I call this one Daisy ;) This set went to a user in Alabama. Units also shipped to Poland and Eureka CA. So hype for more feedback from early users! Current build queue is a couple weeks long, feel free to jump in if you want one!
Svalboard is my Datahand style small-volume production keyboard – I build every one by hand here in Pacifica, CA.
Learn more at [www.svalboard.com] and come check out the Datahand/Svalboard/lalboard discord https://discord.gg/kqNhKjxca where we geek out about this stuff!
You guys really hate traditional typing methods, eh?
When traditional methods literally cripple you… yeah. This isn’t a hobby thing, it’s more like a survival tool/prosthesis – RSI is way more prevalent than a lot of folks realize, and for people who make a living typing, it’s worth a lot of adaptation. I wish nobody needed my weird keyboards, but damn there are a lot of us RSI cripples out here! The weird-keeb enthusiasts are just a niche submarket in that context. :)
Once you try a different keyboard, and like it, you wonder what else you’ve been missing out on.
I wish I could but man, I can’t even get used to a Xbox style controller for gaming, much less a different keyboard layout. More power to ya tho. I may not understand it, but the boards y’all pump out are novel.
Most of the weird-looking keyboards have the same QWERTY layout. If you can touch type, they don’t take long to get used to. I personally don’t get the people that change their keyboards to DVORAK or COLEMAK (Not sure why I shout those names, just the way I tend to write them). More power to them, but I think if I changed the layouts like that it would take me months to get back up to speed.
Oof, would love to try it, but it’s outside my budget for now. I’ll live to regret that decision in another decade I’m sure.
Glad you’re getting plenty of business for now though; maybe eventually there’ll be enough interest to justify a factory run with some economy of scale.
This is fucking cool as hell, thanks for sharing! I enjoy the funky colors!
This looks incredible! I would love to build one myself one day, if you ever offer a kit. The assembled keyboard is out of my budget, unfortunately, but it makes me very happy to see your progress.
working on that, if you have a MK3S or equivalent printer. where are you located?
Wonderful! I do indeed own a 3D printer, and I live in Sweden. Quite far away from Pacifica …
I would be interested to see how this compares to using a characorder, which is similar in concept but the switches are different. I feel like this would be a little easier to press.
fwiw, if any one is wondering, this or a cc would by far be the best single key entry typing experience you can get as far as comfort goes. the lack of wrist movement is incredible, your hands basically don’t move all day. its much easier to stay in the zone when you don’t have to worry about where your hands are, not having to reach for shortcuts, not having worry so much about keybinds or key placement because you can reach everything you need with ease.
most of these keyboards and layouts all just minimize wrist/finger movement for the most part, which this cuts down to nothing with any keyboard layout
We have a longtime DH user on the Discord who spent the past year on charachorder. He’s giving it up – reliability is awful with their poorly thought out hardware, the sticks fail super fast – I think he went through like half a dozen units in a year :wide-eyes:
He liked it otherwise, but found the speed promises didn’t really hold true, especially as a SWE. DH/Svalboard/lal typing is truly superb.
that would make sense. i have had some issues too, only had to send one unit back though, which was why I think this may be better. i mostly use mine for some games and a macropad basically. i like the idea but am wondering about the long term reliability.
I can guarantee you that Svalboard will last as long as you want to type, with anything that breaks also being easily replaceable. The lack of springs and electromechanical contacts is incredible for long term reliability – my Datahand rigs are 20+ years old and all still basically work perfectly aside from one which I stupidly broke some keys on during travel, and some grunginess in one or two mechanisms probably due to dirt intrusion.
But with Svalboard the keys just drop right in and pull right out (in the right orientation), there’s no mechanism to assemble – so cleaning is as easy as popping the key out and blowing out the keywell with compressed air. And you can replace individual key clusters and PCBAs individually if needed. And print your own keys, etc. Suuuuuper maintainable. 😀 Tearing down an original Datahand for cleaning is a lot more involved and annoying, and can only be done to a limited extent.
