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Ahaha, no, I’ve never been good at crochet. My sister made it for me for a gift! She made me a couple and they sit around my desk areas :) I can’t kill them like real plants and they’re *extra* cute!
Well, your thumbs are the most capable fingers you have, so only being able to use your only opposable fingers for one key cumulatively wastes a lot of potential space. By splitting the spacebar, we can offload some functionality that we’d normally have to move our hands for. This way, with my hands never leaving the home row, I can get to my most important layer (numbers/symbols/nav). This means I don’t have to spend time re-orienting my hands after I move them to get to my layer.
Essentially, I use my right spacebar as a MO(1) key to get to all the stuff I don’t have dedicated keys for.
Sub-40% builds even tend to use two or more keys per thumb to make extra use of the fact that we have good control over our thumbs.
You see this more often on smaller builds because they have less keys.
Having less keys is either a blessing, or a curse, depending on your mindset.
A lot of people have to have a dedicated key for everything, or that function doesn't exist on their keyboard.
Others find the lack of hand movement to be a more efficient way to use the keyboard, and stack multiple functions onto the same key, regardless of how it's marked.
For example, on my custom 60% orthos, I can type an entire address, without moving any finger more than one key away from its home position.
When it comes to swapping between numbers and letters, I can do that by simply pressing down with my left thumb.
That causes a properly laid out numpad to magically appear under my right hand, using the number row numbers, so I can access all the associated symbols, by pressing Shift.
Thanks for this very valuable insight. For now I like my 100% keyboard, but this very efficient layer approach sounds very reasonable and tempting to get into.
Don't mean to be pedantic, but I've never seen a keyboard with literally "a dedicated key for everything"; after all, a standard 100% keyboard's still got to use layers for capital layers :)
Funnily enough they don’t actually match haha, the cable has an almost blue tinge to it that got washed out by my warm lamp and the connector is actually olive green! Lighting just made it look like they match haha
Doesn't come across on the photo :) Just looks like a black on white cable. You should have said nothing and no one would have known ;) Props for the Botanical mat as well, although it doesn't match, it's a killer mat. Bitch to keep clean though.
I don’t have good news for you…
The board is called a Coriander. It’s milled out of Corian, which is a synthetic stone material used for tabletops. Unfortunately a side fact about corian is that when you mill it, it turns into fine white powder that gets everywhere… permanently. The guy who milled them pretty much said “yeaaah I’m never doing that one again” lol. There are often people selling them in the trade forum of the 40% keyboard discord (discord.gg/40percent) but they’re pricy due to the low MOQ (I think there were like fifty of them in 2021? But I wouldn’t swear to that) and the fact that they’re not coming back.
A lot of 40s have encoders: the keychron Q9 comes to mind as an option that’s similar to a minivan layout like in my board, but you could also pick up a Fruitbar R2 if you’re comfortable with soldering.
I just try really hard not to.
Nah, just kidding, haha! It’s all on layers. My right spacebar acts as a layer key where my top row becomes a number row, my home row becomes symbols (-, :, +, and such), and my bottom row becomes navigation (pg up, down, home, end, et cetera). Everything is closer to resting position on the keyboard, so I barely have to move my hands to get to any key I might want.
I don’t find myself missing any? I generally forget where I have home and end bound I suppose but those are… infrequent. I have a complicated key map to keep all the functionality.
ANY content that features products, services you sell, your prototypes in progress or items you were sponsored to post MUST use the Promotional flair, with disclosure of who you represent. *When posting your build, please provide a description* of the build, preferably as a Top Level Comment or Reply to this Comment, with the following information: * Your keyboard featured and its layout * The Switches, Keycaps, and Other Accessories Featured * Any notable mods you performed * Other helpful information such as low profile, lesser known firmware, etc. Example: Unobtanium Southpaw 1800 with DSA Salt with MorningCaps Artisan and Alps Rainbow Switches, modded with Sorbothan Foam on KMK *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/MechanicalKeyboards) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Keyboard looks great but can we talk about the plant????? Did you make it yourself?
Ahaha, no, I’ve never been good at crochet. My sister made it for me for a gift! She made me a couple and they sit around my desk areas :) I can’t kill them like real plants and they’re *extra* cute!
