Who made the high quality breadboard?

[Back2Volts]

Global Specialties has these premium breadboards EXP-300 which I have used for decades. They used to be made in USA, not sure lately.
I can't stand the cheap ones, poor connections and stiff to jam in the wire.

I have been looking for one or two more breadboards and as part of the research I sent Global Specialties this question:

What is the difference between breadboards PB-104 and PB-104E ? I have looked at the datasheets hosted by DIGIKEY, but cannot see a difference

This is the answer from their tech support:


I am contacting you this morning in regards to your question about the PB-104 and the PB-104E. 

The main difference is that the 'E' stands for economy.  The PB-104 is a better quality with parts sourced only from the US, while the PB-104E has parts coming from Taiwan.  Though we still stand behind the PB-104E and it does come with a three year warranty.

FYI, these breadboards are 4x units over metal base, with 3060Tie Points, 9X8.25.   The E goes for  $50 and the better one for $70.
 
I thought this was worth posting here.   

UPDATE:   after this email exchange, I felt encouraged to look for other GS breadboards in the same premium series but I could only find PB-10 and PB-60.  After a second email with GS I learned: "Unfortunately, due to costs, the 'premium' line of breadboards was discontinued.  The warranty for all of our breadboards is 3 years."    Bummer !

On the positive side, Tequipment has a sale on the GS breadboards.   With member discount:

PB-104   $56.36 (regular $70)
PB-10     $19.25 (regular $24.70)
PB-60     $32.76 (regular $42)

I was tempted to order one PB-104 and two PB-10s...

Then I looked for small staple shaped jumpers.   The 3M go for $20 a 200pc pack, which makes it impossible...   Looking at the Assembly Specialists (makers of 3M breadboards) page, I found the same jumper packs for $5.25, which makes it worth for me.    This made me change my mind and I ordered one pack each of sizes .2"-1" and some of their breadboards.       

[nanofrog]

Anyone fancy reselling these to us poor people in Europe?

Forgot to mention to check into a reshipping service. 

As far as I can tell, they just don't wanna deal with the formalities of sending abroad. Heck, I'm not sure that they really wanna deal with the formalities of selling to individuals within USA: they've raised their prices since I first posted about them!

Hmm.. as with my re-post to bd139, it seems a re-shipping service would be your best bet (and hopefully financially viable). If the financial side isn't, then Wisher would probably be the best way to go for cost-performance.

Don't recall the original prices of just the terminal strips, but the metal backed breadboards and jumper wires haven't changed since the last time I checked.

[nowlan]

Who does AS sell to? They need to hook up with mouser or digikey me thinks =)

[bd139]

I’m already using wisher boards so I’m thinking this is one of those regional differences we’re going to have to live with. If those guys sold their stuff on eBay/amazon they’d make a killing. I don’t understand why companies don’t want to make money!

[tooki]

Who does AS sell to? They need to hook up with mouser or digikey me thinks =)

As best I can tell, they sell to 3M, and 3M distributes to mouser, digi-key, etc.

I wouldn’t be entirely surprised if AS’s contract with 3M prohibits them from selling directly to 3M’s distributors.

It would be nice if they’d do an eBay storefront, then they could use eBay’s worldwide shipping program that takes care of reshipping and customs.

[nanofrog]

I wouldn’t be entirely surprised if AS’s contract with 3M prohibits them from selling directly to 3M’s distributors.

This is my suspicion as well.

[bd139]

It’s nice to be owned by a corporation...

[nanofrog]

It’s nice to be owned by a corporation...

They don't have to deal with distribution, sales support staff, and marketing though (= don't have to spend $$$ on this part, which isn't cheap). Just make it and ship in volume to 3M for the most part (some direct sales on the side, but without the marketing or sales staff).

So it has some advantages.

Schmitz for example operates under the same model with their cutters and pliers (i.e. ODM for C.K. Tools, Bernstein, NWS, and others).

[paulca]

It’s nice to be owned by a corporation...

Schmitz for example operates under the same model with their cutters and pliers (i.e. ODM for C.K. Tools, Bernstein, NWS, and others).

Not a lot of people know this, but a lot of major brands resell their products at much lower prices under no-name brands.

If you sell to the high end market you find that the price is much more elastic with a high offset.  People are prepared to pay MORE than it's actually worth to get guaranteed (perceived in a lot of cases) quality.

In doing so you price yourself well out of the budget market however.  Nobody in that market wants to pay premium prices for "it'll do" quality goods.

That's a big market though.  Shame to throw that away.  So they rebrand their goods to an unknown brand name (and even change the name frequently) and sell them at a much lower, but not zero, profit margin; it's still gross profit.  It has an added bonus of squeezing the up rising budget brands' margins to defend their higher end brand.

Bridgestone tyres are current Lassa tyres in the UK, for example *or so I'm told*.   A bridgestone might cost you £100 a corner but a Lassa might cost £50.  Still the same tyre, possibly a B grade bridgestone at worst.

I wonder if the likes of Fluke or Aiglent brands do similar.

[bd139]

Agilent/Keysight did. Some of their low end scopes were rebadged Rigol units.

That’s a high recommendation for rigol.

[TomS_]

Anyone fancy reselling these to us poor people in Europe?

You can get them from RS, not cheap though!

https://uk.rs-online.com/web/c/pcb-prototyping/printed-circuit-boards-pcb/breadboards/?sra=p&applied-dimensions=4294967284

Since it looks like youre in the UK, go down to Maplin and pick up a K&H that they usually have on the shelf. Ive got a couple of them and I find them to be not so bad really, certainly a lot cheaper than the 3M units. I also have a couple of individual breadboards that I bought as a bulk lot from Elegoo on Amazon - biggest pieces of sh*t Ive ever come across, do not recommend (they dont grip well/feel very loose and I think sometimes that resulted in intermittent contact, and the alignment of the metal parts is so bad that sometimes it is near on impossible to insert a component lead in to a hole)

Dave has some K&Hs too it would seem, seen them floating around in some of his videos.

