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My DIY ergonomic travel workstation with aluminum and magnets
- rkwasny 4y agoAnyone knows where to buy a ready-made low profile split keyboard like this?
- harryvederci 4y agoI use two thinkpad keyboards and use one with each hand: https://willfennel.com/posts/2022/10/26/cheap-ergonomic-keyboard.html https://willfennel.com/posts/2022/10/26/cheap-ergonomic-keyb...
- dirtyid 4y agoGreat idea. So you have hands wide apart and canted outwards?
- harryvederci 4y agoThanks! I keep my hands at shoulder-width and put them on the desk in a natural-feeling position. Wherever they land, that's where I put the keyboards. Not sure if there is a better appraoch to place them in the best ergonomic position, but my wrist injury has gotten much better lately. That may just be a coincidence, but it feels like it's at least safe to say what I'm doing isn't making the injury worse.
- noveltyaccount 4y agoHa, that is damn clever
- thakoppno 4y agoDoes that require any oddness when it comes to modifier keys like shift, ctl, cmd? I experimented with double keyboards and thought it required the modifier key to be used on the same keyboard as the other keystroke, which basically raised the bar too high for me.
- harryvederci 4y agoI expected those kinds of issues, but it actually works well! So I can just do left-shift on the left keyboard, any right-side letter on the right keyboard, and it will be uppercase. Same with ctrl/alt, etc. I can't promise you won't run into something that doesn't work, but I haven't found such a thing. On macOS my Karabiner keybindings also work without needing modifications to the config or whatever.
- alanbernstein 4y agoI did something similar with two Apple Bluetooth keyboards. It worked perfectly for about a year while I waited for my UHK to arrive.
- 70rd 4y agoYou can find bespoke assembly services with a lot of the vendors, it will usually run around 100$ extra so 300/400 for the keyboard which altogether isn't that bad compared to prebuilt ergos like the Ergodox. These tend to be location specific but try to find regional resellers of the PCBs. Also worth checking out r/mechmarket, i.e. https://redd.it/wvf9dz https://redd.it/wvf9dz
- sogen 4y agoThere are also "left-side-only" keyboards
- memco 4y agoI bought mine on eBay, but I also have used https://boardsource.xyz https://boardsource.xyz for parts. They have assembled versions of both Lulu and Lily58 pro for sale, which are very similar to the sofle as well as some 40% options if you want even more minimalism. There's also the mainlander: https://www.zsa.io/moonlander/ https://www.zsa.io/moonlander/, but it's a heftier size and price tag.
- mgarfias 4y agoOmg thank you. Having some massive pain in my shoulder (when externally rotating my arm), and I think it’s due to moving my arm out to get the trackpad/mouse. I’m going to try this keyboard setup deal with the track pad in the center.
- microtonal 4y agoIt is not necessarily better, since it probably requires you to bend your wrist. So you solve shoulder pain and get wrist pain in exchange. Also, you probably want to tent a keyboard to avoid forearm pronation [1] and then your trackpad hides between the keyboard halves unless you raise it. (I am not sure there is a good solution outside avoiding the mouse by using a mouse layer or something like Shortcat on the Mac.) [1] See e.g. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK72285/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK72285/
- alanbernstein 4y agoI'm sure it's not for everyone, but I solved this in a unique way. I have a steeply tented split keyboard, and a trackpad on its own angled mount. The trackpad sits just past the number row on my right keyboard half.
- gboss 4y agoI think the best thing you can do is resistance training exercise. Also going from a wide keyboard (full size Apple keyboard with number pad) to a narrow keyboard (narrow Apple Keyboard no number pad) worked for me. For a while I was doing the exercise in the video below and it helped me but I think just regular weight training can do wonders. I mostly just do shoulder, back, arms, and chest exercises and still haven’t had the pain I used to have. Hope you find something that works for you! https://youtu.be/IdDqdrGMFBw https://youtu.be/IdDqdrGMFBw
- mgarfias 4y agoYeah, lots of lifting in my life (3d/wk), and we do hit shoulders a lot. Problem is lots of impingement during some motions. And its been getting worse, not better.
- brodouevencode 4y agoI wonder what percentage of users use keyboards like this? Or is it just enthusiasts/modders?
- thomastjeffery 4y agoUsing one effectively categorizes you as an enthusiast. The tricky thing about these kind of ergonomic ortholinear designs is that no one mass produces a cheap rubber dome version, so getting one is a somewhat serious financial investment, on top of it being a serious time/effort investment to get used to typing on one. Traditional keyboards are what everyone already has kicking around; so that's what people get used to typing on.
