Is this a thing?

[Biff Armstrong]

Hi, I am new here as a member, so first off, I want to say thank you to everyone who has helped me over the last 6 months without knowing it. I didn't know what a resistor was 6 months ago, and now I almost kinda know enough to be dangerous, lol. Anyway, thanks to everyone who has given so freely of their knowledge and time.

As for my question, I started building Stew Mac kits, and then moved on to purchasing PCB's and sourcing components, then about 2 weeks ago, I learned what a breadboard is... of course I had to slap together a Bazz Fuss first thing, and then cram it into an enclosure.... my thought was to progress to vero and perf board, but I found the perf board to be too tedious... so I just started doing (sloppy) point to point builds... the question I have is, how much is too much for a point to point? is there an advantage to using a board of some kind? I have built the Bazz Fuss, a Deluxe Bazz Fuss, an Electra Distortion with the diodes on a switch, a Devi Evers Hyperion, an EQD Special Cranker, and an EQD Acapulco Gold in the last two weeks... a couple get slightly radiophonic (is that a word?) at high gain, but they work, and sound good... Thoughts? Should I knock it off, and put these on a board in the future? I will work on neatness once I get a little practice, but the other point to point builds I have found pics of, although they are beautiful, are all bare bones fuzzes and such, am I missing something?

[bluebunny]

Welcome, Biff.  I don't think there's a "too much" for P2P builds.  Until you might need to debug and modify something perhaps?  Keep it up.  I'm enjoying all that fresh air in your builds. 

[ElectricDruid]

Welcome! Those look amazing!

I agree with Bunny - if you're happy doing it like that, then carry on. That said, I think you'll hit a point where it gets just too fiddly. I can't imagine a BBD chorus pedal done that way, for example. You're not *required* to use a board, but it might make life easier if you start doing some still-bigger circuits. I've never got on with perf board either, and although I do lots of prototyping on stripboard, I'm only building something to test, so it's usually large and spacious. If I want to box something up, I'll design a PCB for it.
Ultimately, it's just about finding a method that works for you and what you want to do, and it looks like you're done that already!

To answer the question in your subject line: It is now!

[stallik]

My hat off to you - I don't have the patience but love the look. A bit more stable with thicker wires and yes, it's a real thing. For example, Reeves in the UK or Dazatronyx in AUS. Must be many others - didn't Vox make a point to point wah?

[duck_arse]

welcome also. from those builds, it looks like you are an old hand. have you tried cordwood? all the benefits of perfboard, all the crazyness of point to point.

[amptramp]

Welcome to the forum!  It looks like you are well on your way to learning electronics and your builds are better than many people who have been doing this for years.  If you want an ideal medium for prototyping, there are prototyping boards that would easily handle most of the circuitry you would want to build:



You can see parallel power lines intended to run under IC's and 3-hole pads but you can get boards with 4 or 5 hole pads to make things easier.  I have used breadboards in the past and found that if you could accommodate small leads, you couldn't accommodate large ones like electrolytic capacitors, so although I have seen cheap breadboard units with power supplies incorporated, I never consider them for any serious work.

As for the maximum size of a point-to-point design, most early televisions were entirely point-to-point in chassis that were 17 inches wide (a popular TV tube size) by about 15 inches deep.

One construction method you will see in guitar amps is eyelet board construction.  There is a bare board between the eyelet board and the chassis for insulation and the eyelet boards carry metal eyelets as soldering points for components, just like terminal boards but cheaper.  This construction is rugged - Traynor used to test amps by removing the tubes and throwing them out of their second-storey window at their place in Toronto.  Then they would plug the tubes back in and if anything had failed, they redid the design and tested it again until it did not fail.

[Biff Armstrong]

welcome also. from those builds, it looks like you are an old hand. have you tried cordwood? all the benefits of perfboard, all the crazyness of point to point.

Holy cow! I just looked up cordwood circuits... that tickles me right in the brain box... I HAVE to give that a shot!

[amptramp]

welcome also. from those builds, it looks like you are an old hand. have you tried cordwood? all the benefits of perfboard, all the crazyness of point to point.

Holy cow! I just looked up cordwood circuits... that tickles me right in the brain box... I HAVE to give that a shot!

It is the ultimate in 1950's and 1960's military electronics.  Imagine the poor sap who has to repair this stuff.

One other construction technique is to solder everything together in 3-dimensional space then cast clear acrylic around it.  No opportunity for repair, but some examples have shown up here and they look awesome.[/quote]

[Phend]

Cool builds there....
Here are a few pics...and an Amzn link for the type of solderable board..

I've moved on to those solderable boards from PT 2 PT...
Foxx TM


And if you would like to try TV's you could copy this one...


BB link...
https://www.amazon.com/ElectroCookie-Solderable-Breadboard-Electronics-Gold-Plated/dp/B07ZV8FWM4/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1BCPQ1KSW91QW&keywords=solderable%2Bbreadboard&qid=1699972862&sprefix=solderable%2Bbreadboard%2Caps%2C170&sr=8-3&th=1

[PRR]

have you tried cordwood?

Pre-TTL logic:


Ah! Same issue! RTL FlipFlop from a name you must know.

[Rob Strand]

Ah! Same issue! RTL FlipFlop from a name you must know.

Philips also had RTL/DTL logic with their Norbit logic.

The later devices looked like oversized DIL package ICs.

Check out the gallery at bottom.  Kind of LEGO for electrical engineers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NORBIT

I used to have a stack of boards.  Inside the epoxy were through-hole parts.  Though-hole resistors and TO-18 package transistors (most likely some sort of BC108 series part).

Databooks with internal schematics are around on-line.

[duck_arse]

Pre-TTL logic:

so this is what all the valve making gear ended up at. those welds and straps look same as in toobs.

[PRR]

looked like oversized DIL

I was reminded of the three-Fives giant timer, but Giggle found a wooden DIP instead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6qZPx4uD0g
https://hackaday.com/2021/12/20/all-hail-your-new-giant-555-timer-overlord/

[marcelomd]

My first build used a piece of thin cardboard. I poked holes for the component leads and soldered point to point on the other side. It worked well enough. Sometimes I needed to cross wires, so I'd just make layers with electrical tape.

Now I order PCBs from China. Sounds fancy, but it's cheaper, both in time and money, than etching or using perf board. I just make sure to leave space for rework, because it will be needed.

[duck_arse]

the only reason any of us have for doing cordwood is because. it has no benefits I've yet found, just the theraputic and aesthetic value.