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Dactyl-ManuForm, a parameterized ergonomic keyboard

Language: Clojure

I built a Dactyl Manuform recently (https://github.com/tshort/dactyl-keyboard) which seems to have keywells like the Kinesis Advantage, and it's been fantastic.

I 3D printed the default case in the repo - I'm yet to start poking around with customising the parameters and OpenSCAD but eventually I'd like to be able to make the case to fit my hands perfectly (as it stands the default thumb cluster on the 5x6 keyboard is a bit large for me).

I love having a split keyboard. It feels far more ergonomic than a single piece keyboard. Just relax your arms and put each half where your hands are. No having to bring your hands together and angle your wrists to get your hands in position.

The other piece of the puzzle for me is curvature. On a flat keyboard there is more stretching or physically moving but adding in a bit of curvature helps cut down on that.

For a few years now I have been using a hand wired Dactyl-ManuForm [1] and it has been great. At least for writing / programming. I go back to a regular keyboard for gaming purposes.

[1] https://github.com/tshort/dactyl-keyboard

I love the dactyl manuform. There is a learning curve but it was worth it because I type faster and completely without any pain I had in my hands with regular keyboards. I have build a customized clone of this one couple years back but I'm sure there are even newer forks: https://github.com/tshort/dactyl-keyboard
Check out the "Dactyl-ManuForm": https://github.com/tshort/dactyl-keyboard

> a parameterized, split-hand, concave, columnar, ergonomic keyboard.

If you want even better ergonomics, add tenting, concavity, and move the modifier keys + return/backspace to the thumb cluster (which should be shaped and angled so you're not moving your thumb laterally to hit it). The Dactyl-Manuform[1] is a good example of these things.

[1] https://github.com/tshort/dactyl-keyboard

You can print your own Kinesis Advantage style mechanical keyboard that's smaller and adjusted to your personal hand parameters. It uses Clojure to generate OpenSCAD file. There are also many variations.

https://github.com/tshort/dactyl-keyboard