Sources for Interconnect Boards

[hificat101]

I was wondering if anyone had a source for precut interconnect boards other than madvapes? I found one other mod maker that sells them online, and ordered 8 of them and a couple other items a week and a half ago, and my order still hasn't shipped. I'm a little nervous about ordering from madvapes due to some credit card issues they have had over the last few months.

If you don't know where to buy precut, how do you cut them (score and snap?), and where can I buy larger sections of interconnect board that will work well for modding?

Thanks

 

[SiBurning]

You can get them in hundreds of places, though quality varies. How to break them apart varies a bit, but you basically cut the copper with a hobby knife on both sides if it's 2-sided (use a straight rule as a guide), score the board on one side by cutting into the material a few times, lay it over a table end or in a vise and snap it apart, then trim with snippers or diagonal cutters and file them smooth.

• RadioShack has usable, though cheaply made ones
• BeldynSys has interesting ones for SMD (Get them at Jameco, DigiKey, and maybe even Mouser)
• or you can make your own "Manhattan Style" and get pretty advanced.

You can get pretty creative with point-to-point. If you have an IC, use it dead bug style without any board, just p2p, then encase the whole thing in plastic using those two-part liquid things, making sure to leave any heat sinks or other heat dissipating parts exposed just above the level of the plastic (or embed it into the molding rubber).

 

[hificat101]

Thanks Si. Went to Radio Shack tonight, and my local one had several varieties of boards, but nothing like the interconnect boards I'm looking for with copper interconnected stripes. I'm looking for something with 5 columns that I can pop a TI8100, or OKT-R regulator (or even my DNA chip) on, and easily tie into like on a breadboard. The problem is, I can't even seem to locate the larger sections of boards that I could cut/snap myself. I'm searching for "interconnect circuit board", and seem to be coming up empty. I'll check the Radio Shack site, and see if I can find what I need.

Thanks.

UPDATE: After digging and digging, I may have found what I'm looking for:

http://www.amazon.com/ST3U-StripBoard-3U-Uncut-Strips-Sided/dp/B0040Z30R6/ref=pd_sbs_op_7

This might even be better:

http://www.amazon.com/ProtoBoard-6H...=UTF8&colid=55GCQG0MNKB0&coliid=IMDATHGOYBDAJ

 

[SiBurning]

or better yet something specific to ICs that includes buss routes or other traces under the IC, between the strips, etc. Those are very useful when you have several ICs. I'm not sure if these have individual holes or strips the way you want, but check out Jameco's whole Prototyping Systems section while you're there. Mouser and DigiKey might have the same at the same or better prices. You can download their humongous catalogs, too.

Basically, I'm saying you can get better designs than what you linked to, though it won't be terribly useful for a single IC circuit. For your needs, a single wire-wrap type socket or single-inline (SIMM?) strip could be the basis for a mechanically sound build.

For SMD, I really like surfboards. The ones with single line pins can be mounted in a socket perpendicular to another board, saving space (in a 2d sense) and looking really cool.

I haven't seen the strip versions at Ratshack in years, so I wouldn't look too hard.

You want to search for electronic prototype or proto board... There's other names like "vector board" that's often used generically for a system sold (and maybe invented) by Vector. The best of these was Wainwright (actually RDI - Wainwright). Sadly, they're out of business, but it's a good term to use in a search engine to find ideas.

Now that I've confused things, my advice is to get that second one you linked to, build with that, and just use my suggestions to fuel future ideas.