2y ago

Three more Svalboards went into the world this week!

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!

31 comments

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.
- This looks like it's great for a disabled person: you can do the entire keyboard without moving anything other than your fingers, while your hand rests on a nice platform built to support it without fatigue. If it's something you need, it looks really nice!
- Yep.
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 …
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.
- Thanks, and fingers crossed! I'm trying out some SLA prototyping houses to see how modest volume runs could go, but of course that will take some time to sample and sort out all the kinks when handing off fab & assembly of the mechanicals to someone other than myself.
This is fucking cool as hell, thanks for sharing! I enjoy the funky colors!
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.

31 comments