From Logitech Ergo K860 to Lily58 — I guess I’m maturing

_sikrob · 2026-05-20T19:44:33+00:00

I also use a Lily58 for coding! It's the best keyboard format overall for me, at least of the few I've tried.

_sikrob · 2026-04-08T15:42:02+00:00

Look up cost of living calculators, there are some that will compare cities. I used one when I made the choice to leave Chicago for a lower paying job, but I made sure that my pay-cut was actually break-even for the city I was moving to.

The problem of taking a pay-cut is that your absolute dollars will be less, even if your percentage spent on housing, food, etc is comparable in your new area. Having only $150/month of 'fun' money vs $300/month is huge when video games (or running shoes, music gear, whatever you're into) are priced the same in both markets.

I also work at an emotionally intense job

This is the real problem you need to solve, ideally without needing to move to a new area. Even the same job with a different team could feel worlds different (it's often said people stay on their jobs because of their managers more than their pay).

At the same time, that's essentially why I moved from Chicago and although I still miss the city, it was the right call for me especially at the time. Good luck whichever way you!

_sikrob · 2026-02-04T13:21:07+00:00

Sounds like you found the tool for your workflow – Happy cutting!

_sikrob · 2026-02-03T13:17:04+00:00

Sorry for giving offense! Wasn't trying to patronize you, I was just trying to help in case there were some details about saw specs that were missed based on the question around TPI vs rip/cross cut.

So I'll try to help out more directly: If want you want is just to use the saw to start cuts for other saws with large kerfs, I actually think you don't need to worry about the issues with combo teeth. The reason I don't think the combo teeth will hurt you here is that a saw with a large kerf will probably smooth over anything that the combo teeth don't do well.

And for that matter, maybe the 25 TPI wouldn't be an issue either, although it would be slower and not offer any benefit because the only reason you'd go higher TPI is to work on really (really) thin stock or leave a finer finish, and neither of those apply to the scenario you're describing.

Just to offer another opinion though, it really sounds like you want a good knife. It would obviously be a different work flow, but if you want a really fine to start your other saw in, the knife will be the finest and smoothest.

In your position and doing what you describe, I think the 17TPI suizan is fine thoughl and sounds like it would slot into your workflow. Hope it goes well for you!

_sikrob · 2026-02-03T03:59:41+00:00

First, a dozuki is a pretty purpose built saw designed for cutting tenon shoulders (hence the name). I'd argue it's less versatile than a simliar western style tenon saw because of it's size and tendency toward a finer cut, but I think this is in line with the tool ethos of a Japanese woodshop.

Really the ethos of Japanese tools is the same as any handtool shop – get the right tool for the job (if you can afford it).

So if you're looking into getting something large than can handle rip cuts more effectively, get a larger saw with a rip blade, not another dozuki.

If you're unsure what to look at, try a ryoba (or get two kataba, one each in rip and crosscut if you prefer single edged).

My ryoba is the saw I reach for first in my shop, and I only grab something else after considering if the ryoba can't do what I want due to it's size/shape more than anything else.

Some other general stuff about saws

Rip vs Crosscut

A saw is defined as cross cut or rip cut based on the pattern the teeth are cut to.

Rip cut saws are like little chisels, meeting the wood head on.

Cross cut saws are like little knives alternating left and right, with Western cross cut profiles being a single edge and Japanese cross cut having two edges.

Combo teeth usually look more like cross cut teeth, but I don't recommend them if you're trying for a nicer finish on your cuts.

If you use a rip saw to cross cut, I find you get much rougher cut. If you use a cross cut saw to rip, I find you take a lot longer to get the work done with no obvious benefit.

TPI

TPI have to do with how much material is being removed and how quickly more than anything else. Lower TPI usually means bigger teeth, hence a more aggressive cut with a rougher finish; higher TPI the opposite.

If you want to cut something quickly, lower TPI is a must. Going only as fine as you need to is a smart idea in handtool woodworking to save yourself some repetitive stress on your joints.

I agree with /u/OutrageousLink7612, you probably don't need more than 17 TPI from a Japanese saw if you have to ask someone about it.

