Work in progress

Introduction

The Katana60 is a symmetrical* row staggered keyboard layout designed to fit in a universal 60% tray mount case (like the GH60).

*Symmetrical refers to the alphanumerical keys, many of the optional bottom rows are not symmetrical.

Design goals

The design goals for the original Katana60 were as follows:

  • Compatibility with 'universal' 60% tray mount keyboard cases
  • It should be possible to cover the entire keyboard with one standard 105 key ANSI keyset, this was a budget motivated choice.
  • ALPS switch compatibility
  • QMK firmware support

Inspiration

The Katana60 was an offshoot design that came about when I was tackling my original goal of reproducing an improved 'Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000'. I consider the right hand typing experience of that keyboard to be the most comfortable I've experienced, so I wanted to mirror the feel on the left side.

During the prototyping stage I tried a flat (single plane - the MSN4k is a tented split design) variation of the layout and realised that the symmetry alone was already an improvement on 'legacy' keyboard layouts. This triggered my exploration on keyboard layout editor of the design, which eventually ended up as the first Katana60 layouts.

History