111WPM on a Dactyl Manuform with homerow mods and Colemak-DHM
Posted Jun 23, 2020, 8:15 PM UTC
2727
I'm not sure whether the "m" in "DHM" should be capitalized or not. I often see it in lowercase but I don't understand why would DH be capitalized and m be in lowercase if it's also a key that got moved from Vanilla Colemak. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
1
Because it derives from Colemak-DH. People started calling it DHm because it's still basically Mod-DH but with a minor variation for the "m" key.
2
Did you print your own manuform or did you order from somewhere?
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I ordered it from somewhere. Neither OhKeycaps or HIDTech though
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Do you find you make use of the full thumb cluster? I'm about to give the D-Mf a try, so I'm trying to decide on the best starting point for amount of keys.
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The lowest row of thumb keys can most definitely be shaved off. The top 2 thumb keys are definitely the most comfortable to use.
The key that is in the middle row of the thumb cluster and aligned in the arc formed by the top two keys is just a tad too far, but really not by much. I don't know if there exist variations which bring it just a little bit closer to the the two top keys.
As for the other key, on the middle row, I like hitting it with the upper part of the proximal phalanx of my thumb by slightly lowering or rotating my wrists. It allows me to press it without moving from the resting position of my thumbs. I use that key much more than the one in front of it, surprisingly enough.
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So I bought a dactyl manuform 4x5. I am trying to learn colemak while also adjusting to layers and split and columnar stagger. I feel like I am failing and quitting too early. Any advice? I also originally loved the idea of home row modifiers but that means a gaming layer for mmo gaming which is a whole new pack of worms.
Would love some advice on how to get back to it...I also got a minidox for work and am trying to create layouts that work for both.
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What exactly are the reasons/sources of the issues and the ensuing frustration? Do you know how to touch type? If you don't, you'll have a bad time on the Dactyl Manuform but it's probably fair to assume that you do have some touch typing skills. In which case, the switch to Colemak is most likely what's most frustrating but that's the case regardless of the keyboard you have.
Personally, I first made sure to know the position of all the keys by heart before I even started typing. Then, I went cold turkey. For the first few days, I grinded keybr.com until I reached the 'final' stage with words containing all the letters. If it weren't for the dramatic plummet of my WPM by Colemak, I probably wouldn't have even picked up home row mods. It's easier when you progressively "grow into" home row mods as opposed to being frustrated with all the accidental mod activation and whatnot when trying them out on a keyboard layout you're already very familiar with.
As for the layers, they're best activated with the thumbs. Don't hesitate to try out different ways to access layers (momentary switch, toggle, layer-tap) and a different layout of the symbols on the layer. I can also recommend looking into combos. For instance, I've experimented with different positions for the brackets on my symbols layer and yet it always didn't feel quite right to me until I tried out U+Y and Y+; combos for inputting different brackets depending on the current mod active. No mods → (), Control → {}, Shift → []. Home row mods make it so easy to activate ctrl and shift that this advanced combo does not require any finger contortions. Finally, in regards to the MMO layout, wouldn't it be easier anyways to just create a QWERTY layer without any fancy QMK functionalities that might interfere with the game? It would save you the trouble of having to change keybinds in games on top of disabling home row mods.
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[deleted]
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Haha indeed! I'm not a big fan of moving my hands around much so I'd rather type with my 10 fingers.
Do you type with 3 fingers total, including the thumb or 3 fingers on each hand + the thumb(s)?
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That just looks painful
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What makes you say that? The wrists? I had to lower my chair a lot in order to get both the PC and the keyboard in the camera so the desk was too high but in normal situations, that's not a problem and my wrists are straight. No pain whatsoever.
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Lol, sorry. I think it's mostly coming from a place of ignorance - I've never gotten into ergonomic keyboards - I am on my Macbook Pro keyboard 99% of the time. Maybe I should try some...
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I respect that you made this comment. It looks odd (read: painful), but then you realize that using any kind of split/ergo (hell, even a normal layout with colemak) you're doing it for the reason that it is LESS painful. I find it funny you've made it to r/colemak without this realization.
I totally understand your sentiment but the wording is way off lol.
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Haha, you're right, the way I worded it is definitely a bit ironic. I've been typing in Colemak for over a decade but have somehow completely missed the whole ergonomic keyboard thing.
1
Split keyboards are a blessing for the shoulders and one's posture but you have to be careful not to fall too deep into the rabbit hole.
1
Or just fall straight to the bottom, a Manuform doesn't have to be that expensive if you just skip all the intermediate steps and go straight there.
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trying dh
This wrist rest certainly looks funny next to such a small keyboard!