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Step 3Build your circuit.
On small one-off circuits like these I don't bother with designing printed circuit boards. I just wire them up on perf-board using the cut off leads of the various components to solder them together in a kind of "connect the dots" fashion. Keeping the layout in roughly the same order as the schematic helps to visualize the top and bottom of the board as you assemble it. For the longer runs use 24 ga hook-up wire or some cuttings from a telephone cable if you can find one.
It's important to use a good quality soldering iron with a thin tip and good 60/40 solder as it gets a bit cramped, especially around the 555 chip socket. Definitely use a socket for the chip as you can easily overheat the chip during assembly and troubleshooting. Small needle-nosed pliers will help with manipulating the leads and in holding them in place for soldering.
I used SMT parts for the electrolytic caps because they were the smallest low ESR caps I could find. If you use the same ones solder your own leads onto the pads and wire them up as if they were normal discrete components paying attention to the polarity (see schematic).
Once you know exactly where to put it, glue the FET socket to the perf-board with CA glue. I used a nylon bolt to bolt the FET down but as long as the tab is isolated from the rest of the circuit any small bolt will do.
I also used a strip of stick-on copper foil, cut from a 6" wide sheet, along the bottom edge for a ground bus. Digikey sells the sheets by the foot and it's marvelous stuff as it can be used for making ground planes, RFI shields, heatsinks, and many other uses. My wife enjoys making stained glass items and the rolls of copper foil she uses are also perfect for this task. You can pretty much make your own "printed" circuits with these rolls, sans the etching steps, if you like, but it's not necessary with this circuit.
It's important to use a good quality soldering iron with a thin tip and good 60/40 solder as it gets a bit cramped, especially around the 555 chip socket. Definitely use a socket for the chip as you can easily overheat the chip during assembly and troubleshooting. Small needle-nosed pliers will help with manipulating the leads and in holding them in place for soldering.
I used SMT parts for the electrolytic caps because they were the smallest low ESR caps I could find. If you use the same ones solder your own leads onto the pads and wire them up as if they were normal discrete components paying attention to the polarity (see schematic).
Once you know exactly where to put it, glue the FET socket to the perf-board with CA glue. I used a nylon bolt to bolt the FET down but as long as the tab is isolated from the rest of the circuit any small bolt will do.
I also used a strip of stick-on copper foil, cut from a 6" wide sheet, along the bottom edge for a ground bus. Digikey sells the sheets by the foot and it's marvelous stuff as it can be used for making ground planes, RFI shields, heatsinks, and many other uses. My wife enjoys making stained glass items and the rolls of copper foil she uses are also perfect for this task. You can pretty much make your own "printed" circuits with these rolls, sans the etching steps, if you like, but it's not necessary with this circuit.
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