Go all in.

My second problem is that I only have blank keycaps for my ErgoDox. Trying to find some DSA printed caps but very hard to find.

So will have to learn to type by having a drawing of the layout besides the keyboard.

I'm with Davkol on this. I'd say give AdNW BU-Teck variant a try as it's optimised for vertical stagger boards with thumb keys like the Truly Ergonomic and ErgoDox. Maybe print the layout out onto a small piece of paper and prop it up facing you by the display somewhere.

On the original question, definitely, go for it. It keeps your QWERTY skills intact while you learn by being a separate set of muscle memory that you're training instead of changing your existing QWERTY muscle memory. Takes a bit longer, but it's worth it.

For caps, there's the Deep Space GB on at the moment: http://www.pimpmykeyboard.com/deals/deep-space/

It's DSA and has an ErgoDox kit, although it still needs 15 orders to tip the kit. There have been other DSA GB's in the past, some of which have also have 'Dox kits. Check the Classifieds section or the relevant Group Buy threads.

If you don't mind that only the alphas are printed and the rest are blank, you can order the alpha kit from Deep Space and the rest direct from SP (ErgoDox modifier kit): http://keyshop.pimpmykeyboard.com/products/full-keysets/dsa-blank-sets-1

One of the first links in DDG points to a demonstration of the original layout and the next relevant one is Oobly's modification.

This is my layout so far: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=42463.msg1555977#msg1555977

Any suggestions or feedback?

Quote from: luisbg on Sat, 06 December 2014, 12:26:20

My second problem is that I only have blank keycaps for my ErgoDox. Trying to find some DSA printed caps but very hard to find.

So will have to learn to type by having a drawing of the layout besides the keyboard.

It's better to learn with the layout beside the keyboard, so you are not staring at the keyboard at the same time.  If you put it next to the computer screen, then you can learn while staring at the screen, which is even more beneficial.

I agree and at work I have a second screen I can use to display the layout most of the time.

The only problem with this is when typing passwords. Those are usually tricky to type without looking.

That said, for blank keycaps, I would suggest using a P-Touch label maker to add legends to the front of the keycaps.

Not a bad idea. I was thinking of those stickers that everything peels off except the letter, can't find them since I don't know how they are called. They are used in museums a lot to write the descriptions on the wall.

Going to see if there is a P-Touch label maker I can borrow at work.

You mean decals? You could find some decals for those chiclet keys, maybe you could have a custom set made for other keycaps.

Decals would work though it would have to inconveniences:
 - would need to be custom to show the symbols in Layer 1
 - would affect the feel of the keys

Will consider it. Thanks!

Dunno, sounds like too much effort for little outcome. I generally try to map the symbol to a motion. For example, "Z is pinkie *to me*", and then just look down to make sure that the correct finger does the correct motion.

I know that using P-Touch labels will affect the feel of tops of the keycaps. I actually did this years ago when I started to learn Dvorak -- I labelled the Dvorak key in the corner, so I still had Qwerty to look at, as needed.

These days, I prefer to put the label on the front of the keycap, so I can still see the label, without feeling the label. Also, over the years, as you type with the labels on the top, they will eventually shift a bit, revealing a bit of the adhesive. Having the label on the front of the key will keep this from happening.

But I'm also weird in that I have my keycaps arranged in Qwerty but I touchtype Dvorak. Having the Qwerty legends is helpful for the few times I actually need to type Qwerty.

I used P-Touch labels and pasted them in the front. That way if I need to look for passwords I can, but I don't touch the stickers.