Cherry mx board and Costar-type stabilizers with thick PBT keycaps. A Cherry mx board with Costar-type stabilizers such as the WASD V2 87 cannot be fitted with some of the thick PBT keycap sets, because the stabilizer wire rubs against the inside front edge of the stabilized keys. Recently, I found this to be a major problem with a new Leopold thick PBT set. The problem seems most pronounced on the Enter key, which had some degree of friction with the stabilizer wire on thick PBT keycap sets from Ducky, Imsto, and Originative. Some people have been able to correct the problem by sanding down the inside front edge of the problematic keycaps. I ended up using Imsto caps, silencing the downstroke of the Spacebar by installing black 50A-R O-rings, and substituting an Enter key from a Wyse doubleshot set. This problem did NOT occur with the Granite set, but I found it difficult to type on the WASD keyboard using the Granite set -- the keys felt too light, and I was unfamiliar with the profile and spherical key tops.
Topre-switch keyboards. With Realforce and HHKB Pro 2 keyboards, the stock keycaps (or keycaps sets made by Topre) seem ideally suited to their keyboards functionally and aesthetically. I have put a mix of keycaps on my Topre-switch boards, such as blue alphanumerics and arrow keys with black mods, but all the keycap sets are made by Topre, and everything "just works". These caps are long-lasting and have beautiful dye-sub legends, which I prefer over most other kinds except perhaps double-shots (which until recently have been difficult to find in PBT).
IBM Model F and Model M buckling spring or beam spring keyboards. The stock keycaps or those made by IBM or Unicomp seem ideally suited for their corresponding keyboards functionally and aesthetically. Here again, I have done some customization, but all the keycaps were made for their respective types of keyboards by IBM or Unicomp. Again, everything "just works", and the IBM caps have beautiful dye-sub legends.
Hybrid Topre. The situation starts to get complicated with the introduction of a hybrid such as the CM Novatouch keyboard, which has Topre switches with Cherry mx-compatible stems. With this keyboard, I found that the Leopold set worked quite well. The Granite set also worked well with the exception of the Backspace key, which apparently hits the stabilizer housing, creating a loud downstroke click that does not occur with any of the other keys. I alleviated this by installing blue 40A-R O-rings on the Backspace key. Oddly enough, I found it much easier to type with Granite caps on the Novatouch than on a regular Cherry keyboard, such as the WASD. The sound and feel of the Novatouch was rather sensitive to the keycap set used and whether or not O-rings were added. Although it is fun to experiment, it can also be frustrating finding just the right keycap set for optimal sound, feel, and performance.
Others. Many other switch types exist, including various Alps (including Matias). Finding keycaps for these and other switches can be a challenge, and it can be difficult to know when the keycaps are optimized for the keyboard.
The importance of finding the optimal keycaps for a given switch and keyboard should not be underestimated. It is likely that part of the pleasure associated with typing on a Realforce 87u, HHKB Pro 2, IBM Model F or M buckling spring or IBM beam spring comes from the fact the the keycaps for these boards were designed to work well with their respective switches. This optimal matching of keycaps and keyboards becomes more difficult in the mix and match world of Cherry mx, including the new Novatouch hybrid.
EDIT: Some additional important variables come to mind:
Keycap thickness. It is interesting to note that the excellent keycaps found on IBM buckling spring and Topre keyboards are made of relatively thin PBT plastic. Recently, there seems to be a developing preference for Cherry mx keycaps that are made of thick PBT plastic. However, thick PBT might be a disadvantage in some respects, such as interfering with the action of Costar-type stabilizers noted above. In addition, thick PBT does not necessarily confer better acoustical characteristics; the famous "thock" of Topre keyboards is achieved with thin PBT caps.
Keycap profile. I finally realized the importance of keycap profile while experimenting with my WASD keyboard. I like to bottom out with every keystroke. I like the bottoming-out sound. However, I could not get the same sound with the Enter key that I was getting with other stabilized keys on the keyboard. I thought that the Enter key felt relatively mushy and unresponsive. I kept replacing the Enter key with Enter keys from other Cherry mx sets with no luck. I thought the stabilizer wire might be rubbing against the inside front edge of the keycap, and so I tried shaving this edge with a sharp knife followed by sanding to a smooth finish. No luck. Then I realized that the stabilized keys that were giving me a satisfying bottoming-out sound were on different rows of the keyboard -- with different profiles. So, I replaced Enter with a Left Shift and -- voilá! -- I got the bottoming-out sound I wanted.
Most Cherry mx keycap sets are made with the Cherry profile, whereas keycaps that ship with many Cherry mx-switch keyboards are OEM profile, which is generally higher than the Cherry profile. I dug out an Enter key from an OEM set made of thin ABS plastic and put it on my WASD board. Again, I got a satisfying bottoming-out sound, which gives me the feeling (if not the reality) that the Enter key was properly responsive.
Incidentally, the Granite set did not cause problems with the stabilizer wires. I think this may be due in part to the profile of these keys, which are all the same profile but high enough and thin enough to avoid contact of the inside front edge with the stabilizer wire. I haven't used these caps long enough to know if I will like them. I am accustomed to keycaps with a sloped profile and cylindrical tops rather than the spherical tops on the Granite set. Aesthetically, however, the Granite set is arguably one of the handsomest in existence.
After these experiments and revelations, I looked at the keys on my RF 87ub 55g board and noticed that they actually look rather similar to the keys in my OEM set. In fact, the Topre and OEM profiles are somewhat similar. Moreover, OEM keycaps tend to be thin ABS, whereas the Topre caps are thin PBT. I do know that I prefer the feel of PBT over that of ABS, but the PBT does not have to be thick to sound good or otherwise perform well.
As for IBM, all the keys on IBM buckling spring keyboards are of the same profile, but the keyboard has a curved plate, which results in different heights of keys on each row.
Conclusion. All this has brought me to the conclusion that the ideal keycaps for me would be made of thin PBT (preferably blanks or dye-sub legends) and be relatively high profile, such as OEM or Topre profile.
If anyone here knows where to get a keycap set made of thin PBT in OEM profile and cylindrical tops, please let me know!
UPDATE: After considerable experimentation with the CM Novatouch, I have concluded that the best keycaps for this keyboard are high-qualify PBT in OEM profile. In particular, the dye-sublimated or blank PBT sets in OEM profile made by Ducky work extremely well.
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