Hey you're in "ergo" "mech", both of which it sounds like you're not really after...
ErgoMechKeyboards
Ergonomic, split and other weird keyboards
Rules
Keep it ergo
Posts must be of/about keyboards that have a clear delineation between the left and right halves of the keyboard, column stagger, or both. This includes one-handed (one half doesn't exist, what clearer delineation is that!?)
i.e. no regular non-split¹ row-stagger and no non-split¹ ortholinear²
¹ split meaning a separation of the halves, whether fixed in place or entirely separate, both are fine.
² ortholinear meaning keys layed out in a grid
No Spam
No excessive posting/"shilling" for commercial purposes. Vendors are permitted to promote their products/services but keep it to a minimum and use the [vendor] flair. Posts that appear to be marketing without being transparent about it will be removed.
No Buy/Sell/Trade
This subreddit is not a marketplace, please post on r/mechmarket or other relevant marketplace.
Some useful links
- EMK wiki
- Split keyboard compare tool
- Compare keycap profiles Looking for another set of keycaps - check this site to compare the different keycap profiles https://www.keycaps.info/
- Keymap database A database with all kinds of keymap layouts - some of them fits ergo keyboards - get inspired https://keymapdb.com/
Keychron has what you’re looking for, and it’s wireless. I have 2 of their keyboards and they’re pretty good and an excellent value.
As for a Model M with a backlight, yea I don’t think that would work with the buckling spring… there’s just nowhere to put the light. My daily driver is currently a Unicomp New Model M and I just don’t think the shape of the board would make it easy to do this without sacrificing all that makes it what it is.
After doing a little research, maybe I'll build a keyboard after all if I can get all the features I want. Where do I buy backlight compatible switches? Does "RGB switch" mean that the switch has rgb lights inside of it or are the leds usually attached to the circuit board? Are there cheaper ones I can buy that don't cost $3.99 each?
LEDs are soldered to the circuit board. The switches then have a transparent channel that the LED shines through.