6 ms·

A $14 “ergo” keyboard from surplus parts

23 points by p932 11y ago

dot 11y ago
$100 says we'll see this on Kickstarter within the month.
- foone 11y ago
  Seems unlikely. This page is at least 16 years old.
elinchrome 11y ago
This guy is a bit much between the hair, the kneeling chair, and the custom keyboard. And yet the world is undoubtedly better off for having people like him around, tinkering. Hooray!
- joshu 11y ago
  You are taking potshots at the way he looks? Congrats, you are a bullying asshole.
melling 11y ago
I'm not sure how much keeping your wrists straight helps with RSI. When people thought it carpel tunnel syndrome the idea was to keep your wrists straight. The real problem seems to be the cheap rubber dome or scissor switches that only activate when you bottom out the keys.
- noir_lord 11y ago
  Varies from person to person. In my case switching from a regular mechanical to a Microsoft Natural Ergonomic 4000 at home and work completely relieved all the issues I was having with wrists and forearm pain. Easily the best 100 quid I ever spent (for the pair).
- lfowles 11y ago
  I did a radical switch to an Alphagrip keyboard, which is still membrane switches (as far as I can tell). No more random twinges of pain. The primary difference is that I no longer wrest my wrists on anything (even a gel type pad), but it could also be that I don't use as much force to activate the keys when my fingers are already there.
  - melling 11y ago
    This "game controller"? http://www.amazon.com/iGrip-Ergonomic-Keyboard-by-AlphaGrip/dp/B000O8AOO0 http://www.amazon.com/iGrip-Ergonomic-Keyboard-by-AlphaGrip/... How effective are you with it? Looks like a bit of a learning curve.
    - lfowles 11y ago
      Yep, that's the one! I can get around ~60wpm (100wpm on a qwerty keyboard) with normal text and passable at programming. Took about a month of daily typing lessons to get that fast and I still need a regular keyboard around for annoying key combos.
tlarkworthy 11y ago
A more expensive but less error prone and a better looking solution would be extending the link between this split keyboard http://www.amazon.com/Kinesis-Freestyle-Solo-Ergonomic-Keyboard/dp/B0016A0RLA http://www.amazon.com/Kinesis-Freestyle-Solo-Ergonomic-Keybo... I am frustrated with mine that I can't place the halves wider and was considering something similar.
- jonhohle 11y ago
  The Matias Ergo Pro uses a standard TRRS connector between its two halves. You can buy essentially any length on <insert your favorite commodity cable dealer here>.
Luc 11y ago
Well that's literally a hack. On OS X though, https://pqrs.org/osx/karabiner/ https://pqrs.org/osx/karabiner/ will, among many other features, share the state of modifier keys between keyboards. That way you don't need to get out the hack saw.
p932 11y ago
Datahand are also an alternative to traditional keyboards: http://octopup.org/computer/datahand http://octopup.org/computer/datahand
- extra88 11y ago
  You can't buy one new anymore, you might be able to find one on eBay or something.
  - muaddirac 11y ago
    I'm a little late to jump in but I've been watching this project with interest over the past couple of years: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=41422.25 https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=41422.25 It's not complete yet, but most of the pieces are there.
fsiefken 11y ago
Is there someone who sells assembled open hardware ergodox or variant keyboards already? You can DIY but my time is limited. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ5qWBOG8Oo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ5qWBOG8Oo
- muaddirac 11y ago
  Massdrop.com often has a pre-built option for their ergodox sales. (You do pay a premium for that service, though)
  - thelambentonion 11y ago
    There's currently an Indiegogo campaign going on for pre-assembled Ergodoxes [1]. I'm not really comfortable with early-stage hardware crowdfunding, so I'll still be sourcing and building my own. [1] https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ergodox-ez-an-incredible-mechanical-keyboard https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ergodox-ez-an-incredible-...
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
lowmagnet 11y ago
This would be a good way to mount an ergodox.
cardiffspaceman 11y ago
I was thinking "ergo" was like, I have hands, "ergo" I have a keyboard. And now I feel silly.

