I have arguably gone about 85% of the way down the custom, ergonomic, split, alternate keyboard layout rabbit hole with my chocofi 36 key, Colemak DH board.
The only further I could go would be to 3D print my own keycaps, and then to design a board that is entirely customized to my hand size, ergonomics, positioning, etc. and then to start taking keys away until I am typing in morse code. The latter is a topic for another time, but the former just became a reality.
When Loic from 3DKeycap.com reached out and offered to send me a set of whatever keycaps I wanted, I said "that would be awesome!" He sent them at no cost to me other than an honest look at their product, so, here it is!
3Dkeycap.com
3DKeycap is a small Canadian company specializing in the printing of sculpted custom keycaps for the keyboard enthusiast space. They offer various MX and Choc variant keycaps, but also will work with you to customize a set for whatever board you are running. In the fun times ahead with the US tariff situation (I don't know if keycaps are on the list), buying Canadian is a great thing to do, so seeing a fellow Canadian startup is awesome.
I chose the KLP-Lame choc variant, as I have for some time had my eye on the sculpted and raised versions to see how it would feel to type on them. I saw Wolfgang's endgame keyboard video in which he added a set to his TOTEM keyboard, and my interest was immediately piqued.
KLP Lame Caps
The KLP Lame style is an opensource design by braindefender on github, and anyone can take the files, print them, and use them.
What a time to be alive.
It appears the style that 3Dkeycap offers is the "saddle" and "tilted" variants with their own take on a homing key. This style is printed in resin which they say is safe to touch. Generally if resin is set and cleaned, it is safe to touch and should not cause any irritation, and I have not noticed any sort of issues personally. They are also in the process of using medical grade (ISO 10993-10 certified) resins in the future, which would be very cool to see.
So far, I have had the caps on my keyboard for a few days, and I enjoy them. I thought I might have a hard time with the adjustment in hitting the top and bottom keys, but with my colemak DH layout, I am on the middle row so much that I don't really notice at all. The caps feel premium, I am coming from MBK choc keys, and they do feel like a step up in build quality in the resin.
You can see the difference between the caps here, with the default on the right and the new KLP caps on the left.
Now, one thing I would not recommend is getting the tilted keycaps for any row beyond the top and bottom row, it appears on 3Dkeycap's site they offer the Lily58 variant with two upper rows of tilted keycaps. But, if you have only a 3x5 or any 3xX keyboard, you will be fine.
I also use o-rings to dampen the sound profile a bit on the keys, but some did not fit well on the board with the o-ring attached, so I just stopped using them. Not a big deal at all, and as I migrate to twilight switches in the future, even less of a deal.
After getting used to the caps, I actually increased my typing speed by ~5wpm due to the lessened travel distance from the homerow. Pretty spectacular.
My Ultimate Board
I would say that these caps are coming with me onto the final destination of the ENDGAME endgame keyboard in which I build from ground zero a perfect custom board for my hands. The only thing I will add is a sculpted inner and outer thumbkey for even easier reachability on the thumb. Otherwise, I would say for choc keys, this is the perfect key.
I have been running the chocofi for a year now, and I think that it is (as I started this post) 80-85% of the way there to the perfect board for me. The only changes I would make are as follows:
- I would add columnar splay as I find myself angling the board for pinky and ring finger reach - This is the horizontal splay between fingers, adding dimensionality to key columns that is not normally seen on traditional keyboards:
http://res.cloudinary.com/dmpuhppsb/image/upload/v1738610900/hibwxxzxx07aawue8kyn.webp
- I would shift the thumbs outward as my hand feels a little scrunched up when resting on the board
- I would add native tenting puck support
- I would potentially remove the innermost thumbkey, though I use the right hand for a :w macro that is very helpful in vim/doom emacs
Existing Solutions:
TOTEM - https://github.com/GEIGEIGEIST/TOTEM
- I don't need the external key and the thumbs are same as chocofi
Dasbob
- Essentially very close to what I am looking to build
A. Dux - https://github.com/aroum/kalmar
- Dasbob without the innermost thumbkey
LambBT - https://github.com/johnlamb/LambBT
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- Dux with nicer looking, wireless support
Raedux - https://github.com/andrewjrae/rae-dux
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- Dux with added thumb
We will explore in the coming months as I aim for total keyboard endgame.
My final thoughts on these Caps
If you know me, I don't recommend products I don't personally use. These new caps have earned a permanent place on my board, and I have no plans to switch back to my previous ones. If you're in the market for keycaps and want to support a Canadian company doing innovative work in the custom keyboard space, I can confidently recommend 3DKeycap.com. The quality, service, and people behind the product have thoroughly impressed me.
If you'd like to support my blog and Youtube channel, you can use my affiliate link at checkout - and don't forget to let them know I sent you!
God bless, and until next time.