After I switched from QWERTY to Colemak, getting a keyboard for this new layout becomes something I’ve been thinking about more often. At the moment I was using HHKB and a Filco TKL, which are both nice keyboards, but it bothers me that the keyboards stay in QWERTY while I have already moved on.

There are some software solutions available to translate the keyboard into a Colemak keyboard, like the hotkey macros, and I have to say it works well. However I hate the fact that you have to start extra applications to achieve something that should be much simpler.

Then I start the journey of getting a new keyboard…

At first I learnt that there are alternative controllers available for both keyboards of mine. With an alternative controller one can program the keys to whatever keys, and macro’s can be implemented so that one key press event can be come a series of key-press. With the concept of layers, a physical key in different layers can be different keys.

What a wonderful solution! I thought. And then I get the alternative controllers from Hasu and and bpiphany in GeekHack.
The controllers work great. Both of my keyboards turn to Colemak layout and are equiped with many more features with the macro and the layers. But soon enough I realize I need something more…

The print on the keys is not right: it still tells the keyboard speaks QWERTY though it has a Colemak heart.

With full programmability the keyboards are now too big: the arrow keys, pgdn/pgup/home/end/insert/delete/sclk/pause/scrlk and all the Fn keys and number keys becomes unnecessary, and BTW why are all the space key so fat and ugly?

All these thoughts leads me into seeking uncommon keyboards that are not “off-the-shelf”.

Not until then have I realized there is a good size of people in this world who are so crazy/focus/creative on customized keyboards. There are different designs on 60%, 59%, 45%, 40% keyboards. There are options available for stagged keyboards and ortholinear keyboards. There are so many kinds of switches for all levels of tactile feedback and sounds.
Not to mention you have endless choice of keycap designs in several profiles.

Boy, I’ve been so bored on my keyboard for so long time!

I digged into Reddit and GeekHack for my dream keyboard and I thought I found one: the JD40, a 40% fully programable stagged keyboard.