I have improvements I will make on my portable keyboard for lappy, but I'm never going back.

They're a lot more comfortable.

Nobody needs permission to post a link to something somewhere. What horror happened to you?

I'm sorry I made my custom keyboard wrong.

https://www.printables.com/model/396950-xda-keycap-set

Knobs are for knobby things. QMK is extremely configurable. Sometimes they are volume, sometimes seeking, sometimes mouse x and y, sometimes scroll wheel, sometimes keyboard arrows, mostly decorative.

MX browns. I am distinctly not obsessed with keyboards. I just like being able to use computers in postures that don't hurt.

I also switched to colemakdh with a series of layers and qmk tricks. My typing is quite slow so far, around 30 wpm, I was never an amazing typist but I haven't noticed difficulty with standard qwerty layouts.

It's not like you get confused between a harp and a guitar, or a spoon and a knife.

As someone who runs an ergodox ez with a custom key layout and who goes in to work from time to time using normal QWERTY keyboards (both English and German configuration), you do not lose anything. It's incredibly easy to switch between every config you have.

I also think most people would appreciate a split keyboard setup because it's so much better for posture and health and comfortability. Would highly recommend.

I use Colemak on phone and Qwerty on desktop, and never think about it.

I normally use a Kinesis Advantage 2 (but in qwerty, unlike OP), and I can go back to a standard layout qwerty board with just a small adjustment period - I keep hitting "x" when I mean to hit "c", sort of thing. But it's an adjustment I can make "mid-stream" so to speak; I just use the board and get used to it again as I go.

How is trackball? I wasn't sure how easily layering would work giving up easy access to half the thumb cluster.

I don't have particularly large hands, but they're not small either. Most peripherals appear to be made for short people, but we grow tall under the searing sun of the land downunder.

Pretty easy with that cosmos thing I linked. you can literally drag and drop buttons and shit. Pretty neat!

The most time consuming part was cleaning up the keycap prints as that involved removing support material and a brim for each. Soldering was around 4 hours work.

I strongly recommend checking verticle clearance for the microcontroller if you angle it.

I also strongly recommend living somewhere where asking for enameled wire with an enamel that can be burned off with solder doesn't get you blank stares.

If you can't do the latter Livingston sells scapels which work well to remove insulation in the middle of wires.

If you need stuff printed I, or someone more local, would be more than happy to help. Otherwise all the knowledge and tools are available for free.