I have been trying to switch from protoboards to homemade pcb's recently (may be a fifth time in last few years :) and I am not quite sure yet if that's worth the trouble at all. I can build a circuit on a protoboard much faster than design a pcb that I can really make and actually produce it. It is just a lot of work to properly design a pcb, which can be really made at home, that means preferably single-sided, with as little jumpers as possible, with not too many traces between DIP pins, etc. Finally, who cares what it looks like, and you can even make protoboard look quite good, if doing it with care. The main problem remains - it can be really difficult to replace a component in a wired protoboard. On Sun, Jan 1, 2012 at 00:19, Adam Field wrote: > On Sat, Dec 31, 2011 at 5:09 PM, Eric Kort wrote= : >> So my latest electronics project worked great, and it looked great >> (IMHO) on the top side of the perfboard, but was a bit of a mess on >> the bottom (wiring) side which was a mix of bent leads and hookup wire >> used to make the necessary connections. =A0As a result I started to >> think about moving up to photoresist PCB etching. =A0But it occurs to me >> that the process would be significantly simpler if I did not need to >> drill the through holes. =A0I am curious to know if anyone knows of a >> source for copper clad perfboard (i.e., not just pads around the >> holes, but completely plated on one side). =A0With a bit of care with >> registration, it seems one could etch the traces on such perfboard and >> then the holes would be already be there! >> >> Does anyone know where copper clad perfboard could be obtained? =A0Or is >> that a fundamentally dumb idea? >> >> -Eric > > Not exactly a whole clad bottom, but a compromise between connectivity > and isolation: > > http://www.busboard.us/#BreadBoards > > Look at all the patterns they have. I've been using the breadboard > pattern replicas and the 6H pattern. There's also plain stripboard > which you can cut the traces where appropriate. There is an actual > tool to make the cuts, but I'm not sure what you would call it. > > -- > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > View/change your membership options at > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist --=20 KPL --=20 http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .