Springboard Breadboards??

Hi all,
I was wondering if anyone here might know if the old springboard-type
prototyping breadboards still exist and are still available.
The springboards are/were a grid of vertical springs on a plastic
board.
The springs are pretty much the same ones on those Radio Shack 101
project electronics trainer boards.
I'm often prototyping with power resistors / large components & miss
those suckers we had way back in my school days.
If not the boards themselves, maybe the springs to make one?

Thanks in advance!
B

 

I know what you're looking for, they were a staple in training labs
pre-60s. I kind of think they went out with tubes and large discrete
components. You might find some in a surplus electronics place, but
those types of places are dying out, too. If you can find a ham radio
swap meet, that's probably your best bet. Leaded components are dying
off, too, surface mount rules these days.

Stan

 

In 5th grade (approx. AD 1959), I won a blue ribbon at the Science Fair
with one of those things. ;-)

Nowadays I use an ordinary proto-board, and if I have a component with
fat leads, I cut the leads short and solder a little pigtail of #24
wire to them.

If I need more power than that, I just solder them rat's-nest style.

Good Luck!
Rich

 

I think I had 3 of those in my youth..
I recall scavenging the kits for parts. Just springs left..

If I had to find springs I'd check out:
Hobby shop
Hardware store
Online spring shop
Ebay
VCR repair shop or similar

Maybe buy the wire and make the springs...
D from BC

 

You can still get fahnestock clips and make your own.

<http://www.acmemodel.com/fahnestock.htm>

 

I want to find the other style of breadboarding stuff:
the components were mounted on plastic strips or blocks that had Lego-
like metal tits that stuck into the breadboard, and the connections
were various lengths of wire with crimped-on clips that pushed onto
the component terminal posts. You could stack a lot of connections on
one post. I built an oscilloscope in high school wityh this stuff; the
storeroom had a huge pile of it that nobody used because they were
trying to figure out how to connect batteried to light bulbs. There
were vacuum tubes and sockets, a 2" CRT, coils and transformers,
everything. Regens were possible but superhets would have required
some coil winding.
Now I teach a class on AIrcraft Systems and it would be
nice to have this setup to teach some basic electronics. There are
kids out there that might find a real interest in it.

Dan

 

I'd check the mcmaster carr online catalog (www.mcmaster.com) for
various springs - not the only source of course, and won't have the
most unique items, but often a good place to start.

Not quite sure about mounting them though - appropriately threaded
studs that they could screw onto might be a possibility. I think the
radioshack ones were stepped where they went into the cardboard. RS
had a mechanical "computer" kit that had probably about 100 of them
(and no "electronics" other than batteries, bulbs, and switches)... if
you could find one of those that might be a source.

 

The kind I got in the 1960s had a sort of wire loop that came up from
the bottom, something like this (please excuse trashscii art):


^
| |
| |
| |
/ \
\ /
===============| |===============
pegboard | |
==============/ \==============
-------- -------- < end of loop part

and the springs had a narrow end that locked onto the bulge. You'd
connect to it by pressing the spring down and sticking the wires through
the loop. The kit even came with a special tool to install them, which
was basically half a rubber ball with a hole for the spring; you'd poke
the loops through, lay it on the bench, and press the springs down over
them.

Hope This Helps!
Rich

 

A related question....does anyone other than Radio Shack make
electronic educations kits?

TMT

 

Sure. And others sell them, R P Electronics for one.

 

On 28 Mar 2007 19:07:29 -0700, "Too_Many_Tools"

I don't know who makes them, but Carl's Electronics has some
stuff:

http://www.electronickits.com/