In the summer of 2020, during the height of the pandemic, I started experimenting with a new keyboard. After several optimizations, this is what I ended up with:
This is a 46 key split keyboard based on the Nyquist (rev 3) from keeb.io.
In this post I'll describe why this configuration works very well for me:
- It has an optimized layout that very much reduces awkward finger twists, leverages my previously almost entirely unused thumbs, and frees up my right hand to reduce moving my right hand between the keyboard and the mouse.
- The split design and angled position allows for reduced strain.
- The compact form factor gives me more space on my desk and makes it easier to carry when using a laptop.
Layout
Shift and Control: reducing awkward movements
The Shift and Control keys are the two most commonly used modifiers. Yet the Shift key is operated with the pinkie finger. This is awkward: e.g. try to do shift-A with your left hand. Instead of using the pinkie finger for the Shift, can we use another finger? The ring finger, middle finger, and index finger are already operating other keys, but my left thumb was not really used for anything: I noticed I use the space bar exclusively with my right thumb. So why not use my left thumb for pressing Shift instead? This is why the Shift key on my keyboard is at the resting position of my left thumb.
On some keyboards, you can use the side of your hand to hit the Control-key. Let's make that explicit and let's make that even easier. That's why my keyboard has a large key with a gap next to it for the Control key.
Navigation: relieve the right hand and reduce unnecessary hand movement
On most keyboards there's a dedicated "island" for cursor movements + backspace / delete. To use those keys, you have to move your hand to the island. The island is on the right side and I noticed I often found myself switching my right hand between my mouse and the "navigation island". Why not move the "navigation island" to the left hand and avoid hand movement altogether?
This can be done through "layers". Layers are a mechanism where keys can have multiple functions. For example, you can consider the Shift key as a layer for upper case letters. So Layer 1 on my keyboard is for navigation, and the layer is active when the left thumb holds the MO-1 button which is next to the Shift key:
The left keypad (Layer 0); holding MO-1 changes it into:
The position of the MO-1 button next to the Shift key is no coincidence: like everybody I often need to hold the shift while using the cursor keys. With the two keys next to each other, the thumb can simply press them both at the same time. This is also why these keys are wider than the other keys: it reduces the gap between the keys.
The MO-1 button also "happens" to be next to the Alt button. Because of this it's easy for me to use my left thumb to hold both Alt+MO-1 to hit alt+cursor key combinations.
Reduce reaching: Enter, Escape, Backspace, numbers
With moving more responsibility to the left hand so that the right hand can stay on the mouse for things like spreadsheet operations (heavy on navigation, editing), the Enter button also moves to the left. It takes the place of the Caps lock key on regular keyboards. Like most people, I never really use that key anyway. This key is prime real estate: it is easily reached with just one position over from the left pinkie.
The backspace is typically found just out of reach of the right pinkie. I use the backspace key a lot: my typo rate is pretty high. So I moved that key to the bottom of the right hand where the right thumb is in its rest position. (I use MO-1+R if my right hand is on the mouse)
Full layer 0
This leaves a single key for the space bar. It turns out I was hitting the space bar on exactly the same place every time anyway, so there's really no reason to give the space bar more than a single key.Numbers and function keys: pulling them in reach
With only three rows of keys, how do we use numbers and function keys? They're simply pulled down from where they are on a regular keyboard to the home row and top row using the second layer.
Full layer 2
Memorizing the positions of these keys is easy because they simply have the same x-coordinate as on regular keyboards; they're just shifted down by two rows.
Reducing the number of keys on the home row to only 6 causes a minor problem with just a few keys: F12 no longer fits. And the square bracket keys need to be relocated. In practice, I never use F12. And the memorization of the new location of the bracket keys was not that difficult. They're actually easier to reach in their new positions.
Entering many digits goes quite fast since all eight fingers can be used on the home row. As an alternative I also have a numeric keypad on Layer 1 but in practice I never use it.
Full layer 1
So while the number of keys is reduced to only 46 keys in total, there are plenty of unused keys left because of the use of layers. In fact, I put together a third layer for special keys which is reachable by holding the "Context menu" key with the right thumb.
Full layer 3
The only keys I use here are the multimedia keys and the "Right Alt". The latter makes it easy to occasionally use international characters without giving up the Alt key on the right keypad. So for the Euro sign € I hold the Context Menu key with my right thumb, roll the side of my right hand onto the right alt, press the Layer 2 button with my left thumb, and hit 5 with my left index finger.Reduced strain
The keyboard layout reduces strain on my fingers because it eliminates the load on the pinkies and instead moves a lot of their load onto the much stronger thumbs. Almost all key combinations become very easy, e.g. Ctrl+Shift+V are easy to accomplish with only my left hand. And because of that, my right hand can stay engaged on the mouse.
Having two separate keypads also makes it easy to keep my hands straight as opposed to the angle that occurs with a straight keyboard. I like to move them a good distance apart: 10-12 inches is my preferred distance.
My preferred wrist rotation angle is 15°, so I made the inside legs of the keypads longer to match that angle.
The absence of navigation and numerical islands minimizes the space between the default position of my right hand and the mouse and hence minimizes travel between the mouse and keyboard.
Putting a keyboard together myself also allowed me to optimize the key switches. I went with Gateron White (35g of resistance force) for both pinkies and the left thumb. The latter is because it needs to often press two keys at the same time. The two keys I press with the side of my hands, i.e. the left Control key and the right Alt key, are Green (80g of resistance) and the only ones that are clicky. The other keys are all Reds (45g of force).
The two pads without key caps.
Further customizations include reducing the space between the top and bottom plate to 8mm using M2*8mm and M3*8mm metal female standoffs.
Size
My current keyboard is a lot smaller than my daily driver that I used in the 10+ years prior:
Full size keyboard comparison
I can now have a notepad right in front of me or I can simply move the keyboard under my monitor so that I can reclaim my desk for writing.
A notepad fits easily in between
I like my current keyboard so much that I use it instead of my laptop keyboard when I'm in meeting rooms. I position the two pads on both sides of my laptop:
(Not shown: USB hub plugged into laptop)
Carrying this combo between meeting rooms is pretty simple because the keypads fit on the lid of the laptop:
(Not shown: USB hub plugged into laptop)
Postscript
I have one regret about my keyboard: why did I stick so long with the traditional keyboards? They're bulky and painful to use!
Having said that, I have no illusion that I will convince anybody to start building their own custom keyboard. But through this post I can easily share more information with people who see my weird contraption in the office.
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