Does Thick ABS perform the same as Thick PBT?

I’ve tried a couple of the less common keycap materials, namely wood and ceramic.


Wood:

The wood caps I have are from KBDfans, and are made using plastic stem inserts and some kind of lacquer coating. The caps are gorgeous, but not really fit for use IMO - that coating wears-out very quickly under skin oils, making for an inconsistent appearance. The coating feels like what it is; which is to say not something really meant as a point of interaction for human skin. A bit tacky.

I have a recording, though it’s not all that helpful being on dampened switches:

I can tell you they sound deeper than any plastic cap I’ve tried, but not as deep as ceramic. If memory serves, they aren’t heavy enough to significantly alter switch behavior like novelty metal caps are.

This particular wooden set is a beautiful display piece but I really can’t recommend it with the surface treatment. I’ve seen individual caps on Etsy where the wood itself is a durable type or treated for longevity (ie simply oiled and stained) instead of just being coated with what amounts to dissoluble plastic.


Ceramic:

Not the best recording either, but on more standard switches - and at least gives the impression of how D E E P these can sound:

Copypasta from a recent desk-today post; half-and-half about the Cerakeys and the Aurora I put them on:

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