this page is still a work in progress - feel free to look, but it's not complete yet!

my journey into the world of mechanical keyboards began in 2023, when in dorm i saw a senior building their own keyboard, with the creamiest switches i had ever felt. it was then that i knew i had to get my hands on one of these - but there was an issue. i typed with 2 fingers and had 20wpm! instead, i decided to jump the gun and build a split keyboard.

why split?

1. ergonomics - split keyboards allow for a more natural typing position, reducing strain on the wrists
2. customizability - split keyboards can be customized to fit your needs, with different layouts and keymaps, and since you can move the two halves around, you can adjust them to fit your body
3. portability - each half of a split keyboard is smaller than a full keyboard, so you can easily take them with you
4. they look cool - i wanted to type like lelouch vi britannia

since then, i've built 4 different keyboards, which you may see below. some were given away to friends, and others are still in use.

my first split keyboard! the redox is a smaller variant of the ergodox, with 70 keys instead of 76. it features a smaller thumb cluster, which is perfect for my small hands!

the redox uses a custom-designed psuedo-gasket mounted case, which was a pain to assemble, but the end result was worth it. for the switches, i used a frankenswitch of OUTEMU SILENT CREAM YELLOW housings with OUTEMU RED PANDA stems, which gave me a nice, creamy "clack" sound. I've since fallen into the dark side and main KAILH BOX JADES.

the redox was a wonderful daily driver that i used as a learning point to solder, and a testbed for different layouts! i have since moved on to other projects, but the redox will always be proudly displayed in my house.

the redox was cool, but

1. it was still too bulky to carry around - too tall to use comfortably on a table without armrests, and too wide to fit well in my bag
2. it used wires, which were a pain to set up every single time i went to a new place (which was often, since i was in college)
3. it sounded BEAUTIFUL, but using it in a public space would get me lynched

as such, i sought something silent and small that i could use as a portable driver.. enter the corne! this guy is amazing - i could fit it in my pockets, and with the HAIMU HEARTBEAT switches i used, no one could hear me using the keyboard in class! most importantly, it's fully bluetooth based, so away with the wires!

considering that the keyboard was meant to be silent, i could skimp on the mount method - the corne is a tray mount design

a farewell project to a dear friend, who i will only see again in the tail end of 2025. :')

this guy always poked fun at my typing speed, and my newfound obsession with keyboards, but he also got interested in this world, so i built him one!

each of my prior projects lacked a final component - i still needed to move my hand away to use the mouse. with an integrated trackball in the keyboard, my hand never needs to leave the keyboard!

enter the ORCA, a killer whale split keyboard.