- metadat 4y agoA hairy yet stylish keyboard. https://thume.ca/assets/postassets/travelwork/case-open.jpeg https://thume.ca/assets/postassets/travelwork/case-open.jpeg Didn't Eminem sing a song about the affliction of hairy palms?
- hi_its_trevor 4y agomagnets are the best.
- jonhohle 4y agoAnd underrated, imho. I’m always delighted when I get something that uses magnets in a unique way: keeping a lid closed, providing alignment when attaching things, as a method of mounting unrelated things to each other, and even just to fidget with. Magnets are awesome.
- sundvor 4y agoThe sunshade on a Tesla Model 3. The case panels on Asus' Chakram X mouse (on way to a mostly tool less 15 second microswitch replacement).
- thakoppno 4y agoI have an Apple cinema display that has magnets around the bezel and a stainless steel 1” wide ruler which accidentally ends up making a most satisfying physical iSight privacy barrier.
- tra3 4y agoI built a Mobile workstation out of an old dslr tripod after I saw one on Amazon (0). Game changer for me. I can use it sitting down like a traditional desk, or standing up. Occasionally I bring it all the way down and squat in front of it. Surprisingly challenging. It packs rather slim but it’s not as fancy as the Amazon version 0 https://www.amazon.com/TRIPODSY-Portable-Standing-Adjustable-Workstation/dp/B09PBK55DJ/ https://www.amazon.com/TRIPODSY-Portable-Standing-Adjustable...
- ianthehenry 4y agoDoes it take a long time to adjust the height between sitting and standing? Without any tripod experience I would assume it would require carefully adjusting each of the three legs whenever you want to change height. Is that true, or is there some mechanical cleverness at work?
- tra3 4y agoYeah, you gotta adjust each leg individually. That's what tripods are designed to do after all :)
- wizardforhire 4y agoWhoa, great job! Your setup looks amazing.
- seltzered_ 4y agoFYI, I curate setups like these on https://reddit.com/r/ergomobilecomputers https://reddit.com/r/ergomobilecomputers
- reacharavindh 4y agoI use to be able to read Reddit links on my phone browser, now they simply it a useless banner preventing me from being able to even read the thing unless I download their tracker. Now, I need to train my brain to never click on Reddit links when reading HN on phone :-(
- volderette 4y agoThere are browser extensions like PrivacyRedirect (iOS app) and LibRedirect (Chrome, Firefox …), that have the ability to redirect you to alternative reddit frontends (teddit and so on).
- kubik369 4y agoYou can just edit the link into `i.reddit.com/<whatever>`, it still works on phones. Bonus, it uses less data and little to no js.
- joshspankit 4y agoalso `old.reddit`
- ZeroGravitas 4y agoOr add .rss on the end
- ascagnel_ 4y agoThis no longer seems to be working for me. Did something change on reddit's end?
- ianthehenry 4y agoOh I love this! Doubling as a carrying case is a great idea. I like the flat-pack assembly with the spacers parts. What's the weight of the full assembly like? I did something similar to this last year, but without the travel goal (just trying to get myself to move around and work outside more). Instead of mating the keyboard to the base, I attached some larger magnets to the bottom of the keyboard by setting them into a custom aluminum bottom plate (also from SendCutSend) and made a flat desk surface out of ferromagnetic steel. https://ianthehenry.com/posts/kyria-build/bespoker-aluminum-plates/ https://ianthehenry.com/posts/kyria-build/bespoker-aluminum-... One advantage of this is that I can move around the keyboard halves freely, angling them differently throughout the day. Which is also sort of a disadvantage, but they stick pretty well in place if I'm not trying to mess with them. I can also attach some other things that I slapped magnets on (mostly a mechanical pomodoro timer that I use for writing). https://i.imgur.com/S0bstNs.png https://i.imgur.com/S0bstNs.png I experimented with some alternate keyboard mounting strategies, but didn't find anything that made a big difference. https://i.imgur.com/ohNWhhS.png https://i.imgur.com/ohNWhhS.png This is my second magnetic keyboard lap desk prototype. My first was far too heavy, so to reduce weight I just bent a piece of sheet steel around a piece of cork (the sharp bends add a lot of rigidity). I think the next one will be tented a bit... SendCutSend does bending now; I bet I could laminate steel to a thin aluminum frame...
