Who made the high quality breadboard?

[rstofer]

Ben Eater recommends these for his 8 bit computer project.  There are 14 breadboards involved with the project and he doesn't seem to have any problems.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0040Z4QN8

https://eater.net/8bit/

I have decided to play around with his project so I bought the same prototype boards.  So far, so good!

[bd139]

I’ve got some that look surprisingly like those but are crap. YMMV. They came from Tayda however.

I use them to hold pins on while I’m soldering SMD adapters to stick in a nicer breadboard so I don’t melt that one. All is not lost

[Discotech]

For jumper wires is it better to just buy a spool of wire and make your own or buy already made ones ?

[bd139]

Wisher one will come with wires if it’s got +J. You’ll lose them or not have enough pretty quick but don’t worry about that straight up. I use a spool of 22 AWG stuff and cut/strip it to order most of the time. If you buy wire make sure it’s a contrasting colour to your breadboard. I bought a white spool once and learned that the hard way

[nanofrog]

Solid CAT5/6 work rather well in a good quality breadboard IME (or on pad-per-hole DIY protoboard).

[bd139]

I use this stuff. Despite the picture it is solid core:

https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/hookup-equipment-wire/1214279/

And these strippers:

https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/cable-strippers/0243112/

The combination is a joy to work with.

[Discotech]

Thanks for the advice, I've already got some Knipex strippers for stripping the hookup wires

[bd139]

Even better 

[ledtester]

Here's a good review of several breadboards judged on multiple aspects:

[Discotech]

Here's a good review of several breadboards judged on multiple aspects:

Yep I watched this earlier, I noticed as rstofer posted that the guy who built an 8bit computer recommends the same Busboard BB830's https://eater.net/2017/04/

I'm thinking get a nice large wisher one and a couple of the 830's

[nanofrog]

I'm thinking get a nice large wisher one and a couple of the 830's

FWIW, CPC carries a few Wisher's, namely the Wisher WBU-202+J for 24.99GBP.

TME has a much better selection and are reasonably priced from what I've seen in the UK/EU.

[Discotech]

FWIW, CPC carries a few Wisher's, namely the Wisher WBU-202+J for 24.99GBP.

TME has a much better selection and are reasonably priced from what I've seen in the UK/EU.

Thanks I'll check them out

Watching one of the EEVblogs I notice Dave uses K&H boards, are they decent to use ?

[nanofrog]

Watching one of the EEVblogs I notice Dave uses K&H boards, are they decent to use ?

Yes.

[bd139]

They were pretty good. Had one years ago.

[Discotech]

They were pretty good. Had one years ago.

As good as the Wishers or slightly worse ?

[bd139]

I prefer the wishers. The blue plastic thing around the K&H ones can shatter pretty easily when you knock it off the bench. This does happen . Also wisher contacts seem to last a bit longer.

[tggzzz]

I prefer the wishers. The blue plastic thing around the K&H ones can shatter pretty easily when you knock it off the bench. This does happen . Also wisher contacts seem to last a bit longer.

All that means is that it takes slightly longer until you are spending more time debugging the breadboard than you are investigating your circuit.

"High quality breadboard" is an oxymoron, like "military intelligence". Use manhatten techniques instead; see the last section of https://entertaininghacks.wordpress.com/2020/07/22/prototyping-circuits-easy-cheap-fast-reliable-techniques/

[bd139]

Yes this is true.

At this point I am working mostly with SMD parts so I spend most of my time either making up simple boards (etch resist pen+ fr4 stock) or getting them made.

I use the 3M board mainly for quick bias network tests or hooking up a programmer to an MCU or something.

I still think they have value for learning though even with the limitations on reliability and lifespan. The better boards are useable. Just don’t expect them to last forever and don’t fight them when they are circling the drain

[Discotech]

Cheers guys, Manhatten process certainly looks interesting, I guess the non BB methods are good to give you lots of practice with soldering

[tggzzz]

Manhattan is fast (little planning), permanent if desired, and has high integrity results due to a complete groundplane and low parasitic inductances in the wires.

For simple breadboarding, there's the rats' nest techniques, as used by the real analogue gurus such as Pease and Widlar.

[Discotech]

Manhattan is fast (little planning), permanent if desired, and has high integrity results due to a complete groundplane and low parasitic inductances in the wires.

For simple breadboarding, there's the rats' nest techniques, as used by the real analogue gurus such as Pease and Widlar.

haha rats nest is too messy for my OCD of things being in order

I've ordered some veroboard/stripboard off aliexpress so I'll give the Manhatten a try for sure

[bd139]

Just remember you can hide it in an enclosure. Doesn't help if you're the sort of person who knows it's there even though you can't see it. Here's some rat's nest I did recently

[Discotech]

Doesn't help if you're the sort of person who knows it's there even though you can't see it.

I am unfortunately one of those persons 

[Old Printer]

I use a fair amount of these house brand 480 tie boards from Marlin P Jones in Florida. Normal price is $4.95 or 3.95 if you buy 10, however a few times a year they put them on sale for $2.95. I can find no brand name or markings on them, but i have seen a video by Ben Eater on the construction of the boards he uses. He has a checklist of half a dozen points to look for and these boards pass them all. Worth trying a couple and if you like them, wait for the sale  and stock up.

http://www.mpja.com/830-Tie-Point-Solderless-Breadboard-Unmounted/productinfo/24443+TE/

[rdagger]

Just to let you know, I ordered two small breadboards from Assembly Specialists (ASP) for $100 based on this post. However, the ASP breadboards turned out to be extremely difficult to insert wires into, and even the jumpers provided with the boards tend to bend if you're not careful. The ASP breadboards won't accept the male pin headers on my breakout boards, which is what I usually work with. In comparison, the old breadboards I have from Radio Shack or surplus stores are much more accommodating.  I know new breadboards can be stiff, but these are way beyond.

Are the 3Com boards just as stiff?