Microsoft Natural Ergonomic 4000 Replacement

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![my old natural 4k][1]

**They stopped making it!** I'm actually typing this post now with a keyboard I built from scracth. I've previously been using the MS 4k for over a decade. OK, not the exact one in the image; it's like my 5th. Without it I'd get wrist pain within a day.

I suddenly found a new one was $400 on amazon! I was also thinking of checking to see if there was something more modern. I think the keys sometimes activate a little past the bump, which has lead me to prefer hammering on them to guarantee it registers. Or maybe I'm just always angry when I code. Things I want in a new keyboard:

- Ergonomic design. I.e. angled left and right halves. I don't care of they're separate/"split" or not.
    - The keys of the 4K are nicely curved in a 3D wave. More on that later.
    - Ctrl and shift are easier to reach with my 5th finger. Actually this is where a lot of discomfort from straight boards comes from. I copy/paste a lot and use ctrl-arrow and ctrl-shift-arrow keys frequently.
 - Reverse tilt. I absolutely love the backwards tilt that the MS 4k's stand gives. It boggles my mind that so many keyboards come with little stands to raise the back.
 - Wrist/palm rest. As visible in the image, I make good use of the palm rest. Note that this isn't always great for your wrists and some people say a floating position works better for them.
 - Navigation keys. I use arrow keys and home/end a lot! I don't care about a numberpad - it just gets in the way of the mouse. I later found this was called an 80% / "TKL".
 - Light actuation and responsive keys. I don't want to have to hammer keys to make them work.

Microsoft have a couple of new boards. One is the "Sculpt". Can people stop making keybaords with integral navigation key layouts? Arrow keys, home and end need to be in a consistent location for my muscle memory to work and when they're not I can't copy/paste effectively.

![Sculpt ergonomic keyboard][2]

The official replacement is rather ambiguously named the "Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard"
([microsoft.com](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/d/microsoft-ergonomic-keyboard/93841ngdwr1h),
[wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_ergonomic_keyboards#Microsoft_Ergonomic_Keyboard)). At least the navigation keys are still in a sane place.

![Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard][3]

This might have been where my search ended, and there are some other decent looking ergonomic membrane keyboards with standard navigation keys out  there ([search](https://www.google.com/search?q=Microsoft+Natural+Ergonomic+4000+Replacement)). **Buut.. what about a mechanical keyboard?** ([search+mechanical](https://www.google.com/search?q=Microsoft+Natural+Ergonomic+4000+Mechanical+Replacement)) I haven't used one since the days of old AT DIN connectors. Could an ergonomic one exist? It seems others have had similar ideas too...

Just as recommended on [reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/ErgoMechKeyboards/comments/miqjtx/mechanical_alternative_to_microsoft_natural/) ([others fyi](https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/5lijyh/help_me_find_a_mechanical_keyboard_like_the/)), the visually closest mechanical one I could find is the Cloud Nine C989 ErgoFS. Note that they make a smaller one but with \*\*\*\*ed navigation keys. Probably worth a shot, but the keys are perfectly straight rows and by now I'm interested by the term *ten keys less* (TKL), which technically means no number pad but sadly is also applied to many keyboards with \*\*\*\*ed navigation keys. What other options are out there?

![Cloud Nine C989 ErgoFS][4]

Ooh, there's a whole community of people out there that build their own keyboards!

![enter image description here][5]
[src](https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/lsh3f7/making_a_mechanical_version_of_the_microsoft/)

That sounds like a lot of work. Definitely, hats off to these people, but I just want something I can buy. So down the rabbit hole I go...

- https://github.com/diimdeep/awesome-split-keyboards
 - https://gist.github.com/itod/ae27b30f7517dc18b8df110c1d98bccb

Thoughts...

- They're all just flat. Probably because PCBs and plates are far easier to make flat. (Afterthought: could be better but not terrible with good tenting adjustment)
 - They're missing half the keys, like a navigation panel. (Afterthought: getting used to a thumb cluster and layers is possible - e.g. hold a button with your thumb and press I, J, K, L for arrows)
 - Some split boards have customizable buttons between the T, G, B and Y, H, N letters on each half - what a great idea!!
 - Some "columner" boards like Ergodox give kind of an arc/sweep to keys like the MS 4k.
 - The Moonlander can be tilted and tented but to give it a backwards tilt means the thumb cluster must be at an overly steep angle. Also the palm rests cannot be raised, out of the box.
    ![enter image description here][6]
 - Some boards like the Dactyl-Manuform are just 3D printed and you can have any shape you want!!
    ![enter image description here][7]

So nothing fits exactly what I want. Screw it. I own a 3D printer. **I'll build my own keyboard!** (with blackjack...) How hard can this be! All I need to do is some simple soldering with some switches and diodes to an Arduino.

[**... and so I did.**](/blog/55/derbard-custom-split-mechanical-keyboard-prototype/)

-----

Beforehand:

The first thing I did was buy some mechanical switch samplers to see which ones I liked. Yes! There are many, many kinds. I highly recommend samplers as trial and error with full boards would be expensive. I liked:

- Gateron browns. Similar to Kailh; nicer than Cherry which had more slop/play, IMO.
 - Kailh speed copper. Love the high activation point, right at the top, which makes them feel very responsive. Their upstroke is fairly loud and they feel like they take a tad more activation effort without the run-up you get with browns.
 - Kailh box whites. I don't actually want clickies, but these were pretty cool. Not super loud despite the click on the upstroke too. I've since got a few to try with layer and modifier keys. If pressure is applied to the top of the keycap they can activate very slightly before clicking.

I occasionally get double activations with mechanical keys that I didn't with the MS 4k. I don't know if this is a thing, or I'm actually making mistakes. Not always the same keys and I've used two sets of switches, so it's probably just me getting used to them and not hammering as much.

I then got a cheap (ish/relatively) mechanical board with my favorite switches. The plan was to use the switches in the one I end up making, and also see how I like using a full board. I was surprised how quickly my wrist pain returned when using this thing, even with a wrist pad and attempts to reverse tilt it.

![keycheron][8]

[1]: https://img.heuristic42.com/img/86b71fbeecb5.jpg
  [2]: https://img.heuristic42.com/img/e2b1adc90872.jpg
  [3]: https://img.heuristic42.com/img/4da676ab6bb0.jpg
  [4]: https://img.heuristic42.com/img/4ea23af157bb.jpg
  [5]: https://img.heuristic42.com/img/30b3e46f2f32.jpg
  [6]: https://img.heuristic42.com/img/ee20c3130fa5.jpg
  [7]: https://img.heuristic42.com/img/43287bc10976.jpg
  [8]: https://img.heuristic42.com/img/8a0328addff7.jpg

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