this post was submitted on 03 Jun 2025
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I 3d printed a custom sized keyboard using open source software and hardware designs. (lemmy.dbzer0.com)
submitted 1 week ago by naevaTheRat@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/3dprinting@lemmy.world
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/45765963

The design is based on the excellent Dactyl keyboard, generated with https://ryanis.cool/cosmos/ and it runs the excellent qmk firmware. It is handwired:

and I have also made a palm support using inkscape and openscad

All printed on a reprap prusa i3 derivative.

This helps me use my computer with less pain, so I want to call out all the wonderful projects and people who contribute to them which made it possible.

Total cost? $60 aud, amortised filament ~15 bucks worth maybe? and a lot of my time haha.

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[–] 01189998819991197253@infosec.pub 1 points 2 days ago

Did you print your keycaps, too??

[–] Rooty@lemmy.world 13 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Man, 3d printing is punk as fuck, I love when people post bespoke shit.

[–] naevaTheRat@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Tinkering with electronics alone indoors is like the opposite of punk.

[–] Rooty@lemmy.world 12 points 6 days ago

Don't tell me that you're one of those people that think punk is all about attitude and loud music. DIY and community building is punk af.

[–] Fillicia@sh.itjust.works 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Purple dactyl represents

[–] naevaTheRat@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 5 days ago (1 children)

How is trackball? I wasn't sure how easily layering would work giving up easy access to half the thumb cluster.

[–] Fillicia@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Sadly I couldn't get a bearing/ball mix that wouldn't feel "gritty".

Otherwise the hand position is nice and layering is easy to use even with the ball. Overall nice to use and great setup for CAD software.

[–] naevaTheRat@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 4 days ago

Tried ball transfer units?

I've found Ruby balls ok sometimes but BTUs are where it's at. Expensive though.

[–] TwoBeeSan@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago

Respect for your tism.

[–] Etterra@discuss.online 3 points 6 days ago

What the hell is this madness?

[–] sirico@feddit.uk 1 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Dactyl! I've really wanted to build one and embrace the Coleman. How was the build?

[–] naevaTheRat@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 6 days ago

I strongly recommend checking verticle clearance for the microcontroller if you angle it.

I also strongly recommend living somewhere where asking for enameled wire with an enamel that can be burned off with solder doesn't get you blank stares.

If you can't do the latter Livingston sells scapels which work well to remove insulation in the middle of wires.

[–] TheKingBee@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago

reminds me of naked lunch

[–] gusgalarnyk@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

I moved to Germany and had to sell my 3d printer for the move, but when I pick up a new one finalizing a custom dactyl keyboard will be one of my first projects. I use an ergodox ez right now (they're amazing do check them out if you want a pre built solution), but I want as many thumb keys as I can possibly handle so I want to upgrade to a custom solution.

This is really cool to see, thanks for sharing!

[–] synapse3252@sh.itjust.works 18 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I will always upvote split ergo (column staggered) keyboards. Nice stuff, looks much much cleaner than the one i made and threw out 😂

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[–] Dogiedog64@lemmy.world 13 points 1 week ago

Okay, Star Platinum.

[–] Blaze@piefed.social 7 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Very cool! Can I crosspost to !mechanical_keyboards@programming.dev ?

[–] 01189998819991197253@infosec.pub 1 points 2 days ago

Holy cow! I didn't know about that community, thank you!

[–] naevaTheRat@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Nobody needs permission to post a link to something somewhere. What horror happened to you?

[–] Blaze@piefed.social 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Oh, I've seen it happen before, such as here: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/45667427?scrollToComments=true

Thanks anyway, I'll post right away

[–] naevaTheRat@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 6 days ago

There are always lunatics, you'd go mad trying to please everyone. It's one thing to not promote harassment. But if you put something into the stormwater drain of the information superhighway it's flowing everywhere with the rest or the shit.

You'd get further cursing the rain for falling on you.

[–] Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Super neat. What are those knobs for?

What kind of switches did you choose?

