Hey all 
For the ones in need of a Dvorak keyboard, have you considered learning to touch type? 
Iām using a Dvorak US layout for more than 10 years and as I directly learned it by touch typing, I just buy laptops with a standard QWERTY keyboard.
That way Iām never stuck with vendors that donāt provide custom keyboards. And icing on the cake, my colleagues can pair-program on my laptop, I just need to switch back to the QWERTY layout.
Same here, except with Colemak.
That being said, Iād like to try out Colemak-DH but, for proper key arrangement, it requires the ISO standard type of keyboard that isnāt sold in North America (where Iām located) where thereās an additional key to the lower-left of āAā that is directly to the right of the left shift.
https://colemakmods.github.io/mod-dh/
So a Colemak-DH ISO standard physical keyboard would be swell!
(you can technically use Colemak-DH on a North American-style ANSI keyboard but that variant moves the āZā key to where āBā is located and, as someone that uses Ctrl+Z quite often, Iād prefer to not make that specific keyboard shortcut a pain to use - especially since I have small hands)
(it is slightly amusing though that, as shown by āOnboardā using the Colemak-DH ISO on my ANSI keyboard does result in two backslash keys)
Considering that keycaps can be re-arranged, it would probably be efficient to simply sell the two bumped keycaps for a given layout (U & H for Dvorak, etc.) and flat F & J keycaps as opposed to an entire keyboard. And for more popular layouts such as Dvorak, whole keyboards for those who donāt want to risk it with their keycaps would also be good
I actually second this, with QMK people can get blank keyboards and reprogram them.
I just pre-ordered a Framework 16. I intend to rearrange its keycaps into the Dvorak layout, as I did to my MacBook Proās keyboard, but I would really love it if I could buy unpipped F and J keycaps and pipped U and H keycaps to make the conversion fully bespoke. Surely that canāt be a huge manufacturing ask, can it?
Hi and welcome
Yes it clearly is.
Setting up the manufacture of a few items here and there and then everywhere. Where would it stop. The people to design and implement ~ the storage of all the parts of this anfd that and everything.
Then thereās the delivery.
Of course there are businesses that will make the keys for you.
However the keys are not designed to be user replaceable so you would void the warrantee so clearly Framework are not going to provide the keycaps.
You can buy a palin keybioard and etch whatever you like etc.
Iām not asking for the ability to order custom keycaps with arbitrary graphics on them. Iām not even asking for a predefined set of new graphics. I am literally only asking for the same graphics as are already being screened onto keycaps at the scale of millions, the only difference being which batch of plastic parts (pipped or unpipped) get dumped into the machine before starting a run with āFā selected as the graphic to print, etc. Given the relatively lower demand for these parts, probably one manufacturing run of them would keep the storeās inventory stocked for years to come.
You might have a point about storage of inventory, although even 1000 keycaps wouldnāt really take up much space on a shelf. Besides, Framework have already stated their goal of eventually producing every keyboard layout in existence, so theyāre going to have to do a run of unpipped F and J keys eventually.
Oh, please. The four keycaps can be mailed in a recycled paper padded envelope. Or if ordered when ordering a Framework laptop, then four extra keycaps would be a completely negligible addition to throw into the box.
Iād be interested in that, if they could achieve an exact aesthetic and tactile match.
What? They are just clipped on with plastic clips. They pop right off. Are you telling me that Framework would have us throw away an entire keyboard when the only thing wrong with it is that someoneās toddler dropped a toy on it and cracked/chipped a plastic keycap? That wouldnāt at all be in keeping with their mission of producing a user-repairable product with minimal environmental impact.
I am also considering that option, but I donāt have the skills or equipment to screen or engrave graphics onto blank keycaps, and I donāt want to use stickers, as I dislike the feel.
Another idea I am considering is to buy both a US English keyboard module and a blank keyboard module and just swap all the letter and punctuation keycaps on the former out for blank keycaps from the latter, but Iād really rather have the keycaps labeled, as it helps when hunting for a keyboard shortcut with one hand or typing my password upside-down, etc. (I am very happy that I rearranged all the keycaps on my MacBook Pro that I am soon to replace with a Framework, but the pips on the repositioned āFā and āJā keys look silly, thus my wish for a conversion kit.)
All that recycling does nothing and just adds to the environmental cost.
Else
Then of course you have the brave
But remember they are not design to be removed so bang goes the warrantte if you have one.
And as for the environment, well thatās a long gone. Whatās a few more keys, plastic bags. recycling factories and slave labour all in a days work.
@amoun, you seem to have an axe to grind. I kind of wonder why youāre even here if you hate DIY so much.
Iām not concerned about rearranging keycaps. As I said, I did it to my old MacBook Pro, which uses essentially the same plastic scissor mechanisms. 33 keycaps popped off and reattached to convert from QWERTY to Dvorak. 0 plastic bits broken. Took about half an hour. All you have to know is which edge of the keycap seats vertically and which edge slides horizontally. A quick search on YouTube will answer that question. (You answered it for the Framework keyboard indirectly with the video in one of the posts you quoted.) So okay, maybe the keycaps are not designed to be user-replaceable, but they are. Most consumer products are not designed to be repairable, but many of them are nonetheless.
Exactly so why would Framework make them.
You seem to have misunderstood what I āsaidā It was about asking Framework to provide, not any DIY aspect, though I provided links to otherās attempts, the last link showing the success.
Note my response was to āSurely that canāt be a huge manufacturing askā not you or anyone doing things themselves.
DIY ~ Do It Yourself
As fas as hate goes in what garden did you DTU.
You and others are free to change the keys tops, this is about asking Framework to assist in doing something they donāt want to do.
DIY is not asking Framework to make Keyboards and Key caps to suit every demand. Itās their business and DIY is the individualās.
Take care. If your in the UK come visit
As far as axes go, I have quite a few. I manage 40 acres of land for fuel and food, you know DIY and DTU stuff. Computers thatās mainly work for the short days and long nights.
Today I performed this rearrangement of my new Laptop 16 keyboard to the Dvorak layout without incident. I do understand why Framework warn against attempting this, as perhaps burlier human beings might not employ the delicate touch necessary to do this without breaking anything, but if you exercise all due care, itās really quite a doable modification.
I have posted a video to YouTube for anyone curious what the process looks like. It does appear as though Iām straining a lot to pop the keycap off, but thatās because I didnāt notice I was using the wrong side of the spudger. The shorter side works better. (Itās hard to see well when thereās a camera between your face and the work piece.) When using the shorter side, the keycaps come off more easily and in two steps, as the two clips detach individually rather than simultaneously as they did in my video.
Itās just really such a shame that Framework wonāt sell pipped U and H keys and unpipped F and J keys, as that would make this mod truly bespoke.