One word of caution with the K&H's, some of them dont have power rails down the sides like you might expect, which can make it a bit more painful to work with especially if youre doing a lot of digital stuff and need lots of connections to the power rails for pull ups/downs etc.

[nanofrog]

IIRC, the K&H boards are rebranded Wisher.

[bd139]

K&H are completely different to Wisher.

Edit: I use one of these: http://cpc.farnell.com/wisher/wbu-206-j/bread-board-230x175x31mm-2390/dp/PC01214

Much prefer soldering stuff though.

[tggzzz]

K&H are completely different to Wisher.

Edit: I use one of these: http://cpc.farnell.com/wisher/wbu-206-j/bread-board-230x175x31mm-2390/dp/PC01214

Much prefer soldering stuff though.

Sensible decision: you can then debug your circuit, not your circuit's connections and parasitics. Plus, once it is working, it will stay working

[nanofrog]

K&H are completely different to Wisher.

Edit: I use one of these: http://cpc.farnell.com/wisher/wbu-206-j/bread-board-230x175x31mm-2390/dp/PC01214

Much prefer soldering stuff though.

Sensible decision: you can then debug your circuit, not your circuit's connections and parasitics. Plus, once it is working, it will stay working

More fun too.

Well that, and I suspect I'm addicted to the smell of rosin.   

[bd139]

I starting doing prototypes with SMD only about 2 months ago now. I'm not quite there with the fun bit. It's small, cheap and reliable though!

[rdl]

Wow, that seems like ridiculous pricing. Almost $150 for the Model 318 which is only $30 if bought direct from Assembly Specialist. On the other hand, if you want the 3M name on it it'll be $85. Damn, that 3M logo is sure expensive.

I suspect there's really not much market for high quality breadboards, otherwise it might be worth somebody's time to import some over there.

http://www.assemblyspecialist.com/WebStore/breadboards.html

Anyone fancy reselling these to us poor people in Europe?

You can get them from RS, not cheap though!

https://uk.rs-online.com/web/c/pcb-prototyping/printed-circuit-boards-pcb/breadboards/?sra=p&applied-dimensions=4294967284

...

edit: add link

[nanofrog]

Damn, that 3M logo is sure expensive.

AP's direct pricing is in order IMHO, but 3M's markup is just nuts. 

[Back2Volts]

I received the breadboards and jumpers I ordered from ASP.    The breadboards look very good.  I will have t get used to not having red/blue buses.   I love the jumpers.   

I have not had a chance to try them, but the feedback from my cat, who tested the white jumpers, is that the baggies are shreadable and the jumpers spreadable on the floor.   No doubt he was satisfied with the quality.   

[tggzzz]

I starting doing prototypes with SMD only about 2 months ago now. I'm not quite there with the fun bit. It's small, cheap and reliable though!

... until you bend the board or it warps

[Discotech]

Sorry to bump such an old thread but looking around for breadboards and google keeps bringing me to these threads about AS/3M boards

I know that AS don't ship to UK so realistically am I looking at paying £20 to £40 for a semi decent board and £80 for the 3M label ?

Will these Wisher ones already posted do okay ? http://cpc.farnell.com/wisher/wbu-206-j/bread-board-230x175x31mm-2390/dp/PC01214

Or should I aim higher ?

[bd139]

I’ve got exactly that wisher one which I also bought from CPC and a 3M one. Wisher one is as good as the 3M one. Only bought the 3M one because it turned up cheap on eBay (£20).

Worth having a look at Farnell as well. Sometimes they sell them off cheaper than CPC.

Edit: if you buy a wisher one, read the back of the cardboard sheet it comes packed on. Sounds like a marks and spencer advert.

[Discotech]

Worth having a look at Farnell as well. Sometimes they sell them off cheaper than CPC.

Is this the same but a rebrand/badge ? http://uk.farnell.com/multicomp/mcbb3060/bread-board-abs-235mm-x-207mm/dp/2764645?rpsku=rel3:WBU206J&isexcsku=false

It comes up as the only board when I enter the WBU-206+J manufacturer number 

Same with the smaller Wisher WBU204-3+J http://uk.farnell.com/multicomp/mcbb1360/bread-board-abs-211mm-x-100mm/dp/2764644?rpsku=rel3:WBU2043J&isexcsku=false

Not even slightly cheaper but 30% cheaper seems good deal if they're the same

[bd139]

Those are really cheap nasty ones. I wouldn’t go near them. Definitely not wisher ones. There are a few lookalikes out there but aren’t anywhere near as good.

Digilent branded ones are apparently wisher however (I would verify that elsewhere first) so look for that. RS sell them but are out of stock https://uk.rs-online.com/mobile/p/breadboards/1346441/

[Discotech]

Those are really cheap nasty ones. I wouldn’t go near them. Definitely not wisher ones. There are a few lookalikes out there but aren’t anywhere near as good.

Digilent branded ones are apparently wisher however (I would verify that elsewhere first) so look for that. RS sell them but are out of stock https://uk.rs-online.com/mobile/p/breadboards/1346441/

I knew the price would be too good to be true although the actual wisher ones aren't overly expensive so I'll probably go with them, thanks for the help

It's a shame we can't get the 3M boards without 3M delivered to UK