Introduction: Altoids Pocket Super Solderless Breadboard Junior
Solderless Breadboards are really nice to quickly prototype a circuit, they are inexpensive and can be used almost indefinitely. I gave some thought as to what I could do to improve on the basic breadboard and this is what I came up with.
My design requirements were as follows
1) small foot print
2) heavy enough to keep it from moving around while in use
3) Capable of handling 2 16 pin IC's and support components
4) Single built in power supply
5) Additional storage space for jumper wires
6) less than $10 dollars to build
7) Catchy product name ( Extra points for Cool Acronym )
Submitted for your approval is the Altoids Pocket Super Solderless Breadboard Junior
Step 1: BOM (Bill of Materials)
The Bill of Materials and assorted links to them. Just a note I've chosen Radio Shack P/N's not because they great but more because they are handy. If you do a little searching you'll find better pricing and quality on the Internet or maybe even in your own stash. (Which is all the better!)
1) Altoids tin
2) 4 AA battery holder (Radio Shack AA Holder)
3) Solderless Breadboard (Radio Shack Breadboard)
4) (Optional) Single Pole Single Throw SPST Switch)
5) (Maybe) Double Sided Sticky tape or Servo Tape (see my other instructable if you haven't used Servo Tape)
Please forgive the unnecessary picture I thought something should be there
Step 2: Drill Some Holes
Lets drill some holes!
Depending on whether you add the SPST switch you might need to drill 2 or 3 .250" holes. 2 holes for the supply wires and one hole for the switch.
My breadboard was purchased from Electronics Goldmine a couple of years ago, the model number is WB-100 and it has 4 mounting holes which I used to run the power supply wires thru. The down side to this breadboard is it only has 270 holes, however it did come with doublesided sticky tape attached so depending on how your breadboard is layed out, you may have to make adjustments when drilling the holes.
I use this method whenever I put holes in Altoid tins
First measure the location and mark using a combination square and sharpie
Next cut a small piece of wood that will fit inside the tin to provide support while drilling
Now with the wood supporting the tin, take an automatic punch (the tool in my hand) and locate the mark and push, a spring in the punch puts a nice dent in the location to drill. Without this step the drill may wander
Taking the tin and the wood support over to the drill press (or hand drill) chuck up the best drill bit ever made for weird materials that you want to put a round hole in. There is no other drill bit I've ever used that makes round holes. If you don't have a UNI-BIT in your tool box go get one they are great!
Get one of these
If you used a regular drill bit you'll have a little more cleaning up to do but the most important part is to make sure you have no sharp edges to abrade the wire.
Once you've done that your ready to move on to the next step
Step 3: Wire It Up
I chose to use 4 AA batteries in my breadboard, depending on your needs, you could choose a 9 volt battery or even a couple of CR123 batteries. With a 9 volt battery you'll have room to add a regulator circuit. My logic with the AA batteries had more to do with the fact, I've got a ton of rechargeable AA batteries so I won't be spending too much time looking for them or money when it comes time to replace them. And as a side benefit, 4 rechargeable batteries make approximately 5 volts and Alkaline batteries about 6 volts so I have an option.
Lets get on to putting this together. The battery box I used (Same as in the previous link) came with 6 inches of wire attached. We'll use that extra wire to connect the positive lead (Red) to the switch and then to the positive bus. On the negative side it will just connect the negative lead (Black) directly to the to the negative bus on the breadboard.
That's all there is to it wiring it up
Step 4: Finishing Up
If you haven't installed the switch (If you have chosen to use it) do so now. Mark the box with a sharpie or a lettering machine for on / off.
Next if you've chosen the same battery box you'll note it is really close to the same size as the Altoids tin. Slip the side with the leads into the box and apply pressure on the opposite side, you'll distort the box slightly but it should go in, On my box the battery contacts were recessed so there was little chance of shorting out the wires.
Now put your batteries in and close your box, you're ready to enjoy your Altoids Pocket Super Solderless Breadboard Junior.
Thanks for checking out my second instructable.
Steve

Participated in the
Craftsman Workshop of the Future Contest
24 Comments
Question 4 years ago on Step 4
How did you solder the power onto the breadboard? Please post this important step!
9 years ago on Step 4
can you please make a video of you testing it to prove it works im begging you
9 years ago on Introduction
Can I use a spdt toggle
13 years ago on Introduction
You could remove the sticker on the bottom of the breadboard and solder your connections there.
You can even add a variable power supply.
14 years ago on Introduction
what does a breadboard do?(dumb question, i know)
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
Just type in "Breadboard" on the white, boxy thingy and the top right, and welcome to the world of testing circuits!
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
yea, i googled it an stuff after posting that, seems very cool.......if some of my fking led's would work...
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
I dont even have any, i just desolder from old toys. I just need to find out how to get a good resistor for them....
Reply 13 years ago on Introduction
I normaly use a 220 ohm resistor for 3 volts but for six volts I use 1k ohm resistor.
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
i do the same thing, the store hallmarks had a big sale an there were TONS of little LED flashlights an i got a bunch. An right after posting that i realized the battery i was using was completely dead
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
After re-reading the comment, i finally understood and started laughing. What color we're the LEDs?
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
that was funny? damn, for once some1 laughs at me an i didnt even make a joke...there were many colors of led, purple, red, green, orange, and a few morre
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
dont be too flattered, i laugh at almost anytihng. Yesterday I was playing basketball and I got hit in the face, and I started cracking up....
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
Me too!
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
wow...thats not too bad, i randomly bust out laughing at things that happened weeks ago and sometime argue with myself(that can get really freaky)
13 years ago on Introduction
u r awsome! u strangly remind me of my grandpa. (in the way of electronics) lol
13 years ago on Introduction
I spent a few minutes trying to find some details on your RS Breadboard, about all I found was on the Radio Shack breadboard reviews. I'd take a DMM and check for continuity between the buses. Having four buses sounds pretty handy. If each side isn't tied together and you want them to be, it'll only be a matter of a couple of jumper wires.
Nuts and Volts magazine has a pdf on breadboarding.
http://www.nutsvolts.com/media-files/1016/How_To_Breadboarding-NV200812.pdf
Hope this helped
Steve
13 years ago on Introduction
Hey, cool project. I have a question about the breadboard, I just got the one from Radio Shack earlier today, and instead of one bus on each side, it has both positive and negative and each side, does this effect the way you would attach the power supply to it?
14 years ago on Introduction
For the switch can I use a 1A 250VAC switch instead of a 3A 125VAC. do I need to do anything extra to make this work or do I need to go buy a new switch?
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
The only concern I'd have is, does it physically fit in the box? If it does I'm sure you can use it. if you accidentally shorted the batteries you'd probably smoke a wire or torch your AA batteries before you took out your switch. Hope this helps Steve