Make a Mini Prototyping Breadboard

I often find myself needing to do some quick tests on my electrical components or just try out a small schematic. My breadboard works well, but is a bit big for my liking. Because of this, I made myself a smaller one from old computer IDE cables. It works great for when I go on trips because it is so small I can take it anywhere. T

Step 1 Gather Your Materials and Tools

You will need:
- 2 to 4 IDE cables
- some small gauge wire
- solder
- soldering iron
- pliers
- a knife

Comments

[pgd5000]

I've never used a breadboard so i was wondering if someone could tell me how they work without getting all technical. thanks

[KevinAlien26]

Ok there's vertical rows for power and horizontal rows for your basic connections. Breadboards are great to test stuff out since u just plug in the leads to say and led into the breadboard instead of having to solder anything. Hats why heir solderless. But keep In mind they are meant for testing and arent permanent so it's good to draw diagrams of your circuits so u can transfer them to perf or pc board (u no the plastic things with holes that are usually green) for your final project.

I'm fairly new to all this too so I'm hoping this helped you gain some knowledge on this matter. If not im sure I can find a better way to explain it and I'm sure there's great instructbles on how to use breadboards

[juggler4real]

where do you get ied cables

[nobody394]

great i'ble, I'm too cheap to buy a breadboard and too cheap to throw those ide cables away and now i'll make use of 'em.

[handyman21]

great idea mate to make the connection quicker and neater use cooking foil works
brill

[absolute zero]

i wonder instead of soldering if you could just stick a wire onto the pins?
ill post with the results

[absolute zero]

well, it might work if you have a machine press

[TheAmazingJampie]

Great Instructable, I needed a mini breadboard.

[baken411]

great idea to make a smaller breadboard. where can i find the IDE cables?

[mytomatoes]

I got mine from my schools computer lab. Since they are always taking apart computers, they usually have a few cables lying around.

[acaz93]

You can find them in old or discarded computers , you may also buy new in any computer retail/repair store