[–] naevaTheRat@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Knobs are for knobby things. QMK is extremely configurable. Sometimes they are volume, sometimes seeking, sometimes mouse x and y, sometimes scroll wheel, sometimes keyboard arrows, mostly decorative.

MX browns. I am distinctly not obsessed with keyboards. I just like being able to use computers in postures that don't hurt.

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[–] grrgyle@slrpnk.net 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I love those keycaps 😍

[–] beastlykings@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Very cool!

Honest question, does using a keyboard like this make you forget how to use a standard one?

I know op did it for the pain, so it's a moot point. But if I did it just because it's cool, and to avoid injury in the future, would I mess up my normal keyboard abilities?

[–] gusgalarnyk@lemmy.world 5 points 6 days ago (1 children)

As someone who runs an ergodox ez with a custom key layout and who goes in to work from time to time using normal QWERTY keyboards (both English and German configuration), you do not lose anything. It's incredibly easy to switch between every config you have.

I also think most people would appreciate a split keyboard setup because it's so much better for posture and health and comfortability. Would highly recommend.

[–] beastlykings@sh.itjust.works 1 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Oh now this is different than I've heard, some others have had issues switching back and forth. So maybe I will give it a try, once I've got qwerty up to a decent speed and I feel comfortable with it.

Right now it's a problem because if I'm in a hurry, I'm tempted to type the old way, or a broken mixture of the two that messes with what I've learned. Not good. Gotta slow down and do it right, bah..

Thanks for the recommendations, I'm gonna put a 3d printed split board on my list of things I'll definitely get to some day and totally won't get pushed off the back of the furthest back burner lol

[–] gusgalarnyk@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Lol. For context, it took me maybe two weeks to get back up to full speed on a new typing layout. When I moved to Germany they moved some keys around on standard qwerty and it took me a couple of days.

If you're already touch typing I think most changes are easy to adapt to and don't overwrite previous muscle memory. Your brain is powerful, believe it is and it will work.

[–] beastlykings@sh.itjust.works 2 points 6 days ago

That's good to know, thanks! I'm still just learning to touch type. I spent a few decades typing fast enough but always looking at the keys. This year I've started learning touch typing, I'm only a half dozen hours in, so still pretty new.

But when I get good I'll take this into consideration! Thanks!

[–] swelter_spark@reddthat.com 3 points 6 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

I use Colemak on phone and Qwerty on desktop, and never think about it.

[–] beastlykings@sh.itjust.works 1 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Interesting 🤔 why? Just curious

[–] swelter_spark@reddthat.com 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I tried other layouts because it's easy with an on-screen phone keyboard, just an oftion in the app menu, and Colemak felt the most intuitive to use. I didn't have to get used to it, it felt natural from the start.

It's not as easy to switch with a physical keyboard, with so many games having movement and other functions tied to specific keys that assume a qwerty layout, so I kept using what I was used to in that circumstance. I don't even think about it.

One of these days, I'll probably buy/set up a physical Colemak keyboard, and see how that is with games.

[–] naevaTheRat@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I also switched to colemakdh with a series of layers and qmk tricks. My typing is quite slow so far, around 30 wpm, I was never an amazing typist but I haven't noticed difficulty with standard qwerty layouts.

It's not like you get confused between a harp and a guitar, or a spoon and a knife.

[–] pupbiru@aussie.zone 2 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

for me, switching to dvorak about 10 years ago has made me absolutely useless at typing qwerty… i get used to it after 5min, but much slower than i used to be and wow is it paiiiiiin (both literally in my wrists - the reason i switched, and figuratively in that i feel like im fighting the keyboard for every word)

… or perhaps you mean the differences in physical layout

[–] naevaTheRat@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 6 days ago

I haven't noticed difficulty. Maybe because the layout is so different, maybe I will with time, or maybe I'm just ~~better than you~~ lucky :p

[–] lando55@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago

I see you've played knifey spoony before

[–] henfredemars@infosec.pub 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Way cool. That looks really professional, too.

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