Keyboard Builders' Digest / Projects
Thumbs Up! V2
Sasha Karmanov shared his distinctive Thumbs Up! V2 keyboard with a raised thumb cluster.
Published November 29, 2022
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The ThumbsUpUnsplitV2 is a multilevel 44-key monoblock keyboard by Sasha Karmanov aka ak66666.
Sasha has been experimenting with this multilevel approach for some time. See his Fish Ladder, raised PCB-based thumb cluster or Unsplit Thumbs Up.
This latest V2 model puts the fourth row one level up.
The raised thumb cluster brings thumbs closer to palm, to their natural neutral position. Their movements are reduced and well within their "free play" range, i.e. the thumb action doesn't cause the rest of the palm to rotate. I came up with the design after a series of experiments over the last three years, starting with the flat ones like ergodox and Let's split and through many Dactyl-Manuforms. This one is something in between. For now that's the best option (before the split version, of course) – ak66666.
While this approach may be not everyone's cup of tea, the way the PCB pieces are stacked and connected is worth a closer look:
To escalate things further, Sasha plans to integrate a touchpad:
Waiting for the nice!nano to arrive, so it will become wireless. Also need Cirque touchpad, it will go to the top layer from the bottom.
Resources
Published on Tue 29th Nov 2022. Featured in KBD #105 (source).
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