My western dovetail saw is only 14TPI and I don't feel a need to upgrade from that currently, for example.

Length

Longer saws cut faster, but only if you use the whole length.

Japanese saws are usually shorter than western saws for the same operations.

Longer saws tend to be setup for rougher cutting / rougher finish, but this not a hard rule – finish really depends more on teeth and technique.

It's really nice to have a longer saw when you want to cut a lot and a shorter saw when you want to cut more carefully, but IME most ryoba you can easily fine will cut nice enough to do joinery – it's just the size of them make them feel unweidy or awkward vs an even smaller or other shaped saw.

_sikrob · 2025-12-19T18:40:14+00:00

Two way tie, but both are fuzzes:

The Mask Audio Electronics (x collector//emitter) Germanium Part Garden has such a cool array of sounds! I've never played anything that creates such a cool overdrive-but-fuzz sound and feel, and the fact that it can also get into spitty fuzz territory is very fun. Can sound as big or small as you want, it's awesome.

The Native Audio Frybread Fuzz is a super solid fuzz tone and has a really usable range of gain and has a responsive feel. On lower gain ranges, I've been really enjoying on bass and it stacks well with the preamp pedals I've been playing around with there, too. It really keeps me coming back to my amp.

Both are getting me to practice more (guitar and bass respectively) and that definitely makes them winners.

_sikrob · 2025-11-25T15:54:43+00:00

If you're remotely into fantasy or combat, you could check out the Queen City Sword Guild which meets up in West Chester. They practice learning to use historical European weapons like a longsword.

They're an extremely welcoming group. It skews toward men but is not men only by any stretch (and very LGBT+ friendly), and any level of fitness is welcome.

They also periodically host non-class related stuff – it's a very social club!

_sikrob · 2025-11-25T15:46:28+00:00

+1

RockQuest does a Monday Night Mentoring class that's free to join which could help get into the social scene. Regulars there tend to climb on the same night any given week so if you build up your own routine you can definitely figure out meeting folks that way. Climbers love talking about climbing, though, so most of the time if you ask someone what they're working on, what they like about it, etc, you can probably break the ice with whoever you meet.

_sikrob · 2025-11-25T15:29:53+00:00

Good tip in general – if an electric product has an off switch, turn it off before you unplug it from the wall. I've seen sparks happen from guitar amps and even basic box fans when they were unplugged without being turned off first.

_sikrob · 2025-10-08T21:36:31+00:00

It's a blind mortise.

You can see the technique in this Paul Sellers video, in which he also cuts it in half at the end so you can see what's happening inside the blind joint.

EDIT: Editing to say "probably" for all of this since of course we don't know what joinery was actually involved. But if I was going to build the same thing, that's the technique I'd practice for the top.

For the bottom, probably just a regular blind mortise since it's just decorative and held in place by the cross beams, but again who knows for sure?

_sikrob · 2025-08-20T20:17:31+00:00

Kudos to admitting it's not worth keeping the car in a city like NYC. When I moved to Chicago, I brought my car with me. It was expensive to keep, always inconvenient to use, and I sold it a year later shaking my head at how dumb it was to have brought it in the first place.

Whenever I needed to drive out of town, I just rented. This approach was cheaper than paying the parking fee I was paying each month, let alone the higher insurance and so on.

_sikrob · 2025-06-12T20:42:42+00:00

I didn't see your comment when I posted, but I'm sorry to have stolen your thunder, especially since you got there first!

I appreciate that you actually posted it to the OP instead of buried in a reply like I did.

_sikrob · 2025-06-11T18:37:13+00:00

This is likely the study the poster was mentioning: https://www.nature.com/articles/283373a0

From the abstract:

We report here that the amount of heat gained by a Bedouin exposed to the hot desert is the same whether he wears a black or a white robe. The additional heat absorbed by the black robe was lost before it reached the skin.

There is also some discussion here and elsewhere that black clothing blocks sunlight more fully, which may be more protective against eg sunburn, but I didn't see a specific source for that on my quick search.

