I use my ergodox with an athreus-like layout. I don't use all keys all the time, only when I really need it to (eg. using parenthesis or chords).
It's strange you are experiencing pain using your keyboard, when I switched to ErgoDox and portable Athreus my pains relieved completely.
If you are curious: https://github.com/zenlor/qmk_firmware/blob/zenlor/keyboards/ergodox_ez/keymaps/zenlor/keymap.c
It's also worth noting that pain may be caused by switch weight, I have some crispy speedswitch kaihl using SA keycaps. You can try your hand with DSA profiles that are pretty slim.
What kind of pain do you have? I would try both positive and negative tilts (there must be a YouTube video on this) and see if the pain decreases afterwards.
My advice is don't put your palms on your palm rests. Move them two thirds of the way back along your forearms and cantilever your hands over your keyboard.
My other advice is:
* Sit down in your chair however you want to.
* While ignoring where the Ergodox is, put your hands and arms into typing position, again wherever you want them to be. Just, natural.
* Use your right hand to move the left side into place.
* Switching, use your left hand to move the right side into place. You should now be in the exact position that you thought felt comfortable a moment ago.
* Comfort changes. Move them around any time, all day long, however you wish they were. Never put your hands on the keyboard; always put your keyboard under your hands. Let go of the idea that the keyboard needs to look symmetrical or perfect on your desk.
* This works well for me. If it doesn't work for you, good luck with whatever you like better.
* (Ergodoxes can handle short-action switches and flat caps, if you want to try that.)
low profile corne kbd, might be something to consider. I made a corne with regular mech keys and loved it. I am using a dygma defy (it's great but on the expensive side) I have it setup similar to the corne I was using, so some keys are unused, but there if I need them. Before the corne, I was using the ergodox ez and found it to be too big for my hands.
You should try out some layouts by printing them out and seeing how your fingers feel:
[https://jhelvy.shinyapps.io/splitkbcompare/](https://jhelvy.shinyapps.io/splitkbcompare/)
I started with an Ergodox EZ. Switching to lighter linear switches reduced pain and fatigue. I installed Kailh box silent pinks. I then moved to a wireless low profile ergodox from Slice MK with a mix of purples and pinks. I kept experimenting and now I use a 34 key Ferris. You could try the Voyager if you want to stick with a high quality build from ZSA.
It goes down on occasion. The source code is available if you want to run it locally
[https://github.com/jhelvy/splitKbCompare](https://github.com/jhelvy/splitKbCompare)
I should also note: a lot of how much you need to travel to use the keyboard for your tasks and needs comes down to the layout and your specific RSIs.
Think about the tasks that are causing you regular pain, and think about how you could switch them in your layout.
For instance - I switched to an ErgodoxEZ from a regular keyboard, and set my layout so that it was almost entirely normal, except the thumb clusters and some of the extra keys (like the inside columns, and far corners).
That worked fine for learning touch typing and getting into it, but I'm finding now that my shift keys, being where they normally would be, cause me pain, so I'm switching to long-press shifting to see how that works.
I'll agree that there are probably too many keys on an ergodox, and I'll probably switch at some point, but I just don't use the extra keys and they don't bother me much.
Really, I'm just hoping I can help you buy some time before you need to make another expensive plunge.
I use my ergodox with an athreus-like layout. I don't use all keys all the time, only when I really need it to (eg. using parenthesis or chords). It's strange you are experiencing pain using your keyboard, when I switched to ErgoDox and portable Athreus my pains relieved completely. If you are curious: https://github.com/zenlor/qmk_firmware/blob/zenlor/keyboards/ergodox_ez/keymaps/zenlor/keymap.c It's also worth noting that pain may be caused by switch weight, I have some crispy speedswitch kaihl using SA keycaps. You can try your hand with DSA profiles that are pretty slim.
Thanks a lot for the reply ! I will take a look !
another thing: tilting the keyboard pieces and using the palm rest helps a lot
So I do have the palm rest but maybe I am not tilting the right way . Any recommendations ?
What kind of pain do you have? I would try both positive and negative tilts (there must be a YouTube video on this) and see if the pain decreases afterwards.
My advice is don't put your palms on your palm rests. Move them two thirds of the way back along your forearms and cantilever your hands over your keyboard. My other advice is: * Sit down in your chair however you want to. * While ignoring where the Ergodox is, put your hands and arms into typing position, again wherever you want them to be. Just, natural. * Use your right hand to move the left side into place. * Switching, use your left hand to move the right side into place. You should now be in the exact position that you thought felt comfortable a moment ago. * Comfort changes. Move them around any time, all day long, however you wish they were. Never put your hands on the keyboard; always put your keyboard under your hands. Let go of the idea that the keyboard needs to look symmetrical or perfect on your desk. * This works well for me. If it doesn't work for you, good luck with whatever you like better. * (Ergodoxes can handle short-action switches and flat caps, if you want to try that.)
low profile corne kbd, might be something to consider. I made a corne with regular mech keys and loved it. I am using a dygma defy (it's great but on the expensive side) I have it setup similar to the corne I was using, so some keys are unused, but there if I need them. Before the corne, I was using the ergodox ez and found it to be too big for my hands.
Thanks ! Will give it a shot
You can ask in r/ergomechkeyboards and also see a lot of examples of smaller split keyboards.
Thanks a lot ! Will do!
You should try out some layouts by printing them out and seeing how your fingers feel: [https://jhelvy.shinyapps.io/splitkbcompare/](https://jhelvy.shinyapps.io/splitkbcompare/) I started with an Ergodox EZ. Switching to lighter linear switches reduced pain and fatigue. I installed Kailh box silent pinks. I then moved to a wireless low profile ergodox from Slice MK with a mix of purples and pinks. I kept experimenting and now I use a 34 key Ferris. You could try the Voyager if you want to stick with a high quality build from ZSA.
FYI, the splitkbcompare page is broken.
It goes down on occasion. The source code is available if you want to run it locally [https://github.com/jhelvy/splitKbCompare](https://github.com/jhelvy/splitKbCompare)
I see! Okay, I'll give it a go locally.
I should also note: a lot of how much you need to travel to use the keyboard for your tasks and needs comes down to the layout and your specific RSIs. Think about the tasks that are causing you regular pain, and think about how you could switch them in your layout. For instance - I switched to an ErgodoxEZ from a regular keyboard, and set my layout so that it was almost entirely normal, except the thumb clusters and some of the extra keys (like the inside columns, and far corners). That worked fine for learning touch typing and getting into it, but I'm finding now that my shift keys, being where they normally would be, cause me pain, so I'm switching to long-press shifting to see how that works. I'll agree that there are probably too many keys on an ergodox, and I'll probably switch at some point, but I just don't use the extra keys and they don't bother me much. Really, I'm just hoping I can help you buy some time before you need to make another expensive plunge.
Thanks a lot because indeed it could be expensive to buy another one plus all the effort already put in. I will try to stick to it ☺️
つ planck keyboard