I've preferred ergo keyboards for years and just bought my first Alice last year. I love it, but have always felt that there was something about it that didn't feel right. Your build made me realize that I'm missing a tented ergo keyboard. Thanks for the post and the parts list!

Please can you elaborate on your handwriting?

I didn't read much on the subject, but I have tried and owned keyboards of several sizes. At first I thought I couldn't live without function keys and a numpad, but you stop missing them real soon once you get used to customizing layers. So I bought a TKL (80% size) board and loved it. Then I started experimenting with smaller boards and weird arrangements, and drew the line at ortho layout -- not only was it not teaching me to be a better typist, it also felt like it was bad for my wrists. I don't have carpal tunnel or RSI and hadn't had any issues with normal layouts so I wasn't looking for anything ergonomic until I tried a friend's Alice keyboard. It just clicked, I felt like I could actually keep my hands on the home row, there were few enough keys I could reach them all without looking, but enough that normal typing didn't require weird chords and stuff.

Try some things out at Micro Center or whatever and see what you like

Never have. Do you find it hard to switch back and forth if you ever have to use laptop keyboard / somebody else's computer?