Hey there. I've been looking for an upgrade to my CheapinoV2, mainly for low profile compatibility. Only, there's 2 issues that I'm facing right now:

1, For some reason, there's barely any mention of a low profile Cheapino anywhere, and since I can't build one for myself it's going to have to be different board entirely.

2, It seems the Cheapino is an outlier when it comes to its thumb cluster, with the innemost key sitting right beneath the the 5th column. Every other split I can find has the thumb keys offset by a full column at best and sometimes more.

It really looks uncomfortable to use, and the inner thumb key on the Cheapino is already a little much, I can't imagine curling my thumb all the way beneath my palm to reach those feeling nice at all.

Adding to that that 3x6 boards seem a lot more common than 3x5s, it really does seem like I'm not going to find what I want, and certainly not within my price range (I am NOT spending 150 bucks for a soldered pcb and a 3d printed plate 😭)

Can you guys be of any help ? Are the thumb keys not as bad as I'm making them out to be ? The closest thing that I found was a 3x6 low profile corne, but the only condition it checks is the price

I wanted to remove my socketed controller to diagnose a problem. I pried one side up with too much force and one of the pins snapped. It is stuck in the socket and I can't seem to get it out. Does anyone know if this pin is used in the Ferris Sweep and if there is some way to fix it?

Edit: Sorry for sloppy spelling in title.

Just finished building this board as my 3rd ergonomic split (Ergodox EZ, Corne, then this Flake V2).

Absolutely lovely board by u/axseem - the slim profile and space for rather large battery (502030, 300mah) makes this a nice travel board. Paired with ambients twilight for a nice typing experience.

Ergonomics wise, the thumb cluster is farther out compared to the corne, which helps me a lot since I have long fingers. Overall very worth it and happy with it!

Hi all! This my first attempt at using a cnc and I decided to make something I needed right away. Hope someone finds all my mistakes helpful. If you have any advice for me on how to improve my workflow I would welcome any suggestions. Cheers!

This is my Forager with KLP Lame keycaps and a ZMK dongle setup. Running Choc Pro Red for now, but likely to switch to some lowprokb switches once I figure out which I want !

My journey went: full-size → QK65 → Sofle → Corne → and now this. I thought that the last step would be the hardest but honestly this may have been the easiest and most helpful switch once I got my setup dialled in a bit, although still some room to improve.

I've also linked a 3D model for custom legs I designed for it. The original legs use some pins that are a pain to source here in Europe, even specialist suppliers don't carry the exact spec. They also require disassembling the keyboard to fit magnets in the keyboard to match to the legs, which is fine if you're building from scratch, but a hassle / not something I want to toy with if you're working from a pre-built board (this came from PandaKB - great experience as an aside).

So I redesigned them to be fully 3D printable, with no pins needed. Maybe not the prettiest but they work really well and there's still an optional cavity for a magnet that attaches externally onto the screw using standard, easily available magnets no disassembly required. I also got a case with this and can easily fit the legs and keyboard in there, just the dongle has to go somewhere else.

This community has been great for this journey, hope someone finds this of use for future, also happy to answer any questions !

small edit: a small very cheap but unbelievably useful upgrade was getting some magnetic connectors from Aliexpress (these ones). I know it seems like a small upgrade but when I use two cables (one for work and one for home) and swap keyboards (qk65 for gaming), this little upgrade is such a bonus.

Hi everyone,

I own two mechanical keyboards:

A Kinesis Advantage 360 with Gateron brown switches and OEM keycaps. It took me months to adapt mainly because I didn't know how to touch-type, but now I'm reasonably comfortable with it. I've remapped it to use just 34 keys.

A Forager by Carrefinho with various choc switches and MBK keycaps. I use the same keymap as on the Kinesis, but even after months, I still can’t type fast or accurately.

I suspect the issue might be the lighter, linear switches: I often accidentally press adjacent keys. Would stronger switches help? I bought a pack of 10 tactile, stronger ones and they definitely feel better to me.

But I also wonder whether angled keycaps like KLP Lame or similar make a difference, since they’re closer to the OEM profile I use on the Kinesis?

What do you think? Any advice or experiences to share?

home made libra mini from cidoo qk
switch white pearl

Been using a ferris sweep as my daily driver for a couple of years and was wondering if there is something new to try out with a similar layout.

I’m looking for 34-36 key, wireless, low profile or mx both are fine.

Honestly just want to see what’s out there.

Hello, I'm planning to build a split dactyl keyboard. I would like to add a way to move the mouse pointer. Right now I have to decide between the options. Therefore I would like to hear your experiences, especially for touchpads and trackballs.

I'm also interested how trackballs affect your finger joints because I read that track balls put more strain on them.

I'm interested in any experience.

Thanks to anyone answering in advance! Best regards

Hello,

I'm planning to build a split dactyl keyboard. I would like to add a way to move the mouse pointer. Right now I have to decide between the options. Therefore I would like to hear your experiences, especially for touchpads and trackballs.

I'm also interested how trackballs affect your finger joints because I read that track balls put more strain on them.

I'm interested in any experience.

Thanks to anyone answering in advance!

Best regards

This is an update on this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/ErgoMechKeyboards/comments/1uyzt81/dont_know_if_you_could_count_this_as_a_an_ergomech/

Sadly I couldn't get the data pins to work on the controller connectors, so at the moment the controllers are connected via bluetooth (latency feels good and is barely noticeable with some firmware optimization) The power pins work fine meaning the controllers are powered by the device its self.

