Practice 65 v2 Keyboard Kit

As someone who practiced on a few stab tester kits, I wanted to try the next step before soldering on a pricier board. Thanks to Blacksimon, I was told to check the Practice series out, and this was absolutely fantastic. I threw some cherry clip-ins and JWK Splash Bros with a random AliExpress keycap set on. Honestly... for what it is, I love it!

It's something I'll treasure forever, as it popped my soldering "cherry" and it's a damn fun-looking "board" to show off.

I appreciate Cannonkeys for releasing this line of soldering-practice boards!

This keyboard is perfect for beginning and it was my first solder job!

I decided to pick this up due since I have no experience in soldering whatsoever and this was a great purchase for that. It does its job with no flaws. While it's not meant to be a daily use board I use it as a switch tester and at the same time, I get some practice at soldering. I would recommend this to anyone wanting to learn to solder keyboards and could transfer into other hobbies as well.

The kit is very high quality. The FR4 plate is perfectly cut. Switches slide in and out with ease whilst remaining firmly implanted once mounted. The glossy black plate shines nicely and beats the standard matte black of most FR4 plates hands down. My problem with the kit is not that it doesn't come with any feet for isolation and incline because you can add those yourself quite easily. What's off, in my opinion, is the very long spacer standoffs (see picture). From what I can measure there's at least 2.5mm of empty space between the bottom plate and the USB-C port. The main problem with this is that it makes for an unnaturally tall front height and strain whilst typing. Also, were that space narrower you could also place some Poly-fil in there as opposed to thick foam and it wouldn't look like a pillow has burst inside your keyboard. With a cut-out for the USB-C port, the empty space could be reduced even further. The design would then lead to a lower front height and easier typing, as well as better acoustics from the closer-packed assembly. The easiest solution would be for CK to provide shorter standoffs, at least as an option or add-on. Without a cut-off for the USB-C, these would have to be 10mm long and the screws 5mm based on my measurements. Without the long spacer issue leading to a very tall front height, this would easily get a full 5 stars and I would still recommend it even with the spacer issue since it's a great quality skeleton board and incredible value for money.