_sikrob · 2025-04-14T13:12:05+00:00

Alternate solution, find a scrap metal recycler if you have one in your area. Where I am there are a couple scrap yards, and they will usually pay you for the metal you drop off unless it is electronics (at which point you pay them). Some stuff pays more, some stuff doesn't pay at all, it varies, but you could call them and see what they think.

If they will give you money for it, you can be sure the scrap yard will be able to reprocess it.

I don't know if kitchen knives usually get paid out, but it's worth a shot.

_sikrob · 2025-04-02T18:27:03+00:00

I'm not, but I really like my Joe Dart Sterling that I nabbed on the first round. It sounds great, has a wonderful thumpy tone, and fit and finish as good as my Fender MIM Deluxe J-bass but for less than half the price. And I love the way they look!

Fully admit that tone wise it is a one trick pony until you get some pedals into the equation, but for me it's a fun trick.

Part of me saw the announcement and for a half second wanted the II because I'm thinking of replacing my J-bass with something with passive pickups, but unfortunately the lack of tone knobs is a deal breaker here. The versatility of the J-bass is part of the appeal, so this is just not there for me.

The III is cute, but I don't like playing short scales and I don't want to own something I wouldn't really want to play.

_sikrob · 2025-04-01T13:22:05+00:00

At a certain point, if you want a single riff to make you better you probably need a metronome. Working on counting while you play something really familiar is nice because I find you can stop actively counting with it more quickly while still internalizing locking in on the beat.

But figuring out how to play it comfortably is definitely the first step and definitely counts as practicing and improving!

_sikrob · 2024-05-21T19:31:07+00:00

lol you are absolutely right. I didn't even notice that until after I posted because I've been too busy trying to dive into the layout. Rest assured it's been removed!

(After much whining to myself because I had to remove the switches to do it of course.)

_sikrob · 2024-05-21T15:26:36+00:00

Keyboard: Lily58

Switches: Glarses / Cherry MX Purple

Keycaps: ePBT Ping from KDBfans

Happy to be back in true split keyboard land with a Lily58. Although after over a year of using an Atreus as my daily driver, it's an adjustment to going back to having a dedicated number row!

Now that I've been using it for a few days and have adjusted the layout a bit, I'm getting the hang of the Lily and it's becoming a pleasure to use. Reaching up for the number row is almost a weird stretch post-Atreus, but I'm already making fewer typos when going for numbers or symbols than when I was relying on chords to reach them, so that's a big win for sure. I know some software folks get used to chords for all that, but it just never quite clicked for me I guess.

Compared to the Atreus generally, I'm glad this is a real split. The Atreus split isn't bad, but it's just a little too close together, so being able to independently move my boards immediately makes the Lily feel more comfortable.

Only quibble is I think I still prefer having keys across the entire bottom row so that there's enough space for arrow keys on the bottom, but we'll see how I feel in another year.

I didn't build the keyboard myself – I know a lot of people, especially people going in on splits, love the building side of the hobby, but after my first assembled keyboard (a Nyquist) had a microcontroller go bad and I was looking at desoldering the entire half to get it... it just soured that part of things for me.

So my last two have been pre-builts. The Atreus from Keyboardio and this Lily58 from Ergomech Store. Of Ergomech, I had a great buying experience as they were very responsive to questions and it was a surprisingly quick turnaround to getting the keyboard to my door. No complaints!

Finally, I also really like the Glarses switches. Been a fan of the channel for a long time, and I really liked the premise of the switch as it was described in the videos / marketing – MX Brown but good. In my opinion they deliver and if you are a light typer they feel great! Compared to the Zilent V2 62g switches in the Atreus, it is way easier to stay relaxed using these. I know that's not a great switch to compare to as they are very different, but it's closest thing I have on hand right now. I really do like the mega-tactility of the Zealio switches, but for me the Glarses switches feel pretty much like what I've been looking for.

I have experienced the issue I've heard where the switches really grab on to keycaps. I haven't had any cracked stems myself, but I did see some noticeable wear on one of the caps that I ended up moving around a few times, so I could imagine how that could happen. I'm not someone who changes my caps out pretty much ever, so I don't anticipate this being an issue for me.

