How to make a Board? [RESOLVED]

D Faust

I have a multiple individual circuits that I would like my stamp to control.· None of them are very complicated (a·chip w/·socket and a couple of wires) and I would like to put them on one board.· Solderless breadbords are pretty expensive, so·I wanted to use either a perfboard with or·breadboard with metal lined holes.· I have no prior experience with these so I was wondering where I could find a tutorial to do such a thing.· I have one major question.· How do I solder one component to another on a perfboard where none of the holes are connected to each other by copper strips?· Do I have to solder the component in from the top and·solde a wire on the other side of the petruding pin?· Thank you.

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Post Edited (D Faust) : 9/15/2007 1:16:07 PM GMT

pwillard

For some reason I haven't figured out yet (maybe they teach really good technique in schools), it seems that Japanese electronic techs have the perf board-barewire technique mastered.

Here is an example of a website that is some of the best work I've seen using perfboard technique... and he makes it real clear how to do it well.· Very instructive and worth looking at them all... even if they are PIC's. ;-)



http://www.hobby-elec.org/e_pic6.htm



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There's nothing like a new idea and a warm soldering iron.

Post Edited (pwillard) : 9/14/2007 10:13:11 PM GMT

D Faust

I might have missed the instructions on how to wire the components together. Where is it? The wiring looks really nice. Is wire or solder used to connect the holes on the bottom of the board? Thanks for the help.

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MarkS

It looks like he runs a bare wire between the holes and solders it in place. Really nice work, but very tedious.

D Faust

Thanks

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MarkS

I couldn't find any instructions. Most of the circuits look pretty easy from looking at the schematics.

parts-man73

There's no right way or wrong way to do it. When I do it, I put the wire in an hole adjacent to the pin of the component I'd like to connect it to. bend the tip of the bare wire toward the pin it is to be connected to, and solder, hitting both pads with solder and creating a solder bridge between the 2 pads. It's the one time that a solder bridge is ok.

I'll admit though, those pictures that pwillard linked to look ALOT neater than what I create with this method.

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Brian

uController.com - home of SpinStudio

Twisted Pair

I used to do all the point to point soldering on perf boards but started etching my own boards years ago. Its faster and easier to do. Use bare wires to make your connections from point to point. For the connections that must run over other circuits and maintain isolation (no bare wires), just strip off enough insulation on the wire ends that will make the connections.

Twisted Pair....

D Faust

Thanks for all of your advice.· Looks like am going to have to go to radioshack to pick up some practive supplies.· What size/type of solder works best/do you use?

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Twisted Pair

.032" 60/40 Rosin Core solder is what I use for all my electronic projects. Have you considered etching your board ?


Twisted Pair....

Post Edited (Twisted Pair) : 9/15/2007 3:21:36 PM GMT

D Faust

Thanks for the info.· Yes, I have considered that, but the only way I found of doing so is with a laser printer.· I only have an inkjet.· Is there another way to do this.· Right now I am trying to keep the board simple because the circuits aren't that complicated.· Are there any other way to make DIY PCBs?· Thanks

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David B

For casual projects, I like using wire-wrap sockets for ICs with a little Radio Shack wire-wrapping tool, and the same tool can also be used to wire discrete parts. Wire-wrap is meant to be used on the square legs of the wire-wrap sockets where the square corners cut into the wire, so you need to solder the wire onto round leads like on resistors or capacitors, but the fine-gauge wire and the tool help make the hand-wiring easier.

Twisted Pair

There are several ways. Screenprinting is the best way but the materials and hardware are expensive. Unless you do alot of etching, it's not worth the investment. I could probably make your board for you since I'm already setup for etching. If your interested, just PM me with your specifications etc. I've attached a PDF of·a few pictures, mainly of Enclosures and Labels that I make, but if you will scroll down to the second photo, you can see the top of one PCB that I've made. For proprietary reasons, I can't show the bottom of the PCB, but you get the idea of how professional and neat a etched board looks. Again these photos are mainly of enclosures and labels that I make. I will post a few of my PCB's soon for better viewing

Twisted Pair....