23 points by p932 11y ago

dot 11y ago

$100 says we'll see this on Kickstarter within the month.

foone 11y ago
Seems unlikely. This page is at least 16 years old.

elinchrome 11y ago

This guy is a bit much between the hair, the kneeling chair, and the custom keyboard. And yet the world is undoubtedly better off for having people like him around, tinkering. Hooray!

joshu 11y ago
You are taking potshots at the way he looks? Congrats, you are a bullying asshole.

melling 11y ago

I'm not sure how much keeping your wrists straight helps with RSI. When people thought it carpel tunnel syndrome the idea was to keep your wrists straight. The real problem seems to be the cheap rubber dome or scissor switches that only activate when you bottom out the keys.

noir_lord 11y ago
Varies from person to person. In my case switching from a regular mechanical to a Microsoft Natural Ergonomic 4000 at home and work completely relieved all the issues I was having with wrists and forearm pain. Easily the best 100 quid I ever spent (for the pair).
lfowles 11y ago
I did a radical switch to an Alphagrip keyboard, which is still membrane switches (as far as I can tell). No more random twinges of pain. The primary difference is that I no longer wrest my wrists on anything (even a gel type pad), but it could also be that I don't use as much force to activate the keys when my fingers are already there.
- melling 11y ago
  This "game controller"? http://www.amazon.com/iGrip-Ergonomic-Keyboard-by-AlphaGrip/dp/B000O8AOO0 http://www.amazon.com/iGrip-Ergonomic-Keyboard-by-AlphaGrip/... How effective are you with it? Looks like a bit of a learning curve.
  - lfowles 11y ago
    Yep, that's the one! I can get around ~60wpm (100wpm on a qwerty keyboard) with normal text and passable at programming. Took about a month of daily typing lessons to get that fast and I still need a regular keyboard around for annoying key combos.

tlarkworthy 11y ago

A more expensive but less error prone and a better looking solution would be extending the link between this split keyboard http://www.amazon.com/Kinesis-Freestyle-Solo-Ergonomic-Keyboard/dp/B0016A0RLA http://www.amazon.com/Kinesis-Freestyle-Solo-Ergonomic-Keybo... I am frustrated with mine that I can't place the halves wider and was considering something similar.

jonhohle 11y ago
The Matias Ergo Pro uses a standard TRRS connector between its two halves. You can buy essentially any length on <insert your favorite commodity cable dealer here>.

Luc 11y ago

Well that's literally a hack. On OS X though, https://pqrs.org/osx/karabiner/ https://pqrs.org/osx/karabiner/ will, among many other features, share the state of modifier keys between keyboards. That way you don't need to get out the hack saw.

p932 11y ago

Datahand are also an alternative to traditional keyboards: http://octopup.org/computer/datahand http://octopup.org/computer/datahand

extra88 11y ago
You can't buy one new anymore, you might be able to find one on eBay or something.
- muaddirac 11y ago
  I'm a little late to jump in but I've been watching this project with interest over the past couple of years: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=41422.25 https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=41422.25 It's not complete yet, but most of the pieces are there.

fsiefken 11y ago

Is there someone who sells assembled open hardware ergodox or variant keyboards already? You can DIY but my time is limited. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ5qWBOG8Oo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ5qWBOG8Oo

muaddirac 11y ago
Massdrop.com often has a pre-built option for their ergodox sales. (You do pay a premium for that service, though)
- thelambentonion 11y ago
  There's currently an Indiegogo campaign going on for pre-assembled Ergodoxes [1]. I'm not really comfortable with early-stage hardware crowdfunding, so I'll still be sourcing and building my own. [1] https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ergodox-ez-an-incredible-mechanical-keyboard https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ergodox-ez-an-incredible-...

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

lowmagnet 11y ago

This would be a good way to mount an ergodox.

cardiffspaceman 11y ago

I was thinking "ergo" was like, I have hands, "ergo" I have a keyboard. And now I feel silly.