Keyboard Builders' Digest / Projects
Low profile Dactyl
u/IncBLB has built a low profile Dactyl designed by u/omurovex.
Published July 9, 2022
It seems I somehow missed the low-pro Dactyl by omurovex published months ago. The design is based on jc2price's Dactyl spinoff with a border and Okke's Tightyl – and IncBLB now posted his build.
The hallmark five-key thumb cluster has the keys on two rows on different levels – obviously, this is the feature both IncBLB and omurovex were asked about in the comments, in particular with regards to usability.
So how does the 3-dimensional thumb cluster perform in general?
Pretty good, haven’t used it for very long yet but yeah my thumb generally sits on the top row and hovers above the bottom row. The height difference definitely helps with navigation – omuvorex.
So is the level difference enough to avoid hitting the lower keys accidentally? When IncBLB was asked if he ever hits those, he replied:
Never, it's physically impossible to do by accident – IncBLB.
Other than that, the board is handwired wireless (my favorite term strikes back again):
Nice!Nanos for wireless use, each with a 400mAh batteries (Don't now how long they last, I've only charged them once in the 3 months I've used them) – IncBLB.
Files
Low-pro version by omurovex: https://github.com/omurovec/dactyl-high-profile
Tightyl by Okke Formsma: https://github.com/okke-formsma/dactyl-manuform-tight
High-pro version with border by jc2price: https://github.com/JPricey/dactyl-high-profile
Published on Sat 9th Jul 2022. Featured in KBD #86 (source).
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