How to Build Circuit Boards: A Beginner’s Guide

For the layout of components on the universal board, most people are accustomed to “following the clues,” centering around key components like chips and inserting other components wherever possible. This method reflects order in the chaos of soldering, and is efficient. However, due to the lack of experience, beginners may find this method unsuitable. They can first create a preliminary layout on paper, then draw it on the front of the perforated board (component side), and plan the wiring to facilitate their soldering.

The welding method for universal boards generally involves using fine wires for flying connections. While there is not much technique involved, it is best to keep the wiring horizontal and vertical for clarity, as shown in the diagram below.

A popular method online is the solder connection method, as shown in the diagram below. This method has good craftsmanship and stable performance, but it wastes a lot of solder. Pure solder connections are difficult and affected by factors such as solder wire and personal soldering skills. If you first pull a fine copper wire and then drag solder along it, it becomes much simpler. The soldering method for perforated boards is very flexible and varies from person to person; find a method that works for you.

Many beginners have unstable boards that are prone to short circuits or open circuits. Besides unreasonable layouts and poor soldering, a lack of skills is one of the main reasons for these issues. Mastering some skills can greatly reduce the complexity of translating circuits into physical hardware, minimize flying wires, and make the circuit more stable. Below are some welding techniques for perforated boards based on the author’s experience.

1. Preliminary Layout of Power Supply and Ground

The power supply runs throughout the circuit, and a reasonable layout of the power supply is crucial for simplifying the circuit. Some perforated boards have copper foils running through the entire board, which should be used for power and ground lines. If there are no such copper foils, you need to have a preliminary plan for the layout of power and ground lines.

2. Make Good Use of Component Pins

Soldering on perforated boards requires a lot of jumpers and wires. Do not rush to cut off the excess pins of components; sometimes directly connecting to the pins of nearby components can be much more efficient. Additionally, to save materials, you can collect the cut-off component pins to use as jumper wires.

3. Be Good at Setting Jumpers

This point must be emphasized: setting more jumpers not only simplifies connections but also looks much neater, as shown in the diagram below.

4. Make Good Use of the Component Structure

Diagram a shows a matrix keyboard circuit, while diagram b shows a matrix keyboard soldered by the author. This is a typical example of utilizing the inherent structure of components: the tactile buttons in diagram b have four pins, two of which are connected. We can use this feature to simplify wiring, with the electrically connected pins acting as jumpers. Readers can refer to diagram c for a better understanding.

Diagram a

Diagram b

Diagram c

5. Make Good Use of Pin Headers

The author likes to use pin headers because they have many flexible uses. For example, when connecting two boards, pin headers can serve both mechanical and electrical connection purposes. This method is inspired by the connection methods used in computer boards.

6. Cut Copper Foil When Necessary

When using perforated boards, to make full use of space, it is sometimes necessary to cut certain copper foils with a knife, allowing more components to be placed in limited space.

7. Make Full Use of Double-Sided Boards

Double-sided boards are relatively expensive, so if you choose them, you should make full use of them. Each pad on the double-sided board can act as a via, allowing flexible electrical connections between both sides.

8. Make Full Use of Space on the Board

Chip sockets can hide components, making the layout both neat and protective for the components.

When comparing circuit boards made by novices and experts, the difference is shocking!

The boards made by entry-level newcomers look like this▼

The boards made by experts look like this▼

Of course, some experts can create beautiful designs without using boards;

Some geniuses can create super complex things,

Foreigners built a CPU using logic gates on a universal board… simply amazing!