- guidoism 4y agoOh cool! I've been working on something similar. I am trying to move to a more ergo keyboard from a straight ortho and wanting to build something that fits on top of my laptop when I'm in bed, etc. So I had some "core" 6x3 boards build and glued magnets on the bottom: https://imgur.com/a/FNn32o4 https://imgur.com/a/FNn32o4 I'm now waiting on my thumb cluster PCBs from china as well as my corne-style column stagger cores. I've also moved from raw header pins to JST SH 4 and 6 pin connectors to connect the raw row and column signals to a central board. The intent is to play around with angle, position, splay, etc until I find something I like. The magnetic parts make it a lot easier (and cheaper!) to make changes. I bought an inexpensive 12"x12" magnetic steel bulletin board from Amazon for the base.
- guidoism 4y ago
- jimmySixDOF 4y agoMy travel workstation consists of a SFF 13L PC, a Meta Quest 2 VR Headset, and the paired Logitech K830 keyboard. No battery but it all fits into a carryon roller at 8Kgs with cables and it's a true workstation as in high end GPU/CPU/RAM with multiple monitors. I call it an All-in-One-Office-on-Wheels-in-a-Box !
- Cthulhu_ 4y agoHow does reading text (I presume) work for you using a VR headset? That was my main gripe with VR, I think that was the original Oculus Quest, in that I couldn't read text very well. I need glasses as well, only a minor thing, but enough to give me eyestrain / headaches when trying to read text.
- pomatic 4y agoYou might want to check out NReal Air then - the headset is super lightweight, has adapters for prescription lenses, and works really well as an alternative to a monitor. Usual disclaimers, happy user etc.
- jimmySixDOF 4y agoThe text clarity is not for everyone or every application but for me the difference gets lost in the experience. Running a wireless remote desktop client like Immersed or vSpatial, I will naturally resize the text on each window and have gotten used to moving my head vs moving my eyes around the space. I find there is a certain frame size that works for me to read scrolling, although it can be a unique experience seeing a full 2-page view at cinema size. I also use a lot of different screen layouts (size, distance, and placements) for different workloads. Basically, its "good enough" & supposed to be an improvement from Quest 1 from what I understand and the new Pro increases this even more.
- TeMPOraL 4y agoWhat's the static electricity story here? I personally avoid any and all metal fixtures around my work desk, because I invariably end up being painfully shocked by them every time I shift on the chair[0]. At this point I habituated having small metal objects around me (e.g. key bundles), that I can use to discharge static before/during getting up, sitting down, etc. Where 'ianthehenry mentioned here[1] they've made a desk surface out of steel, I pretty much fainted reading it. (Worst related working experience in my life was, a few jobs back, customers' brand new headquarters built in the "modern" style of carpets + glass + aluminum. There, every single surface would shock me when I touched it with my bare hands - even glass window panes were out to get me.) ---- [0] - Any of the several chairs I tried. So it's not just about the chair, I think. [1] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33528148 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33528148
- taubek 4y agoDo magnets have any influence on electronics?
- vbezhenar 4y agoThey might make compass crazy in your smartphone. Also they cause funny pictures on tube displays. Other than that - I don't think it will have any influence.
- dotancohen 4y agoAnother place that magnets might affect is some high-end keyboard switches that use reed switches internally. But anybody affected already knows that his keyboard has these switches.
- pmontra 4y agoI wonder if I'll have to also go custom for my next laptop if I want something with a 15" screen, no numberpad, touchpad with 3 physical buttons, boots to Linux, fully self serviceable or almost so. I have hopes for Framework but they are still missing at least two of those points. My current laptop is missing the no numberpad point. I had to compromise and that was the least painful one.
- GoOnThenDoTell 4y agoWith framework there is a good base to work with if you wanted only some components custom
- alias_neo 4y agoI immediately recognised the stand as the Roost [0] because I have one, but OP links to Amazon with a different name. Was Roost ripped off or do they simply white label this? [0] https://www.therooststand.com/ https://www.therooststand.com/
- swah 4y agoInteresting - I thought it was the NextStand K2 that I bought 5+ years ago...
- KolenCh 4y agoI have both. As far as I understand, the Roost is the original, and the Nexstand is recommended by Wirecutter because it is cheaper. I put them side by side, and shake the table to see which one is more sturdy. The original wins by far. It is also lighter, smaller, and better designed in general, IIRC closing the lid is safer on the Roost. (The Roost I have is V3.) I am not 100% certain Nexstand is a copycat of Roost though. https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-laptop-stands/ https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-laptop-stand...
