3M breadboards for cheap

[rdl]

The blue crinkle paint is what my two Radio Shack boards have. I bought them back in the late 80s. So to me that is more confirmation that, at that time anyway, time Radio Shack was selling re-branded 3M boards.

[knotlogic]

So I purchased one of the Assembly Specialist breadboards, the full size SS252 model (the breadboard by itself without the metal mounting plate), and had a bit of a surprise.  It's the breadboard by itself without the metal mounting plate.

I should mention that I've never used or seen one of the 3M breadboards before, so I didn't think to look out for this.

It turns out that the bus rows along the sides aren't spaced 0.1" apart like I expected.  This isn't a fault in any way of the product itself, just that I have one of these SparkFun Breadboard Power Supply Sticks which are designed to plug straight into a breadboard.  And in this case, they can't.

As an aside, I also, for some reason I can't quite remember, purchased one of Assembly Specialist's DS293 "3-row Distribution Strip 6 rows of 6 connected 4 tie-point terminals", and the rows on that are spaced 0.1" apart.  I wonder if the same is true for the 2 row version, which would make it different from what comes in the full size breadboard.

Again, not a complaint about the product.  Just an unexpected finding. 

I also wonder what breadboard SparkFun designed that power stick for.  I have one of those brand-x-in-an-orange-box breadboards and it doesn't fit in that either.  While the adjacent bus rows on that are 0.1" apart, the rows on opposite sides of the board don't linen up with the mount points on the stick.

(Edited for clarity)

[tooki]

So I purchased one of the Assembly Specialist breadboards, the full size SS252 model, and had a bit of a surprise.  It's the breadboard by itself without the metal mounting plate.

I should mention that I've never used or seen one of the 3M breadboards before, so I didn't think to look out for this.

No offense, but the product images show clearly which items have a baseplate and which don’t. (I was just looking at the website earlier today.) No baseplate in the image = no baseplate in the mail.

[knotlogic]

No offense, but the product images show clearly which items have a baseplate and which don’t. (I was just looking at the website earlier today.) No baseplate in the image = no baseplate in the mail.

Oh it wasn't the lack of a baseplate that surprised me - I wanted the one without a baseplate.  It's the way the bus rows weren't spaced 0.1" apart. 

Now if I *had* received a  baseplate, that would have been a surprise.

[tooki]

Really weird wording, dude. You said it was a surprise, and the thing you mention is the lack of baseplate.

"Huh, this is weird. This fish tastes like chicken." - "OK, why are you surprised that this fish tastes like chicken?" - "Oh, it's not the flavor that surprises me. I didn't want broccoli."

[knotlogic]

Yeah, reading it now it does seem a bit misleading.  Have edited it slightly to clean it up.

[tooki]

And yeah, it is kinda weird that on most breadboards (at least, practically all of them I've seen/used) the bus holes don't line up.

[metrologist]

what are you talking about? The power rails?

[tooki]

Yeah.

[_Wim_]

I think this guy "knows" already quite a while: https://www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?_ssn=paula111751&_from=R40&_trksid=p2499338.m570.l1313.TR1.TRC0.A0.H0.X3m+breadboard.TRS0.TSS0&_nkw=3m+breadboard&_sacat=0

I bought breadboards from him a couple of years ago, they are the real deal. Prices seems comparable with "Assembly Specialist"...

Good source to buy outside of the US.

[CJay]

I think this guy "knows" already quite a while: https://www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?_ssn=paula111751&_from=R40&_trksid=p2499338.m570.l1313.TR1.TRC0.A0.H0.X3m+breadboard.TRS0.TSS0&_nkw=3m+breadboard&_sacat=0

I bought breadboards from him a couple of years ago, they are the real deal. Prices seems comparable with "Assembly Specialist"...

Good source to buy outside of the US.

Loads of interesting things but wow, the shipping prices...

[james_s]

If they don't ship internationally, if someone in US is willing to make some buy for the ones that want and ship it to one address in EU, and from that address in EU the distribution will take place to the group, or other way is get a Shipito address, ship it there and the to EU.

They shure look cheap compare to the 3M ones.

Well, I would be willing to work with someone to arrange a group buy. I don't want to go into business shipping breadboards all over the world, but if someone in the destination country would like to organize the buy and have a batch of them sent to me, I'd be happy to re-ship via USPS it at cost, prices can be estimated at usps.com. Maybe toss in an extra breadboard for me to keep if you're feeling generous but really I don't mind helping out other hobbyists as long as it doesn't become an every week kind of thing, it's been handy to have contacts in other countries willing to return the favor now and then. \

[thanasisk]

I think this guy "knows" already quite a while: https://www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?_ssn=paula111751&_from=R40&_trksid=p2499338.m570.l1313.TR1.TRC0.A0.H0.X3m+breadboard.TRS0.TSS0&_nkw=3m+breadboard&_sacat=0

I bought breadboards from him a couple of years ago, they are the real deal. Prices seems comparable with "Assembly Specialist"...

