I'm making a circuit using mostly point-to-point wiring on a 2.54mm-spaced perforated board. Is there an alternative way to connect all the components to ground instead of a wire from each component to a (relatively distant) ground point?

Is there such thing as 2.54mm SIP pins/headers that are all connected together internally - to use as a ground bus/rail? Something like this...but with all the pins electrically connected together:

http://media.digikey.com/Photos/Cirrus Logic Photos/MS06.jpg

I suppose I could use a solid wire 24 ga. wire with the insulation stripped off to make a ground bus, but I prefer a less 'crude' solution. Thanks.

 

Your circuit generally determines the layout. Grounds used for references stay separated from the power grounds. They should only combine at one point.

 

Some perf boards have a copper ground plane or long copper traces that are designed to be used as a common ground.
If it's a bare board than a piece of tinned 16 or 18 bus wire can be used for the power and ground buses.

 

Thank you. The perforated board I'm currently using is plain...no copper pads or traces. If others are using a bare wire for ground (and sometimes power), then maybe it's not such a bad idea afterall

I have 22 and 24 ga. solid, tinned copper hookup wire (aka breadboard wire) which I could strip. Is real bus wire better...I guess it's specifically made for this purpose?

 

I generally run a bare #22 to #18 down one edge, or sometimes around the periphery of the board... Or a ground down one edge, and power rail down the opposite edge with circuitry in-between.

 

I have 22 and 24 ga. solid, tinned copper hookup wire (aka breadboard wire) which I could strip. Is real bus wire better

Wire is wire. The only, "better" possible is your convenience. I would prefer the tinned wire because it's going to end up getting soldered anyway.

 

I prefer Stripboard (Vero) Makes power/common bus relatively easy.
STPBRD1 here.
http://www.futurlec.com/ProtoBoards.shtml
Max.