The split keyboard for me (it may not be for you).
I began my split keyboard journey with the Lily58, and I've been enjoying it. However, the offset of specific columns wasn't optimal for my hands, and I couldn't comfortably reach certain keys in the thumb fan. The Sofle solved some of these issues, but I decided to create my own split keyboard designed specifically for my hands.
As part of using the Lily58, I found out:
- I didn't use the "extra" key next to G and H.
- The top left and right keys are too far away to reach.
- Swapping Ctrl and Shift keys in the default layout didn't work for me.
The following split keyboards inspire Novum:
- Columns located perfectly for my fingers.
- Keep it simple and stupid:
- No RGB nonsense
- No display
- No wireless
- The thumb fan is curved perfectly for my thumb, and the keys are not located under the hand.
- Built with Ergogen, inspired by corney-island and spleeb.
- Individual PCBs for the left and right sides. My OCD does not like the reversible PCBs.
You can find the pre-generated files on the Releases
page. However, if you want, you can generate the files yourself by executing the
build.sh script (requires Docker).
The build process consists of multiple phases:
- Generate the unrouted PCBs.
- Inject the JLCPCB design rules.
- Import hand-routed tracks into PCBs.
- Autoroute the unconnected items.
- Use KiBot to generate gerbers and images.
Each step is located in the builder/steps folder. Hand-routed tracks
can be extracted from the .kicad_pcb files by executing npm run export-tracks.
The revision 1 is a typical sandwich design, with each layer intended to be a 1.6 mm thick FR-4 circuit board. This approach reduces costs and streamlines manufacturing, as it allows all boards to be ordered from a single supplier.
The current design offers three variants for the bottom board. The standard version features intricate PCB art on exposed copper layers and requires an ENIG (Electroless Nickel Immersion Gold) surface finish. If this design feels too elaborate, a blank bottom board is also included in the release package as an alternative. Additionally, the package contains a bottom board compatible with splitkb's tenting puck accessary, providing further customization options.
| Top side | Bottom side |
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| Item | Quantity | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Novum Left PCB | 1 | |
| Novum Right PCB | 1 | |
| Novum Switch Plate | 2 | |
| Novum Bottom Plate | 2 | Three different version available, see images |
| 1N4148W Diode | 58 | SOD-123 or through hole |
| Kailh Hot-Swap Socket | 56 | |
| RP2040 Community Edition MCU Board | 2 | |
| PJ-320A TRRS Jack | 2 | |
| SKHLLCA010 Button | 2 | |
| EC11 Encoder | 2 | |
| M2 x 4 mm screw | 20 | |
| M2 x 8 mm spacer | 10 | Outer diameter: 3.1 mm |
Any RP2040 Community Edition standard boards should. However, the keyboard is only tested with Liatris and SparkFun Pro Micro - RP2040 boards. The following firmware is currently supported, and the pre-build binaries can be found on the Releases page.
Currently, the keyboard has yet to be merged into the above mainline repos.
