I’ve been playing around with adding a trackball to Cygnus.
There is still a lot of work to be done, but I thought some of you might be interested to see this.
This is just a mockup to get a feel for the position.

One thing I’m not quite sure about are the bearings. I’ve been using some 2.4mm steel balls from a ball bearing. They seem to be fine for testing, but I presume I should use something different for the real thing? I also have some small ball bearings, similar to ploopy nano, but using those would probably make the design a bit bulkier. Any feedback is welcome, as I don’t really have much experience with this stuff.

Not too much to say about this one, as it is similar to effidy, a keyboard I built a couple months back (fun fact: some AliExpress seller actually sells a prebuilt version of this keyboard, which I was surprised to see). I went back to the 54 key setup, as I really was missing the two additional pinky keys, but loved the more compact choc-layout and the more aggressive stagger and splay. Build wise, it is very similar to my first declaratively designed keyboard, shoedler54 - with the addition of a socket + header for easier replacement of the MCU and a very nicely fitting cover for the battery + MCU.

Checkout the repo at https://github.com/shoedler/ezy54 - also contains a quite detailed build guide.

Hi everyone! This is my first post on Reddit. I want to share my idea and my first prototype of a thumb cluster design. What do you think about this "3D" design?

Everyone talks about endgame keyboards, but I want to focus more on the endgame question in building ergonomic keywell keyboards. And that question is the thumb cluster.

There are a huge number of Dactyl-like keyboards in the world, but it seems that people are either too lazy to do research and bring everything to perfection, settling for what already exists and has proven itself well, or they are afraid of experiments in this area, or they lack skills in 3D modeling, or they simply don't have time.

At the same time, if you search YouTube for videos with a query like "Dactyl Typing demo", you'll notice how much people there strain their thumb just to keep it over the spacebar. I've never had problems with tendons or joints in my hands, but it feels like just from watching these videos I'm already starting to have problems.

I won't ramble on further. Just look at the photos (please don't cry over the chaos in the background, my life is fine, this is just what my creative process looks like) and think about whether this is good and whether it will be convenient (personally, I find it convenient).

Designed from scratch, like my other keyboards:

- 44 keys (instead of 42 like my previous keyboard)

- choc v1 black

- MBK Legend Glow R2 keycaps

- nice!view on the left

- Cirque Trackpad 40mm on the right

- RGB LEDs

- 3200 mah battery for each side.

- running ZMK

I have the trackpad moving my mouse cursor perfectly. I assigned my navigation buttons on the left side for mouse buttons, cursor speed, and right-sided button for precision moves. By default, tapping the touchpad sends a single left mouse click. Double tapping is just sending two left mouse clicks. I am very satisfied with what I created.

I am making tweaks and will publish the git repo with the KiCAD project and source code, and STLs for the switch plate, bottom plate, and BOM.

I will replace the feet on the right side later.

This is Sucralose (Corne -> corn syrup -> on a diet -> sucralose), a 42-key 3x6 split wireless keyboard based on the Xiao nRF52 Plus with a 450mAh battery and a thickness of 7.5mm without the rubber nub feet. The PCBs are reversible and because I totally planned to not include a power switch or reset button (yes, I forgot them, thus "Rev. 1"), this uses the ZMK Soft Off feature to turn the boards off with a key combo and wake on reset on the Xiaos. The two halves of this keyboard together are about 1mm thinner than just one half of my already quite svelte wireless Corne choc daily driver.

The Software

This board uses ZMK's Soft Off with a minor tweak to add the custom "OFF press reset" screen as the boards are turning off. That tweak along with the board def, etc. are in the repo. Along with that, I've been using my custom ZMK module for animated and static art (zmk-vfx-nice-view-art) which I modified to support landscape Nice!View displays for this build. So, I can still have my swimming octopus on the left while I type and a lovely static floral design on the right, now in landscape.

The Hardware

I've been wanting to use the PG1316 switches in a custom project, so this is the first attempt. Be forewarned, these switches are a PITA to solder even with the underside through holes and I neglected to add holes for the switch locator pins so this build was just unnecessarily difficult. Rev. 2 will correct these issues along with adding the option for a slide switch and separate reset button. However, design tweaks cannot correct how incredibly loud these keys are to type on. Do you like annoying every living person/creature within earshot? Then give these switches a go.

Endgame as always. My first non-handwired keyboard was built from scratch using Ergogen and that's all I can say about it.

Here's the repo with zmk config, pcb and 3d files:
https://github.com/nik0mi/meow

What's better than a totem with choc v2 and num row? A totem with choc v2, num row and choc spacing! This is the 2nd version of my previous build, made because choc spaced keycaps with mx stem exist. The extra keys on the thumb cluster are still mx spaced, so artisans can fit in there. Also, this time I remembered to include space for on/off switch.

Edit:

Printables files

Kinesis Freestyle Pro
NocFree Lite v1
NocFree &
Kinesis Advantage 360 Pro

Been rocking the kinesis freestyle for a little over a decade and decided it’s time to test out some wireless ones so have been trying out the bottom three past couple of weeks. Will write up a review if anyone’s interested but so far my favorite has been the advantage 360 pro (bottom) which is surprising since I had previously tried a moonlander and did not enjoy the column staggered layout.

I need help sourcing a frosted glass touch surface for the TP43.

I finally got around to adding one to my custom Corne build, and its great! However the varnished and sanded wood veneer I am using just has a tad bit of drag, and that is enough to make small movements of the mouse challenging.

I want to relace it with a frosted glass pad, like is used in high end touchpads, but I can't seem to find one that is the correct dimensions. Has anyone here been able to source one, or have other suggestions for low drag touch surfaces?

- Kailh PG1316 keycaps are shit - After some testing, you can see how Cherry switches perform with PS12S-HP Nylon ULP keycaps compared to the official PG1316 caps — the difference in sound and feel is HUGE.

- The material is also pretty decent. In the second pic, you can see the ULP keycaps in black PS12S-HP Nylon. The home-row caps have this strange circle-like stain, while the top and bottom ones are perfectly smooth, which is kinda weird. The top one is JLC Black and looks / feels pretty bad. I’m waiting for some more stuff from JLC (this hobby is killing me lol), including additional keycaps in Grayish White, so I’ll be able to show you more soon.

- Still waiting for some stuff like magnets, screws, spare batteries, and a few optional parts, so I need a few more days/weeks before I have the complete builds ready — but I’ll probably put together one test build earlier.

- The quality of u/unspecified-work cases and PCBs is AMAZING. They look coolio in both silver and black, are pretty cheap considering JLC CNC prices, and feel super solid.

- I know I put the PCB in the wrong way around in some pics — I just did it to check the fit, and both sides fit PERFECTLY.