Good source to buy outside of the US.

Loads of interesting things but wow, the shipping prices...

For one 804 pos breadboard the final price would be very close to the prices from mouser.. (compared to the similar sized backplate version)

[_Wim_]

For one 804 pos breadboard the final price would be very close to the prices from mouser.. (compared to the similar sized backplate version)

Yes, for one it probably not so interesintg. I bought the package of 10 however, as I have multiple things going on at the same time, and like to keep it populated. Sometimes the breadboard if even the "final" version...

[thanasisk]

For one 804 pos breadboard the final price would be very close to the prices from mouser.. (compared to the similar sized backplate version)

Yes, for one it probably not so interesintg. I bought the package of 10 however, as I have multiple things going on at the same time, and like to keep it populated. Sometimes the breadboard if even the "final" version...

Same thing here,  keep running out of breadboards 

[thanasisk]

Reviving this old thread.. Has anyone in europe been able to order any breadboards from assemblyspecialist?

Thr gold plated one (equivalent to the 3m 923749) looks very interesting. I guess robustness of the contacts would be better compared to the «normal» breadboards (as is the cade with the molex gold plated connectors). This breadboard is impossible to order nowadays from Mouser/digikey in europe without a minimum special order of 10 pieces..

[ebastler]

I have bought one of the Assembly Specialist boards now (#BB336, four of the white modules mounted on a base plate); just brought it back home from a US trip. Unfortunately I do not find it as convincing as I had hoped it to be:

The contacts in all four plugboard modules are too stiff, in my opinion. I struggle mightily to insert wire bridges -- I often have to resort to a pair of needle-nose pliers to jam the wire ends into the spring contacts, and have already mangled quite a few wires in the process. And yes, that's using 22 AWG wires which the breadboard is intended for, including those from the starter kit I also got from Assembly Specialists.

The contacts in the separate, horizontal rails across the top prove that they can do better. These are smooth to work with, the way I had expected. Easy to insert a jumper wire with your fingers, without bending the wires.

Apparently, the tolerances in making the breadboard contacts are too loose to ensure consistent contact tension. Disappointing. Not being US-based, it is impractical for me to get a replacement from Assembly Specialists; so I will have to chalk this up under "learned the hard way"...

[cdev]

You could try inserting a strong, conical piece of metal (Ive used the point on a cheap compass) in the holes to make them a bit more flexible. Of course, you don't need to poke every hole. Try every couple of holes or once in the middle of each row.. See if that loosens it up.

[rdl]

A big problem people complain about when using cheap breadboards is flaky, intermittent connections. I have never had that problem using 3M boards. They are tight. I almost always have to use tweezers or something to insert leads and wire jumpers in them.

[ebastler]

You could try inserting a strong, conical piece of metal (Ive used the point on a cheap compass) in the holes to make them a bit more flexible. Of course, you don't need to poke every hole. Try every couple of holes or once in the middle of each row.. See if that loosens it up.

Thanks cdev. Yes, I will play around a bit with various pointed objects, trying to find one which loosens the contacts up enough, without opening them up too far. Having to pre-poke each hole before pluggin in a wire would be annoying -- but still better than needing pliers to shove in the wire, and discarding one in four wires because I mangled it...

[ebastler]

A big problem people complain about when using cheap breadboards is flaky, intermittent connections. I have never had that problem using 3M boards. They are tight. I almost always have to use tweezers or something to insert leads and wire jumpers in them.

Well, initially I was wondering whether "it's not a bug, it's a feature". But, as indicated above -- the contacts in the separate horizontal power rails have a tension that is much better balanced. Wish they were all like that!

[cdev]

They loosen up with a bit of use, at least mine have. It doesn't take a lot of use. Any pointy object can be used, tweezers can do two rows at the same time.

[Peabody]

I've had good luck with breadboards from BusBoard Prototype Systems, most recently their BB830, which Arrow sells for US$7.84 with free overnight shipping.  Don't know about availablilty in Europe.  I've never used a 3M, so I don't know how they compare, but the BB830 gives reliable connections with easy insertion.

[tooki]

Also, it’s really helpful to snip component leads on the bias, so that they have a taper to push apart the contacts. This makes a huge difference in insertability. (Not just on 3M breadboards, on others too.)

[PlainName]

Here are a couple of them. I believe there are more.....

I am puzzled as to why he's shorting power to ground. Not a fake video, is it?

edit: sorry about the time warp!