An ultraportable 4x5 ortholinear split keyboard
I like split keyboards, and needed a portable keyboard to carry with me on a day-to-day basis. I looked around for a little while, and found nothing that caught my eye, so I decided to make my own. Although it would take more effort than just getting an off the shelf keyboard, I have previously done similar things, and I figured it'd be worth it since I could fine-tune it to my liking.
I set forth a few things I wanted out of a keyboard, and got sketching. You can see the whole process in the more in-depth write-up found at my website.
Driver40 is what I ended up with. I also implemented a few other nifty features and turned them into their own variations of the primary build, which you can see above.
- 4x5 ortholinear layout
- powered by an nrf52840 pro micro
- 300mah battery capacity
- ~36h (estimated) of battery life
- null, single or dual integrated pointer devices
- custom keycaps (4, to be precise)
- BT & wired connectivity
- snap-on magnetic backplates for better portability
- additional 3d printable travel cover
Want to build a Driver40? Here's how:
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Choose your preferred variant.
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Get all the parts required for the build.
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Follow the build guide.
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Done!
© typewatch 2026. Some rights reserved.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-SA License.
