My Kingdom for Smooth ABS SA Keycaps
Every time I build a new keyboard, I go hunting for keycaps. And every time I go hunting, it eventually devolves into a desperate search for SA (or equivalent) profile keycaps with a smooth finish. SA is the ultimate profile, IMHO, and they're relatively hard to come by. Signature Plastics, which is where a lot of SA sets come from like the T0mb3ry SA Carbon set (they might actually hold the trademark on the SA profile if I'm not mistaken), is reportedly going through some management/ownership struggles (last I heard, they're looking for new ownership), and along with apparently the rest of the industry, they seem to be neglecting this superior keycap profile in their own stocks. If you order direct from them, they have a couple themed sets in stock (maybe), but generally you can have any color you want, as long as it's black or white. Drop carries a fair number of MT3 profile sets, which are very similar to SA. But just like SP's SA-P profile, they're made with a different...
Apr 10, 2024
There are also different stem types, but the only other one you will most likely encounter is that of the Topher switch. The tophers you'd encounter on a ducky board or a realforce board. They, in a sense, are superior switches, but honestly... most cases people will never encounter such a board unless they have a friend who is gungho about them or you are seeking such a board. If you are out of the US and in an asian market, you would more readily come across such a board. Maybe not the best place to mention this... But geekhack.org is truly an all in one source for everything you need to know about keyboards, keys and all things artisan in the keyboarding community.
Good luck and best wishes bro.
You're also not likely to find Cherry profile keycaps on boards outside Uniqey, or aftermarket combinations from places like wasdkeybaords. It isn't difficult to identify once you've seen them, but I'd say the easiest way to tell is how tall the caps are in the middle compared to the top row.
If you're using stock keycaps on boards by any of the major manufacturers, OEM is the closest in profile. Unless they specify lower profile keycaps entirely.