Support for Alternative Layouts
This is a summary of how alternative layouts have been supported by kits such as Colevrak and Homing. It is not a discussion of alt layout performance and development, but if that interests you I highly recommend starting with Pascal Getreuer’s A guide to alt keyboard layouts (why, how, which one?). It’s a concise and comprehensive overview with links to some great sites that go deeper. He also has a separate Links about keyboards page. The Keyboard layouts doc he recommends explains layout goals and metrics in detail, summarizing the alt layouts discussed here as well as more than one hundred others. Sculpted-profile The majority of custom keycap sets are sculpted-profile (Cherry, SA, MT3, KAT, etc. - more on profiles generally here) so let’s start there. Because each row has a unique keycap shape, alt layouts require a unique keycap for each legend that moves off its QWERTY row. At first there were two The Dvorak layout was patented in 1936 by August Dvorak & William L....
Apr 23, 2024
generally I prefer the steel plate with heavy switches (MX black, panda clears) and ALU case. I think acrylic plates look best with acrylic case or ALU case with light switches. There is a small impact on typing feel and a moderate effect on typing sound. In terms of purpose, the metal plate does the job better. It is heavier and sturdier and holds the switches in place. Acrylic plates are more for aesthetics, and I think they are wonderful with lighting. With caps on, it will be hard to see the plate, and the plate aesthetics only matter when lighting comes into play. http://imgur.com/lyFkJtn Potato pic I just took (I'm at work) of metal plate in acrylic case
For $40, I recommend thick steel. For $20, acrylic > thin metal. Just my personal opinions.