Post Edited (Twisted Pair) : 9/15/2007 12:53:02 AM GMT

D Faust

Sorry for my ignorance, but what is wire wrapping?

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David B

My first response was to Google wire-wrap, so I did, only to learn that there is a jewelry-making technique of the same name!

This wiki describes circuit-board wire-wrapping: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wire_wrap

LilDi

I sometimes us copper tape on a perf board.


http://www.gcelectronics.com/order/Catalog_PDF/2007%20Catalog%20120407%2064.pdf

Twisted Pair

Wire Wrapping is old school but is effective and tedious work. The wire used in this process is fragile and breaks easily and special sockets with longer pins are usually required....Radio Shack still sells the Tool and Wire though. There is a post somewhere in the forums regarding wire wrapping. Sorry I don't remember where it was.

Twisted Pair....

D Faust

Hmm. Wire wrapping is a very interesting technique, but all of the part that I buy would have to be fitted into the special sockets. It definitely something I will try in the future, but right now I want to keep it simple. Sorry twisted pair I missed your post the first time. Basically, there is no cheap way of DIY pcb making. Thanks. For now I am going with a perfboard, but if I have anymore questions, I'll ask.

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D Faust

I like the circuit tape idea. Radioshack sells a circuit writer pen, would that work to connect holes of a board?

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StampNut2

This was my 64 channel IR remote for my first large robot, All hard wired from the underside.




RX Logic on the left and opto couplers on the right of left board. Tx on right


4ft 6" robot


Receiver board and keypad at top.

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Never give up when things go wrong.

Twisted Pair

That pen is more or less for repairing damaged traces but it might work. Radio shack has an etching kit that includes a permanent marking pen for drawing your traces onto a bare copper board. Depending on your drawing capabilities, your etched board could turn out quite well. Sorry, I'm back to the etching thing again. I really believe that once you have etched a board, you will never go back to point to point soldering. Did you take a look at the second photo that I posted ? I'm trying to convince you that etching is the only way to go. You don't need any kind of printer to use the Radio Shack etching kit. Once you try it you can only progress to better methods of etching....

Twisted Pair....

Twisted Pair

Wow StampNut2, That's alot of work that you have done....Nice job....


Twisted Pair....

StampNut2

THANKS TWISTED PAIR. It was a lot of midnight oil I can tell you, and that was only one board out of six that did other jobs on the bot.

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LilDi

I have herd that the cunductive ink pen makes a fairly high resistance connection and you can't solder on it.

pwillard

Yeah... it really is only for scrape type repairs.·· And I agree.· Once you go to etching your own... you won't want to handwire.· You might use the GOOTEE method and just get the local KINKO's to print on your supplied photo paper.
See: http://www.fullnet.com/~tomg/gooteepc.htm

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There's nothing like a new idea and a warm soldering iron.

D Faust

WOW, Stampnut, that is awesome.· Why didn't you etch your boards?· It looks like the pen is out.· Now I am convinced that I should start etching boards, but as I said before I want to start out basic (and cheap).

BTW Twisted pair, I did see your board and·it looks REALLY professional!

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RDL2004

If your circuits are very simple you could just use a Sharpie marker or some paint and a small brush to draw the circuit directly onto the copper, then etch as usual. There are also dry transfers (rub-ons) that work okay if the circuit is relatively simple (used to be able to get them at Radio Shack). Basically anything that can water-proof the copper and is relatively acid resistant can be used to put a pattern on the copper.

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- Rick

D Faust

The problem is that I am going to use mostly·DIP ICs connected together and it might be hard to draw the traces to the right spot.

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MarkS

Use the dry transfer DIP pads for the ICs and then use the pen for the traces.

D Faust

Good to know for the future.

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StampNut2

D Faust, Yes you are right I could have etched my boards, and I have done that in the past, But I also like to do it the way I did, It works just as well and is not that difficult, You just have to be a bit more carefull in your soldering. Thanks for your comments.

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Never give up when things go wrong.