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What's the proper way to solder with bus wire on perfboard.

I used perfboard for the first time on a project recently. I designed a great layout and started soldering the components to the copper pads; the joints were perfect and beautiful. Then I realized I still needed to add the connections. So I put the bus wire down and was successful in getting the device working, but it was pretty ugly underneath.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Consider using strip board instead of just regular perfboard; it connects each pad in the row with a built in strip, and you can use a drill bit through an unoccupied pad (or just a cheap engraving tool) to break the strips where necessary. -- Then you can use bus wire to connect the few stragglers that still need to be connected. -- It's a huge time saver! \$\endgroup\$
    – BrainSlugs83
    Feb 22, 2018 at 21:26

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One suggestion I can give is to use the thinnest wire possible, and to cut your wires to the exact length you need to route them around your perfboard.

Another clever technique, which I have not personally tried, is to make a "Wiring Pen" as in this instructables

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I put together some "Breadboard Hints" at http://lucianifamily.org/getting-it-done/assembly-hints/assembly-hints-index.html#breadboard-hints

Using a combination of clips (Vector T42-1) and pins (Vector K24A) you can put together some neat perfboards. The hints at the site list the supplies and show an example breadboard.

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    \$\begingroup\$ I think you meant to link here: luciani.org/getting-it-done/assembly-hints/… \$\endgroup\$
    – davr
    Dec 28, 2009 at 19:01
  • \$\begingroup\$ Yeah. I was lazy and just linked to the top page in my ee-notes section ;) \$\endgroup\$
    – jluciani
    Dec 28, 2009 at 20:13
  • \$\begingroup\$ I know, its almost 8 years later, but the above links redirect to a "your computer is infected!" page. A sign of the times :) \$\endgroup\$
    – Steve Guidi
    Oct 5, 2017 at 5:29
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I found this page to be a useful starting point on techniques for prototyping with perfboards:
http://elm-chan.org/docs/wire/wiring_e.html

The techniques used are shown in a video as well:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5MNLTc7YhY

There is also a company selling some tools, although none of these a strickly necessary and they are a bit pricey:
http://www.roadrunnerelectronics.com/

For instance, this Instructable shows how to create a wiring pen:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Wiring-Pen/

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