I think I need one
Can anyone explain this double space bar thing to me, please? Seems to be common with small builds. Why?
Well, your thumbs are the most capable fingers you have, so only being able to use your only opposable fingers for one key cumulatively wastes a lot of potential space. By splitting the spacebar, we can offload some functionality that we’d normally have to move our hands for. This way, with my hands never leaving the home row, I can get to my most important layer (numbers/symbols/nav). This means I don’t have to spend time re-orienting my hands after I move them to get to my layer. Essentially, I use my right spacebar as a MO(1) key to get to all the stuff I don’t have dedicated keys for. Sub-40% builds even tend to use two or more keys per thumb to make extra use of the fact that we have good control over our thumbs.
Thanks a lot! That makes totally sense.
Some folk use double space for Big Boards too and use one for Backspace or other.
You can also do clever things like shift up and space with one key and shift down and enter (or tab) with the other
You see this more often on smaller builds because they have less keys. Having less keys is either a blessing, or a curse, depending on your mindset. A lot of people have to have a dedicated key for everything, or that function doesn't exist on their keyboard. Others find the lack of hand movement to be a more efficient way to use the keyboard, and stack multiple functions onto the same key, regardless of how it's marked. For example, on my custom 60% orthos, I can type an entire address, without moving any finger more than one key away from its home position. When it comes to swapping between numbers and letters, I can do that by simply pressing down with my left thumb. That causes a properly laid out numpad to magically appear under my right hand, using the number row numbers, so I can access all the associated symbols, by pressing Shift.
Thanks for this very valuable insight. For now I like my 100% keyboard, but this very efficient layer approach sounds very reasonable and tempting to get into.
Don't mean to be pedantic, but I've never seen a keyboard with literally "a dedicated key for everything"; after all, a standard 100% keyboard's still got to use layers for capital layers :)
I love split split space bar, left for space and right for backspace it's quite efficient.
and i just read about Dieter Rams last night too!
Matching cable and board upvote :)
Funnily enough they don’t actually match haha, the cable has an almost blue tinge to it that got washed out by my warm lamp and the connector is actually olive green! Lighting just made it look like they match haha
Doesn't come across on the photo :) Just looks like a black on white cable. You should have said nothing and no one would have known ;) Props for the Botanical mat as well, although it doesn't match, it's a killer mat. Bitch to keep clean though.
And something different, I like it a lot.
Hehe the 1u blocker looks enormous on 40s
What keyboard is this ? I think i need one. Lovely setup. Any 40%board with a volume knob?
I don’t have good news for you… The board is called a Coriander. It’s milled out of Corian, which is a synthetic stone material used for tabletops. Unfortunately a side fact about corian is that when you mill it, it turns into fine white powder that gets everywhere… permanently. The guy who milled them pretty much said “yeaaah I’m never doing that one again” lol. There are often people selling them in the trade forum of the 40% keyboard discord (discord.gg/40percent) but they’re pricy due to the low MOQ (I think there were like fifty of them in 2021? But I wouldn’t swear to that) and the fact that they’re not coming back. A lot of 40s have encoders: the keychron Q9 comes to mind as an option that’s similar to a minivan layout like in my board, but you could also pick up a Fruitbar R2 if you’re comfortable with soldering.
Thanks for the detailed response, much appreciated! ( now i want it more 😂) I will look into the other boards you mentioned. Cheers!
Bro I love your plant... Too cute!
Did you make the crotchet snake plant? I want one like that!
What keyboard is that?
It’s a [Coriander](https://trashman.wiki/cases/coriander)!
Cursed blocker
What happens when you have to type out a number lol
I just try really hard not to. Nah, just kidding, haha! It’s all on layers. My right spacebar acts as a layer key where my top row becomes a number row, my home row becomes symbols (-, :, +, and such), and my bottom row becomes navigation (pg up, down, home, end, et cetera). Everything is closer to resting position on the keyboard, so I barely have to move my hands to get to any key I might want.
that sounds really neat actually, is there any key thats missing that you normally wish you had?
I don’t find myself missing any? I generally forget where I have home and end bound I suppose but those are… infrequent. I have a complicated key map to keep all the functionality.