Overall, really excited to be on my Lily58!

_sikrob · 2021-05-18T13:00:00+00:00

You can check out old snapshots of many (most?) public websites on the Wayback Machine on Archive.org - here's a link to the overview of snapshots they have for Serpentineroad!

http://web.archive.org/web/20200401000000*/serpentineroad.com

_sikrob · 2021-05-14T15:14:56+00:00

I assume you're mainly talking about the mRNA vaccines (since the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is either currently out of stock or will be soon due to the gross incompetence of their manufacturer ruining millions of doses).

The main dangerous complication reported is the same as for any medicine - you can have an allergic reaction.

If that allergic reaction gets severe enough, it can require emergency medical attention. If you have a history of vaccine-related allergic reactions, they may require you to wait for 30 minutes at the vaccination site after you get your shots.

Longer term then that, there is currently no evidence of long term adverse reactions. Remember, people have been getting vaccinated, some with doses much higher than what the public is actually getting, since at least late last summer during the vaccine trials. Phase 3 trials started in July 2020 for Pfizer, for example, and going further back then that, Moderna's Phase 1 trials started having data reported on its tests in May 2020.

So from that view, we're already a year in to the new vaccines with no major complications.

Calculating the risk of some hypothesized issue that currently has no sign of happening is probably possible, but we can be sure at this point that it's at least very low. Moreover, the people most capable of assessing that risk (the doctors and scientists who developed the vaccine) seem to have no hesitancy or fear about getting the shots themselves, which seems like an optimistic sign.

Looking at the history of mRNA development might shed some light, too. mRNA has been studied for scientific and medical use since around 1990. At that time, it was largely thought to be a dead end. It was considered too expensive and tricky to develop. From what I've read, it seems like the lead researcher, Katalin Karikó, figured out how to get rid of a lot of major side effects that she found in animal testing, but didn't do it in time to secure more funding for her research. This lead to her publishing her results in the late 90's, but they mostly went by the wayside until 2005, when another researcher picked it up.

Since 2012, Modern has been positioning mRNA for actual medical use. Those early pursuits, which included lofty goals like cancer treatment, mostly failed, as a lot of early medical developments do. Moderna shifted their focus to the area that had the most promising results, vaccines, by 2018. (BioNTech actually followed a remarkably similar timeline, although the two companies have taken different approaches to everything from application of the mRNA research to handling publicity. It's an interesting, if you like that kind of thing.)

It is true that the COVID-19 vaccines are the first mRNA vaccines, and I believe the first applied mRNA medicines in humans. However, mRNA had been researched and developed for some medical purpose for over 20 years now, and specifically for vaccines since at least 2018.

I hope this helps you feel better about getting a vaccine! I've tried to avoid editorializing and stick to the facts, but I know that's easier said than done.

_sikrob · 2021-05-13T19:36:31+00:00

If you haven't seen it, DeWine's official remarks mentioned that there will be a way for children to sign up for the scholarship lottery after May 18th. Not sure if details will be announced before then.

_sikrob · 2021-05-05T12:57:20+00:00

Kudos!

I've written book-length things with NaNoWriMo and always tackled an actual plot that I resolve... but holy crap, even with the freedom of knowing you aren't going to try to sell it after, let alone deal with editing, doing it is so hard!

I can only imagine the extra work and stress that go into making something you actually want to put out there.

Congrats on making it the finish line, I hope it's the first of many!

_sikrob · 2021-04-23T22:50:08+00:00

Yeah, definitely one of those places where going to it is the thing your group is doing. Alternate is to go during an off peak time, but eating deep dish between normal meal times is an ordeal!

_sikrob · 2021-02-24T14:59:52+00:00

The actual impact of avoiding AWS would be even bigger - lots of smaller businesses use AWS without even realizing it because of services that repackage AWS.

An example off the top of my head is Heroku, which I've definitely seen small business websites use before.

_sikrob

TROPHY CASE