Homebrew PCBs

I have found that a "cheaper" source of bare copper wire is in my hardware store's wire fencing department. The bare wire is made so that when a wire fence is installed, the wire can be used to tie the fence to fence posts.  

The wire comes in various gauges, is bare and is nicely coiled-up for easy use and storage.

I have used this type of wire to create a common ground on perf boards and it works well. Since the wire is bare, it's easy to connect multiple components to it.

I would suspect using this type of wire would be ideal for vias too.

Just my 2 cents worth...  :-)


--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Bob_xyz" <bob_barr@...> wrote:
>
> 
> 
> --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, DJ Delorie <dj@> wrote:
> >
> > 
> > In my hunt for easier vias, I picked up some 28 gauge brass wire at
> > the local hardware store.  This wire is 13 mil diameter, just a bit
> > smaller than my usual 13.5 mil holes.
> > 
> > Turns out it's not *that* hard to get the wire into the hole, but it
> > does tend to stay put once there.  The brass is easily soldered too.
> > So, I push the wire through until "just enough" sticks out of the
> > board, and flux and solder that end.  Flip the board, cut as close to
> > the PCB as my cutters allow, and flux and solder that side.  Unlike
> > thinner copper wire, the brass stays put when you solder it.
> > 
> > Brass is harder to bend than copper, but it doesn't need to be bent so
> > that's not only not a problem, but saves time too :-)
> >
> 
> If there aren't too many vias, I find that it works well to 'stitch' the vias with 30 gauge wire (stripped wire-wrap wire) by going back and forth from one side of the board to the other. Once the vias have all been 'stitched', I solder the pads and then use an Xacto knife to clip the wires at the edge of the pads.
> 
> 
> Regards, Bob
>