommie]

So I've been wanting to try an ortho so here we go

Show Image

sent from my chess board

Too bad you didn't make the keys have a chess-pattern. Then you could really send it from your chessboard...

funny you say that. i totally have enough keys to do it in both colors. but i think it would hurt my eyes. we'll see tho. i may do it for a photo just for kicks xD  :thumb: :p

Please do...  ;D

[menuhin]

So I've been wanting to try an ortho so here we go

Show Image

sent from my chess board

A true black and white setup on an ortholinear board! :thumb:

Too bad you didn't make the keys have a chess-pattern. Then you could really send it from your chessboard...

funny you say that. i totally have enough keys to do it in both colors. but i think it would hurt my eyes. we'll see tho. i may do it for a photo just for kicks xD  :thumb: :p

[mrbishop]

its done more or less. its going to take some getting used to. but Matias quiet clicks are love. and if i dont end up liking it you will find it on the classifieds.

[derezzed]

its done more or less. its going to take some getting used to. but Matias quiet clicks are love. and if i dont end up liking it you will find it on the classifieds.

(Attachment Link)

Have you gotten used to this layout yet?  I'm sure the gap in the middle helps, but the halves still look too close together to be comfortable.   I never understood the appeal of ortholinear layouts.  If you're going for a columnar layout, why not stagger the columns or, at least,  rotate the halves so they aren't parallel to each other?  Do you prefer Matias over Cherry-style switches?

[mrbishop]

its done more or less. its going to take some getting used to. but Matias quiet clicks are love. and if i dont end up liking it you will find it on the classifieds.

(Attachment Link)

Have you gotten used to this layout yet?  I'm sure the gap in the middle helps, but the halves still look too close together to be comfortable.   I never understood the appeal of ortholinear layouts.  If you're going for a columnar layout, why not stagger the columns or, at least,  rotate the halves so they aren't parallel to each other?  Do you prefer Matias over Cherry-style switches?

Matias are better in my opinion. Feel and sound.
They layout is different for sure. But it's not as bad to get used to as I thought but the split really helps. Lots of muscle memory issues with the bottom row I'll tell you that right now. Top rows. Not so bad. I just finished a "Let's Split v2" today and after programming I'll really try it out. Hopefully it will be easier than the regular one piece board.



sent from my chess board

[derezzed]

its done more or less. its going to take some getting used to. but Matias quiet clicks are love. and if i dont end up liking it you will find it on the classifieds.

(Attachment Link)

Have you gotten used to this layout yet?  I'm sure the gap in the middle helps, but the halves still look too close together to be comfortable.   I never understood the appeal of ortholinear layouts.  If you're going for a columnar layout, why not stagger the columns or, at least,  rotate the halves so they aren't parallel to each other?  Do you prefer Matias over Cherry-style switches?

Matias are better in my opinion. Feel and sound.
They layout is different for sure. But it's not as bad to get used to as I thought but the split really helps. Lots of muscle memory issues with the bottom row I'll tell you that right now. Top rows. Not so bad. I just finished a "Let's Split v2" today and after programming I'll really try it out. Hopefully it will be easier than the regular one piece board.

Show Image

sent from my chess board

I've been curious about Alps-style switches but the lack of plate-mounted stabilizers and the scarcity of non-standard key sizes in the correct profile is too great a barrier for me at this time.  That split board looks much more usable to me.

[atrere]

I've been collecting particular switches, including five MX Locks, for this, but before I move on to making a plate and case, I realize that there's a bit of a problem with it...

I don't know of any firmware that can do permanent programmable function keys, let alone 120 of them. Nor do I have the slightest idea how I'd build a Compose function into a keyboard, instead of just using WinCompose. Or a Mouse Mode.

This is the dreamboard, though.

[jd29]

This is my (achievable with the parts I have) dream layout.

• Numpad on left doesn't intrude on mouse space
• Context-sensitive right modifier. Holding down temporarily reverses Numlock, which is a physical lock switch
• Big ass enter doesn't sacrifice backslash/bar

Does it look balanced enough? Should I change something?