- ProZsolt 4y agoI wanted to buy the Roost V3 as it seems a better product compared to the Nexstand K2, but went with the Nexstand as the Roost isn't a 5-times better product($90 vs $16)
- KolenCh 4y agoI am heavily biased towards stability in this case, and would normally go for the cheaper one. If you put both side by side and shake the table you will see what I mean. I didn't bother to shot a video since I'm not into reviewing products, but may be I should have in this case. Also when I buy them, it is $90 vs $45 so the difference is not like the 6-fold you see.
- alias_neo 4y agoMy Roost is the original (Kickstarter?) one which looks exactly like the Nextstand, as opposed to looking like the Roost v3. Closing the lid is fairly safe on my old one cause it hits the rubber discs, but leaves a ~1cm gap. I'm generally pretty happy with it and I've had it the best part of a decade now; my only gripe is that it doesn't adjust as low as I'd like sometimes. If I remember right, I paid something like £60-70 + Duty (to UK).
- MrsPeaches 4y agoSome pictures of this in use would be really helpful!
- ahmedalsudani 4y agoAs I clicked on the link, my mind was wondering how it would compare to the last DIY keyboard I saw ... which was trishume's. I should read the username before clicking :) Thank you for sharing your new workstation, Tristan. This one looks quite a bit less intimidating than the last one--I think I'll finally start dabbling in the DIY keyboard world. One thing I need to figure out/work on is how to turn the output from any of the DIY designs into PS/2 signals. My desktop setup requires that. Currently using the PS/2 version of https://www.ergodirect.com/product_info.php?products_id=450 https://www.ergodirect.com/product_info.php?products_id=450, which has been discontinued for a while. If this keyboard dies, DIY might be the only option for an ergonomic PS/2 keyboard.
- alanbernstein 4y agoCan you not use a standard USB to ps/2 adapter?
- ahmedalsudani 4y agoUnfortunately it's not very simple. Converting PS/2 signals to USB is trivial. USB to PS/2 is a different story. Only a small subset of USB keyboards support it. They keyboard basically needs to send PS/2 over USB.
- waltbosz 4y agoThis reminds me of a portable dual monitor setup that I tried to build. I used PVC pipe fittings and USB monitors. The most difficult part for me was getting the screw holes lined up for VESA mount. I didn't have access to a 3D printer, so I was just cutting wood panel and drilling holes by hand. Also PVC was too unwieldy. Making the necessary hinge joints was hard because of how much space the pipe took up. Hmm, now I want to revisit my design. If only I had more time. Also, I now have access to 3D printers, laser cutters, and a CNC machine at the STEM lab of my local public library. It's actually a shame how underutilized this place is. I was there during open hours, and no one was using any equipment except for the 3D printer. There is also a recording studio.
- tsomctl 4y ago> The most difficult part for me was getting the screw holes lined up for VESA mount. Use a blind hole transfer punch. You can make your own with the right sized bolt and a grinder. https://www.amazon.com/TTC-Blind-Hole-Spotter-Diameter/dp/B00B4XNXSI https://www.amazon.com/TTC-Blind-Hole-Spotter-Diameter/dp/B0...
- Doxon 4y agoI made a wood plate VESA adapter recently. I used a paper template for the hole spaceing, and a nail to mark the holes so the drill bit didn't lose centering when starting the holes. To make the template, I taped a piece of paper over the VESA plate and rubbed the side of a pencil lightly over paper on top of the holes. Leaves nice circular marks where the holes are.
- rcarr 4y agoIn my opinion, ZSA have absolutely nailed it with the “Platform” for the Moonlander. It is absolutely perfect for tenting, adjustable to whatever angle you want and rock solid on the table. It can also pack down flat and still fit in the case. It’s still a pretty hefty set up though, I wouldn’t mind seeing them make some kind of mini version for out and about whilst either still keeping the same amount of keys or dropping the num row and the third button on the thumb pad which is too far to comfortably reach. I am so happy with the set up that I am currently weighing up buying a second one despite the price and storing it away in case it all kicks off in Taiwan in the next couple of years and my Moonlander breaks. Sad that we have to consider such things now but possibly prudent. For anyone interested: https://www.zsa.io/moonlander/platform/ https://www.zsa.io/moonlander/platform/