The biggest challenge of this project is the wooden keycap set.  Before I did anything else, I needed to know if it was feasible for me to create a wooden keycap on a key switch repeatedly.  My initial attempt was to keep things simple: square keys with flat tops and no tapered sides.  This need for simplicity was due to the tools I had at my disposable: just a laser cutter.  I've seen people make keycaps using a CNC mill to give them a more standard key switch shape.  However, 1) I don't have a CNC mill and 2) one of my main goals was making a keycap set with grain continuity between keys.  The amount of waste from a CNC mill (although it probably could have been optimized better) wasn't something I liked.   A laser cutter with a smaller kerf was better for visualizing this grain continuity. 

Typical Mechanical Key switches/keycaps

Looking at the Cherry key switch and compatible keycaps, there is a pretty aggressive taper and a small stem.  Typical injection molded plastic keycaps have these thin tapered walls (maybe 1-1.5mm thick), which I thought would have been difficult to replicate with wood.  I thought making the tapered walls was difficult and structurally, I would want thicker walls.   Briefly thinking about trying to design around a tapered key switch, I thought against it and looked for an alternative.

My Choice: Redragon Low Profile Switch

What I ended up deciding on was this nice and square ( and cheap) low profile key switch from Redragon.  This would allow me to make simple, square, thick-walled keycaps.  The low profile nature was advantageous too, as I planned to etch away the inner shell using a laser cutter.   I ended up buying 300 of these switches and hoped it would work out. 

If I were to try again: Kailh Choc Low Profile Switch

The Redragon key wasn't the best choice for a key switch, as I intend to discuss later on.  Initialy, I cared about the square, untapered shape of the Redragon key.  What I didn't think about was the key switch stem design.  If I were to make this decision again, I would try with the Kailh Choc low profile switches.  I had a lot of trouble with the keycap stems with my first attempt, and the Kailh switch seems more willing to accept a larger, simpler mating feature.