[menuhin]

(Attachment Link)

I've been collection particular switches, including five MX Locks, for this, but before I move on to making a plate and case, I realize that there's a bit of a problem with it...

I don't know of any firmware that can do permanent programmable function keys, let alone 120 of them. Nor do I have the slightest idea how I'd build a Compose function into a keyboard, instead of just using WinCompose. Or a Mouse Mode.

This is the dreamboard, though.

Except for the split spacebar, this layout is quite similar to the Sun Type (5, 6, & 7) keyboards. Did you get inspiration from that?

[RELLIK]

(Attachment Link)
This is my (achievable with the parts I have) dream layout.

• Numpad on left doesn't intrude on mouse space
• Context-sensitive right modifier. Holding down temporarily reverses Numlock, which is a physical lock switch
• Big ass enter doesn't sacrifice backslash/bar

Does it look balanced enough? Should I change something?

No interest 1u 0/00 keys on numpad for more F/macros keys/layer toggling?

[jd29]

No interest 1u 0/00 keys on numpad for more F/macros keys/layer toggling?

If I can find some that match reasonably well, that sounds like a good idea. I already have two sets of these caps and the RGB mods are from an FK-2001, so I'll play around with putting some of my spare bottom row (two rows really) 1u keys in there.

I think that spacebar/Fn is going to give me the most trouble.

[atrere]

(Attachment Link)

I've been collection particular switches, including five MX Locks, for this, but before I move on to making a plate and case, I realize that there's a bit of a problem with it...

I don't know of any firmware that can do permanent programmable function keys, let alone 120 of them. Nor do I have the slightest idea how I'd build a Compose function into a keyboard, instead of just using WinCompose. Or a Mouse Mode.

This is the dreamboard, though.

Except for the split spacebar, this layout is quite similar to the Sun Type (5, 6, & 7) keyboards. Did you get inspiration from that?

Bingo! It was one of my main inspirations, along with the IBM XT. When I saw those Sun keyboards, I just HAD to try a compose function, and found WinCompose to be an extremely cool thing. It's also a confluence of a bunch of other factors: My favorite build right now is a silenced SKCM Orange 60% with keycaps from a Canon typewriter, but as a 60%, it's not exactly the best for gaming. Additionally, I've notice that I only ever use one thumb on the spacebar, so I wanted to do something with that... Also, I wanted an MX-mount board so I could collect a greater variety of keycaps.

All of that came together, and now I really want to make this super-functional battleship of a board.
Oh, and the plan for the switches? Locks on Caps, Fn, Mouse Mode, Scroll Lock, and NumLock, MX Dark Blue on the alphas and numbers, Hirose MX Orange with quadshot caps on the numpad, and Gatistotles on everything else. All of those are ready, at least.

[derezzed]

(Attachment Link)
This is my (achievable with the parts I have) dream layout.

• Numpad on left doesn't intrude on mouse space
• Context-sensitive right modifier. Holding down temporarily reverses Numlock, which is a physical lock switch
• Big ass enter doesn't sacrifice backslash/bar

Does it look balanced enough? Should I change something?

As much as I hate capslock and full-size spacebars, I can't hate on big-ass enter or ISO enter keys.  They are totally impractical but they look so cool.  And left-hand numpad is an awesome solution for minimizing arm movement if you're a right-handed mouse user.  If spreadsheets ever become a major component of my work, I'm going to work to become proficient with left-hand use of a numpad so I can use the mouse and numpad simultaneously.

[iFreilicht]

(Attachment Link)

I've been collecting particular switches, including five MX Locks, for this, but before I move on to making a plate and case, I realize that there's a bit of a problem with it...

I don't know of any firmware that can do permanent programmable function keys, let alone 120 of them. Nor do I have the slightest idea how I'd build a Compose function into a keyboard, instead of just using WinCompose. Or a Mouse Mode.

This is the dreamboard, though.

TMK or QMK both have mouse modes. Hardware compose could be done with tap dancing, which is a function in QMK, not sure if it also exists in TMK you'd also want to have a layout on your PC that supports all the characters you want to compose. That could be US-International, but if you want to go for more excotic stuff like emoji you will need to use Unicode, which is platform dependent. Other than that, I don't see an issue with it. What do you mean by permanent function keys?

