If OP doesn't pick up this project, there are similar projects that should be available soon from Worldspawn, except he's doing it on sub 60% boards. I believe PCBs are done and when he starts the GB he'll even have acrylic case options available.
Regarding Worldspawn's GB, will he post here on GH or somewhere else?
He should post here and he also has his own Discord server and Etsy store.
For his range of symmetrical stagger boards, Worldspawn has his own discord server here:
https://discord.gg/WBpkM8PThere's also a GH thread here:
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=100535.0Of course anyone is welcome to follow those projects too, if they like.
Now that is out of the way: @Gorbon, I can see you've done your homework, I am enjoying these discussion points!
such a layout cannot really appeal neither to most regular users, since investing time to learn a new layout is not worth it if you don't type all that much (see e.g. what Taeha says, as he struggles to type on it https://youtu.be/nvsr6pg7Jd8?t=5210), nor to ergo fans, who will mostly see it as an awkward compromise (see e.g. what Xah Lee wrote about it http://xahlee.info/kbd/katana60_keyboard.html).
I don't completely agree with either of them, but it is what it is and it forces it to linger in limbo between these two popular extremes.
You definitely can't please them all, thankfully I don't have to.
While I don't expect Katana60, Tsuka60 or similar layouts to be more than a niche interest within a niche interest, there are some die-hards of this symmetrical stagger layouts. That is who the Katana60 and Tsuka60 are for. I don't imagine we'll ever enjoy the popularity of the Planck or the Let's Split for example, but popularity is genuinely not what motivates me to continue with these boards.
I definitely wanted prioritise aesthetics with the Tsuka60 more than I did with the Katana60, so I didn’t specifically try to support a single standard keycap set.
However, even a gmk base set has enough keycaps to cover the 7u bottom row variant
I believe that by prioritizing complete symmetry (within the confines of a 60% case, no less) and consequently requiring a premium/limited-run keyset or multiple keysets, it raises, unnecessarily, the bar for entry to anyone just curious to give it a try.
Just to make it clear, although single set support was
not a priority in the design of the Tsuka60, that does
not mean the Tsuka60 requires extra kits to fill your board. Take a look at the supported bottom rows (that last one is new, at the request of the colemak forum users):
I own an early GMK Dolch set, which
you'll notice has poor general compatibility. Even so, this set supports 3 out of the 6 alternative bottom rows, two of them with the correct row profiles, and one of those is arguably the MOST ergonomic design (that last one one).
If aesthetical considerations such as correct row compatibility and more accurate legends are important to you, you have the choice of spending more on various add-on kits to improve those factors, but you don't have to -
just as with the Katana60.
Finally some thoughts about the 'Caps Lock' as 'Fn' key. I know it's popular among the Colemak community (and not only there) for activating a very useful 'Extend' layer, but 'Caps Lock' is used out of necessity and not because it's optimal. On conventional keyboards there are no other thumb-accessible keys (using left 'Alt' as 'Fn' and moving 'Alt' to 'Caps Lock' creates its own problems).
Some of the problems of 'Caps Lock' as 'Fn' are:
- You need to twist your wrist outwards to hold it down (the very same left-hand twisting problem that the symmetric stagger layout was designed to solve)
- Depending on your hand size, it makes the 7th column keys (5, T, G, B), either uncomfortable or very hard to reach.
- You overload your weakest finger with key chords
An extra thumb-operated 'Fn' key, between 'Alt' and 'Space' (there's unused space there), solves all of the above.
Firstly, from my own experience, I never experienced any of those problems in your list, so I have to disagree with you here.
However, while I personally haven't experienced these issues, they are nevertheless legitimate concerns. This feedback, combined with similar concerns raised in the Colemak Forum led me to adding that new bottom row to the latest prototype: it splits the space bar further, providing many more keys within reach of your thumb. Just because I currently have a thing for 7u space bars, doesn't mean that other adopters of the Tsuka60 have to 'suffer' without multiple thumb keys options
In fact, when I get the next prototype in, I intend on making an AEK II board with that new bottom row, with Matias Alps I ordered ages ago, here they are, ready and waiting:
Oh, and yeah, ease of carry&use
This was the thinking behind supporting 60% cases, the ease of adjusting on a desk, the ease of carrying the board and relocating desks - the variety of available cases to choose from was also a big consideration.
not everyone is a programmer who sits on the same desk for 12 hours a day.
Funnily enough, I AM a programmer who spends long days at the same desk (especially since lock-down) - with my Katana60 or Tsuka60 boards, of course!