Support for Alternative Layouts
This is a summary of how alternative layouts have been supported by kits such as Colevrak and Homing. It is not a discussion of alt layout performance and development, but if that interests you I highly recommend starting with Pascal Getreuer’s A guide to alt keyboard layouts (why, how, which one?). It’s a concise and comprehensive overview with links to some great sites that go deeper. He also has a separate Links about keyboards page. The Keyboard layouts doc he recommends explains layout goals and metrics in detail, summarizing the alt layouts discussed here as well as more than one hundred others. Sculpted-profile The majority of custom keycap sets are sculpted-profile (Cherry, SA, MT3, KAT, etc. - more on profiles generally here) so let’s start there. Because each row has a unique keycap shape, alt layouts require a unique keycap for each legend that moves off its QWERTY row. At first there were two The Dvorak layout was patented in 1936 by August Dvorak & William L....
Apr 23, 2024
I had the old Apple IIe's at school, but can't remember typing much more than what Number Crunchers or the Oregon Trail would require. I learned a lot of early DOS on an ancient home-build that my dad got for work. I dont remember the keyboards, but it was many years before I'd discover them again.
The first board I bought was the Ducky SZ2108 (or DK2108SZ) for work a few years ago. I got it on mechmarket after long deliberations and trips to Microcenter to try others out. I had been aching for a DAS ever since I saw them on Thinkgeek a number of years ago, but the price scared me off. The Ducky, with a PayPal discount and shipping, ended up being a little over $60.
I bought the full set of Dolch DSA on Massdrop and haven't looked back. I got a Planck and GH60 as kits and built them up to my specification. I'm eyeing a bunch more at this point; I've always really enjoyed putting things together; electronics, cars, cameras, what have you... Then there's just the plain old-fashioned love of creating something usable with my hands. There is something quite addicting about keyboards. I've gotten a number of my friends hooked on the switch, and a couple more interested.
I am currently planning a keyboard for my grandmother. She has a phD in literature and writing, but she hasn't gotten much time to write lately. I've squared away a number of things for her and now I'm sourcing parts for a mech built to her specifications. I already have a bunch of the linear Gateron clears, which will be perfect and light for her fingers. I need to decide on a layout and how best to build it. REALLY sad I didn't jump on the Whitefox. I think a 65%-80% is going to be the way to go, but there are not many kits like that. Oh well. I can always try my hand at handwiring, which is the next logical step anyway!!!