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Is there such thing as a breadboard that can you can add solder to directly to make a prototype design more permanent? Eventually the design will need to be translated onto an actual PCB but in the meantime for quick semi permanent prototyping.

Does something like this exist?

Edit:

Sorry, to clarify my question, I'm aware of the strip boards and have used them but they are not very friendly when trying to produce prototype quantities of boards on the order of 10 or so. The problem with them is you can't test the board without adding solder to find out if it works or not (when you have lots of little wires, it gets really messy really quickly. It would be very nice to just plug in a whole bunch of wires, test it to know that it works and then just mass solder everything in sight on the back of the board and know that stuff will still continue to work).

I was wondering if there was an actual plug-able breadboard which works exactly like a regular breadboard except has holes on the opposite side to add a blob of solder to make the design more permanent.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Probably not what you want to hear, but if you're looking to make around 10 copies (as mentioned in the question), then you're probably better off going with an inexpensive PCB prototyping service. Depending on board size and where you are, you can get 10 PCB's for ~$40 with shipping. The protoboards that you can solder are great if you only need to make 1-2 more reliable versions of a breadboard prototype. Anything more and it's worth investing some time into a PCB design. \$\endgroup\$
    – Jon L
    Oct 31, 2011 at 22:29
  • \$\begingroup\$ I think you're right but this is a rather strange situation...i don't know how to use pcb software, we don't have any software, we aren't allowed to download free software, and money is no object... \$\endgroup\$
    – Faken
    Nov 1, 2011 at 0:29
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Jon, Sorry to threadjack but do you recomend any PCB prototyping services (Websites etc?) \$\endgroup\$
    – user3073
    Nov 1, 2011 at 2:36
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Sauron, I have no affiliation but these guys really surprised me with the quality of PCB and turn-around time given the low price: iteadstudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=19_20 as usual, YMMV \$\endgroup\$
    – Jon L
    Nov 1, 2011 at 4:14
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Jon wow, those prices are amazing. \$\endgroup\$
    – rfusca
    Nov 1, 2011 at 14:27

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There's veroboard, perfboard and stripboard.

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With these, you can either cut tracks or wire wrap.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ :oog: bad flashback to grad school :shudder: \$\endgroup\$
    – Jason S
    Oct 31, 2011 at 23:08
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As others have mentioned, stripboard and similar can be used for quick and reliable through hole prototypes.
For SMD prototyping it's a little more difficult, but there are a few options:

Schmartboards are one popular way to prototype SMD devices. They even have a BGA version.

These Protochip boards look pretty good too.

Places like Farnell will have plenty of options like SMD to DIP adaptors and uC specific protoboards.

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It's no solderless breadboard, but I like to use stripboard for this sort of thing. You can secure components with solder relatively quickly, and it saves all the effort and expense of a custom PCB, but it is much harder to fix mistakes than with breadboards.

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