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
- Find a very flat surface. I used an unused glass shelf from an old fridge.
- Fold a sheet of paper so it's about 1.5" wide and four layers thick.
- Run a hot hair drier over the spacebar for about 5 minutes. It will want to fly around so just surround it with a few books to keep it in place.
- Quickly, place the spacebar over the paper so it's centered and about 1.5" of each end are now hovering over the surface.
- Stack many heavy books onto the spacebar.
- Wait 15 minutes.
So the idea is that the paper in the middle will cause the ends to bend down more under weight. On my first attempt, I had tried it without the paper and it didn't help. I also put on rubber o-rings just on the spacebar to keep it from being inserted too deep into the stems. At first it would still stick if I press it down all the way but after pressing on it a few more times, something equalized and it's ok now.