Something like this? The heavy stagger is great, 42 keys is almost perfect, but the thumb placement is -- for me -- horrible. Having to move my thumb to practically under my palm is just terrible ergonomics.
This thumb layout reminds me more of the ErgoDox variants, and is far better placement. Is there a layout close to this?
Have you looked at https://compare.splitkb.com/ yet?
Gosh, yes, love that site. I don't use it much since it's almost impossible for it to stay comprehensive; for example, it's missing both the Piantor and Piantor Pro, and the Piantor had been around for a couple years at least.
It is a wonderful tool, though. I think it'd be a full time job to keep it current with all commercially available keyboards, much less all of the bespoke builds.
I use a cantor keyboard daily and I love it, it looks like it fits your description quite well. There are a lot of vendors, I got mine from https://42keebs.eu/shop/kits/pro-micro-based/cantor-pro-lp-40-low-profile-hotswap-split-ergo-kit/
Hah! I'm having trouble distinguishing between the Cantor and the Piantor Pro, which is what I'm currently using.
My issue with these is the thumb key placement. The innermost two are fine, but having to tuck my thumb almost into my palm to reach those outer (looking at the keyboards, or inner, if you look at each hand) keys is not very ergonomic for me. It's also a fairly wide horizontal span to move the thumb, and sequences requiring inner:outer are both tedious and unavoidable.
I don't doubt you like it; for me it's not ideal.
Thanks for the suggestion!!
Ah it seems that I misunderstood the image you provided. I have the outer thumb keys mapped to keys I don't often use (GUI and Alt) so I'm okay with them.
Maybe try looking at all the builds people share on kbd.news? I've also heard that it's not super difficult to modify open source designs and order the PCBs yourself, but I haven't tried it.
Hope you can find something that works for you
Kyria is a solid alternative. I was seduced away from it by the Piantor Pro and forgot about it, but the Halcyon Kyria looks perfect. I probably wouldn't use those outer thumb keys much, but it doesn't hurt they're there, and there are plenty of more well-positioned thumb keys from which to choose.
I'd like more stagger on the body section than the birdy44 has, which looks like almost none; it has pinky stagger, but other than that no columnar stagger. The integrated track pads are lovely, though!
KLOR has the same thumb key positioning - the "m" key is too far in - you have to tuck your thumb to get it under your index, which is over the "m" key. It's the same layout as the Piantor. I was hoping for a thumb cluster positioned more naturally under the resting thumb, with less horizontal thumb movement, like the ErgoDox (and siblings).
Ergonomic, split and other weird keyboards
Posts must be of/about keyboards that have a clear delineation between the left and right halves of the keyboard, column stagger, or both. This includes one-handed (one half doesn't exist, what clearer delineation is that!?)
i.e. no regular non-split¹ row-stagger and no non-split¹ ortholinear²
¹ split meaning a separation of the halves, whether fixed in place or entirely separate, both are fine.
² ortholinear meaning keys layed out in a grid
No excessive posting/"shilling" for commercial purposes. Vendors are permitted to promote their products/services but keep it to a minimum and use the [vendor] flair. Posts that appear to be marketing without being transparent about it will be removed.
This subreddit is not a marketplace, please post on r/mechmarket or other relevant marketplace.