Alright well, switching out the springs and leaves is done.
I modify what I said a little earlier. As a board I think it does feel better but only by a little bit.
The real magic of Orange Alps (and Blue Alps) is in the tall switch plate. This is part of what helps the switch to feel so solid: a rigid, no-flex, reinforced connection between the switch contacts and the shell of the switch.
As a proof of concept, I made one more complex hybrid switch. The spring, leaf, and switch plate are from an Orange switch. The top shell, bottom shell, and slider are from a Cream Damped switch. In order to get the tall Orange switch plate to fit in the bottom shell from the Cream Damped switch I had to snip two plastic pegs which are designed to support a short switch plate. The Cream Damped lower shell has landing pads for downstroke damping; it is easier to remove material than to add it.
The proof of concept switch is everything I could hope for from an Orange and Cream Damped hybrid. But, making it is really labor intensive since it involves swapping a switch plate. So I'll probably leave my board as is for now, unless I have some reason to de-solder all the switches *again*.
Thanks again to hasu for bringing this little PCB to production. The board I've made from it is one of my favorites, and my default (non-Hall effect, non-backlit) travel keyboard.