balbuzard VS kyria

(The Balbuzzard and Osprette are also interesting, but I think I wanna stay with a split keeb for now)

move top pinky key out and down – Azimuth, Balbuzard, Osprette

Balbuzard – more angle

I've personally been using 36 or fewer keys for at least half a year now, and have always enjoyed the comfort provided by the minimalism of 5 column keebs. However, no matter how far the pinkies go down (whether Corne or Ferris pinky stagger), it seems that I can't quite reach all of the pinky keys without having to move my whole arm with the pinky to reach the top row. By taking inspiration from Brow's Balbuzard, I found that moving the pinkies to the unused 6th column combined with choc spacing means that every single key was now within comfortable reach without having to give up the 30 key alpha layer that most modern keyboards maintain (read: the alpha keys with comma and whatnot).

This guy: https://github.com/brow/balbuzard

Kyria – thumb keys can be 2×1u or 1×2u

some variant of home row mods (or just more thumb keys)

Kyria – more pinky stagger

in a translucent dark grey acrylic case, cut with the files that are available on GitHub!

The official case files (no kerf for laserboost) are in git, but also keep in mind they are not ideal with hotswap boards since they have cutouts for stabs and encoders which prevent clipping on many switches. You can use those in any case if you want to see the exact price for your combo. In production, better use a file that doesn't have those cutouts (such version of the official file is circulating in splitkb discord, you'll probably get it if you ask for it there or make a search) - unless you use 2u buttons and want stabs of course. In my experience encoders can be mounted without extra cutouts and look better that way.

These kyria cases should not be being sold as it breaks the terms of their license: https://github.com/splitkb/kyria/blob/master/LICENSE

There exist plate and case files on the Kyria GitHub Repo, but by inspection they appear to be compatible with only MX switches and stabilizers.

I see that SplitKB has case files for 3D printing and laser cutting in acrylic. Would it be possible to use those files with a service like SendCutSend or Ponoko to have them cut the layers out of aluminum instead?