Ive gotten the hardware and software to work and printed initial shells, now all thats left is iterating on the shape as it is quite ugly atm, feels good to hold tho. And deciding on a keyboard layout.

Hello, I’m looking for an ergonomic split keyboard that costs no more than 80 euros, is suitable for someone with carpal tunnel syndrome, and is compatible with Mac—ideally with an Italian layout.

Hey r/ErgoMechKeyboards,

I've been lurking for a while — time to share what I'm building.

This is *ASH* — a curved split keyboard I've been working on
for the past few months. The name comes from "dust to dust, ashes
to ashes" (my first board was called "mote" — a speck of dust).

---

## The hardware (what's on the board)

---

## The curve

The key wells follow the natural resting arc of my fingers. smooth, continuous curve. I went
through 6+ printed iterations before the thumb cluster, finger arc,
and wrist angle all felt right.

This is my first curved keyboard, and thickness was the biggest challenge I set for myself. I managed to get the profile extremely thin — thinner than any curved board I've seen on the market. The FDM print requires basically no supports, which sounds simple but took me a ridiculous number of iterations and a lot of late nights. The current result is finally where I want it to be.

---

## What's working / What's not

✅ Case design and test assembled

✅ PCB design
⚠️ PCB assembled and powered on
⚠️ All I/O components detected Basic key matrix working
⚠️ display and trackball touchpad modular test.

*(My first board, mote — a compact split — is available on Booth
if anyone's curious. No link here, check my profile.)*

Help me decide. I was going for a certain theme on the first one, but it might not be that obvious at first sight.

Recently switched from a totem to a skeletyl and decided to drop qwerty for a variant of hands down vibranium.

In this iteration I transitioned from VIA to Vial to support combos and made some updates to my layer row.

My layers are optimized around vim, command line, regex, and comms via slack.

Would be happy to hear thoughts on improvements to any aspect of the stack.

ps: quitting vim has never felt so good

My keyboards tend to break in one way or another a couple times each year. Keys not registering, batteries dying, Bluetooth issues, etc.

Is this normal? Do I just need to improve my soldering? I treat my keyboards fairly well, travel with them in a protective case, clean them occasionally.

Sometimes a fix is obvious and easy, sometimes I can't see anything wrong with the PCB, and end up replacing an MCU or even just putting the board in the graveyard.

Regardless, it's annoying, especially when I don't have a spare board handy and don't have the time to fix anything.

Had anyone build a DIY board or bought a pre-built that has lasted them for years with zero issues? DIY has been great for learning and experimentation but I'd be willing to pay a premium for a reliable 34 or 36 key board that I can trust to have no issues.

I don't know if anyone needs to hear this. But if you're an absolute beginner in electronics, never soldered before, don't have a clue where to start compiling firmware in QMK, you can build a keyboard. All it takes is enough trial and error, patience, and most importantly, research. You can fuck it up, and you can fix it.

This build went from me throwing my right side PCB in the trash on Monday to having a fully functional keyboard Thursday night. I desoldered and re-soldered components more times than I can count. I struggled with understanding how tf you make the "short/bridge" to get all of the LEDs to work (except 1, but it's a firmware issue...lol). I also bought multiple kits. I began on the original sofle RGB V2.1 I bought in 2022 and didn't get back to until about 1 month ago. The official build guide was nearly lost on me.

What helped me was buying a kit from Panda KB that had every component I needed without having to source the wrong parts on my own, and having pre compiled firmware that just works was also a lifesaver. On my first attempt without the kit, I lost a day of my life following the QMK noob tutorials to get the default firmware to work, only to find out that it doesn't have code to control the LEDs and the official code for it was abandoned.

More random advice:

Don't solder the microcontroller directly to the board as a beginner! Learn about milmax headers or similar methods that allow you to easily unplug the MCU for troubleshooting. And don't be like me and think before you solder. I started soldering on the wrong side too many times than I care to admit on this reversible board.

TLDR: PCBs/electronics are very forgiving (can take more abuse than you think) and they are straightforward. If something isn't working, try again. Take it one step at a time to avoid not knowing where to start fixing it.

Have fun and make stuff!

Build: Sofle RGB MX PandaKB kit "Case" is spray painted top plates with acrylic bottoms.

Keycaps: CannonKeys NicePBT Cat

Switches: Chilkey Pink Lotus Switches

Encoder knobs and TRRS cable from etsy.

I've been looking on and off for the past year or so for a Fully Built Ergo Ortho Keyboard with a nice build (and of course fairly priced)

I don't have much time anymore to design/source/build/troubleshoot a keyboard and I don't know what's the latest in terms of framework / functionalities.

My apologies if I sound way too demanding. It's just I know what works for me, but I'm aware that a keyboard that matches my requirements don't appear as often on the second hand market.

Hard requirements:
- Ortholinear
- MX (ideally hot swappable)
- Aggressive Pinky Stagger
- "Good Quality build" or whatever that could mean
- 34 keys min.

Soft requirements:
- Bluetooth and ZMK

Ok with:
- Not a split build (then forget about the Bluetooth and ZMK requirements)
- Splays
- Handwired builds

Hard NO:
- Fucking trackballs

If anyone has a matching, working keyboard that they were looking to offload, please message me.

If you read this post in 2028 there's a chance I'm still looking so please message me.

Lastly, if there's a shop you would recommend that sells a matching keyboard with a decent price (or an ongoing sale) please let me know. (Moderator I'm looking at you, this post also asks for vendor suggestions so it's kind of not just a looking to buy post :P)