My reasons for switching from QWERTY to Dvorak years earlier were mostly about typing efficiency and comfort.

The heat maps show frequently used keys concentrated on the home row, with all five vowels under the left hand. The benefits may be less apparent when entering Chinese, but as a programmer who types a great deal of English, I had found Dvorak comfortable over the previous ten years.

Keyboard shortcuts are its biggest inconvenience for me. Many applications position their shortcuts around QWERTY, and those combinations become awkward after remapping. Key-mapping tools or dedicated shortcuts on a Dvorak-oriented keyboard can compensate.

Around 2015, I bought two TypeMatrix 2030 keyboards. Their built-in support for Dvorak was the main attraction.

Several aspects of the design worked well for me.

My reservations came from using them.

Both keyboards eventually failed after water spills. The conductive membrane traces were damaged, especially by hot water, leaving individual keys unusable. Repairing those fine traces on plastic film was impractical.

I liked the TypeMatrix layout enough that I would have kept using it if the keyboards had survived. My own design therefore started from its layout and functions, with changes to suit my preferences.

I had also used standard-height mechanical keyboards, but disliked their long travel for sustained typing. Quiet operation mattered more to me than tactile feedback, and linear switches felt comfortable for prolonged use. After trying several switches, I settled on low-profile linear switches.

The basic goals were as follows.

My first revision followed the original closely, including 0.75U-high function keys, several unusual 2U keys, and a 5 × 1.25U spacebar. Finding ready-made keycaps for those dimensions was difficult, especially for low-profile switches. Custom PBT tooling made little sense for a one-off keyboard. After validating the first revision’s circuit and firmware, I adjusted the layout to fit commercially available keycaps.

The function keys became 1U. A 0.25U gap between the function row and the main typing area accommodated the centered 2U Backspace and 2.5U Enter keys. I changed the spacebar to the common 6.25U size and removed less-used keys such as right Alt and right Ctrl. The revised layout could use off-the-shelf keycaps.

With the layout decided, I moved on to the electronics. I wanted a straightforward keyboard without elaborate extras or key backlighting. The familiar ATmega32U4 had enough GPIO pins for the design. An STM32 was another possibility, but I saw little benefit in the extra complexity and cost for this project.

The circuit and PCB still needed an enclosure to become a usable keyboard. Before drawing the case, I had to choose a mounting structure.

The hardware needed firmware to implement its input behavior. For a wired ATmega32U4 keyboard, QMK was an established framework that already provided the core keyboard functions.

Writing code is my day job, so starting a QMK project from its documentation was straightforward. With a nonstandard layout, I had expected to work directly in code from the outset. I also prefer organizing the implementation in a way I can comfortably read and maintain.

QMK supplies keycode definitions, layer switching and combinations, shortcut handling, matrix scanning, and much of the other basic behavior. My main work was defining the keymaps and layout-switching logic. MCU pin assignments go in info.json.

I used four layers for the default Dvorak layout, an alternative QWERTY layout, function combinations, and a numeric keypad.

The custom key handlers switch between Dvorak and QWERTY and provide a double-zero key, similar to the 00 key on some calculators. Following TypeMatrix’s approach, Fn combinations on the left side provide copy and paste shortcuts that remain convenient with Dvorak.

After compiling the firmware with QMK, I used QMK Toolbox and the PCB’s reset pads to flash it onto the MCU.

I ordered the PCB and SMT assembly through JLCPCB. The assembly service could place the surface-mount components along with the board order. Since I designed the circuit in KiCad, my workflow involved importing it into EasyEDA, associating the fabrication parts, checking the result, and uploading the board and assembly files. At order confirmation, I paid particular attention to the orientation and polarity of the MCU, crystal, ICs, and diodes. Automatic placement still needed a manual check.

For the upper case and plate, I used JLC’s 3D Monkey CNC service with 6061 aluminum and a space-gray anodized finish. The same service printed the ABS lower case. Threaded features required separate 2D drawings with machining notes, which were straightforward to prepare in SolidWorks.

I also considered softer 5-series aluminum and pilot holes that could be tapped during screw installation as a possible way to reduce machining cost.

Once the orders were placed, there was a short wait. The PCB arrived relatively quickly. CNC machining and 3D printing took a little longer, possibly because I ordered during the National Day holiday and there was a backlog. Everything was finished in about a week.

The machined upper case and plate fit together neatly. Snapping switches into the plate was satisfying, a little like assembling Lego.

Next, I positioned the switches in the plate, soldered them to the PCB, and installed the stabilizers and wires. The Kailh 1350 stem design limited keycap choices, particularly with switches rotated 90 degrees. I ultimately chose Cherry low-profile switches for their cross-shaped stems, keycap compatibility, and relatively quiet operation.

The unusual Dvorak arrangement needed uniform-profile keycaps, with the same shape across rows. I chose a set from the NuPhy Air96 that suited the anodized case. Their PBT material also appealed to me for long-term use and resistance to developing a shiny surface.

The finished space-gray aluminum case and predominantly gray keycaps looked good together.

I planned to use the keyboard for a while before deciding what to change in another revision. The Fn combinations felt slightly awkward because I had been conservative about key spacing. I also wanted a rotary control, but finding a smooth, non-detented encoder that fit the low-profile height was proving harder than expected.

The project gave me a taste of the enjoyment that technology creators such as He Tongxue and Zhihui Jun find in designing their own devices. I had never taken an electronic product through the entire process from an initial idea to manufacturing. Completing it over roughly two weeks of spare time was satisfying. It reminded me of the resourceful engineers in Jules Verne’s nineteenth-century novels, solving one practical problem after another through engineering.

Access to affordable manufacturing also made a strong impression. For a small personal project, turning an idea into a physical object was remarkably accessible. I wondered what further designs might become possible if custom integrated-circuit fabrication became similarly approachable one day.

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