[derezzed]

I finally broke down and got my first custom keyboard.  Made by mrbishop.  The switches are round 2 62g tactile Zealios.  The plate is aluminum.  The case is oak.  The keycaps are Carbon.  The keyboard is awesome.  It only weighs one pound without caps.  The package it was shipped in felt so light, I thought it was empty.  But it feels and sounds better than my Pok3r.  I assume that's mostly due to the plate not floating.





Here's the layout.  Legends on the sides of the keys represent keys on the function layer.  The vertical key is supposed to be 1.5u, but I just happened to have a 1.25u key that was the same color as Carbon's gray, so I'm currently using that.

[suicidal_orange]

(Attachment Link)
This is my (achievable with the parts I have) dream layout.

• Numpad on left doesn't intrude on mouse space
• Context-sensitive right modifier. Holding down temporarily reverses Numlock, which is a physical lock switch
• Big ass enter doesn't sacrifice backslash/bar

Does it look balanced enough? Should I change something?

Looks good, I would add the extra column to complete the num pad but if you don't use those keys fair enough.

Do you need numberpad keycodes or will nav cluster work?  I ask because num lock is controlled by the OS so I'm pretty sure you can't have a temporary reverse key as described, it could be an FN to standard standard keys though...

120 macros sounds like a lot - what are you planning?  A Teensy 2.0++ has more space for firmware but not sure it's that big )

[menuhin]

Not that "interesting" but it's near ideal for me on a 75% footprint:

[geniekid]

A slightly more compact version of the 1800 layout.  My biggest problems with the standard 1800 layout are 1) the F-keys are a full unit away from the normal cluster and 2) the six-key navigation cluster is too hard to find without looking down.

This layout improves things by putting the six-key cluster back on its own island and realigned with the arrow key cluster.  To compensate, the F keys have been shifted appropriately and the backslash and tilde keys have been moved to the bottom.  There are some HHKB elements such as Esc key in the main cluster, R2 Backspace/Del and R3 Control.  All redundant keys in the bottom row have been dropped.

[menuhin]

A slightly more compact version of the 1800 layout.  My biggest problems with the standard 1800 layout are 1) the F-keys are a full unit away from the normal cluster and 2) the six-key navigation cluster is too hard to find without looking down.

This layout improves things by putting the six-key cluster back on its own island and realigned with the arrow key cluster.  To compensate, the F keys have been shifted appropriately and the backslash and tilde keys have been moved to the bottom.  There are some HHKB elements such as Esc key in the main cluster, R2 Backspace/Del and R3 Control.  All redundant keys in the bottom row have been dropped.

(Attachment Link)

Quite a nice touch to the '1800'.
There's almost no drawback except the unusual "the backslash and tilde key". I think Europeans will definitely want at least their essential "Alt Gr" back before they talk about their ISO L_Shift and Enter key.

[geniekid]

A slightly more compact version of the 1800 layout.  My biggest problems with the standard 1800 layout are 1) the F-keys are a full unit away from the normal cluster and 2) the six-key navigation cluster is too hard to find without looking down.

This layout improves things by putting the six-key cluster back on its own island and realigned with the arrow key cluster.  To compensate, the F keys have been shifted appropriately and the backslash and tilde keys have been moved to the bottom.  There are some HHKB elements such as Esc key in the main cluster, R2 Backspace/Del and R3 Control.  All redundant keys in the bottom row have been dropped.

(Attachment Link)

Quite a nice touch to the '1800'.
There's almost no drawback except the unusual "the backslash and tilde key". I think Europeans will definitely want at least their essential "Alt Gr" back before they talk about their ISO L_Shift and Enter key.

Good point.  The original layout is more tailored for my personal use, but maybe it's possible to tweak it for ISO use.  I see that there's no room for a backspace, but perhaps a split spacebar might suffice.  Unfortunately I have no familiarity with ISO so I'm not sure how viable this would be.  I imagine if this concept ever turned into an actual PCB the bottom row would be quite flexible.