is in some degree flat enough. That is why i can not permit to insert IC sockets

You could have mounted the LEDs on the other side, or use multiple boards so you could keep the "display" board as flat as possible.

strongest fight i had was with the long wires. And for them i spent like 3 weeks... probably, or more. I failed a ton with them. I wanted them as thin as i could have them and played with 0.12mm on diverse mediums. The problem is they are undulating/springing and is impossible for me to keep them straight. I spent a ton of time to make them straight. I failed every time.

A trick to make the wires straight is to stretch them. You need to develop a feel for how much you can stretch before the wire breaks. I just stretch a piece of wire that's as long as I can handle and cut it down to size, so I don't care if I lose a few inches.

I used this technique when I was soldering a 4x4x4 LED cube using 3mm through hole LEDs. Don't have a picture handy. Will post one later.

EDIT: here's a picture of a corner of the cube:

The wire was 24 AWG from a CAT5 cable. When I make the real cube, which will be 8x8x8, I'll use 22 AWG tinned wire so it will blend in better with the LED leads.

Sorry about the poor focus. It never occurred to me to use a large f-stop for better depth of field.

i am working on a cardboard surface and not a textolite/Fiberglass surface. It is cheaper (for me) and is an old trick i learned a long time ago.

Plexiglass would be more durable than cardboard. There's a store 30 miles away from me called Tap Plastics that cuts sheets to size and they have a bin with inexpensive remnants. At least they used to.

EDIT: This guy sells clad and unclad fiberglass:

I bought this when I was thinking about making some SOT-23 to DIP adapters using adhesive backed copper foil. It worked out to just over $0.03 per square inch. Don't think he'll ship for free outside of the US.

I think the short name is PCB. But that is very expensive for my budget that is not renewable

You can buy copper clad scraps for around $0.10 per square inch on eBay. If you have any PCB houses nearby, you might be able to get scraps from them. The shop closest to me wouldn't sell any scraps...

Everything that i do, i think of it as prototype and not a final board.

This is a one off for a dual tracking power supply board I designed for someone on AAC:

EDIT: clearer image.
The board is 0.0325" thick and 2.5"x2.0". I only plan to make one, but I'm going to make two boards. The process I use is called toner transfer. For this project, I used some special purpose paper designed for toner transfer. I still need to etch the copper and drill.

I could have done point to point wiring, but I decided to make a PCB instead.

 

@q12x I was making changes while you were reading my previous post... Added information regarding unclad FR-4 boards.

 

Hmmm... you have different naming there. I just quick browse for a converter and i find this flexible page :
https://www.rapidtables.com/calc/wire/awg-to-mm.html

You can modify any value, press calculate and it will give you the conversion of the rest. In my case, i introduced 0.25 mm press calculate and it gives me the equivalent 30AWG.
And for 0.12mm, it means 36AWG. Very, very thin and like a wild beast, not conforming to anything. Its structure is way too thin.
Your 24 AWG means 0.5mm and it is VERY thick ! My 0.25mm is half diameter than yours and is the thickest wire. The 0.12mm is 4 times thinner !!! And is very nasty to work with. The problem (again) is the preparation, not the handling, forming, soldering. Those are "fun" to a degree.

You spoiled my next idea i have in plan...for a long time also. The 3d cube of leds. I did try a super MINI 3d led cube, like 3x3x3, (similar with yours 4x4x4) with a pic 16f84 MCU some 20y ago. Just to test it. And it worked fine. And from then i imagined something bigger. Im not sure how big though. In those times the smallest diameter LED was 3mm and not the super bright LED as they are from 2015 till now. My next dubious project will be (most probably) a BIG 3d cube, also using SMD LED's. The wire to link them will be interesting to think about. Again, my original impulse is to use a very thin wire, almost invisible. Like 0.12mm (36AWG).The LEDs will seem to float in the air. Thats the idea. But until then... ehee, i have to finish this project I am into right now. An interesting thing will be to have SPHERICAL LEDS, that will emit light in a very large angle, like 0 to 270 gr or 0 to 320 gr. Ehee... Not the flat rectangular ones with a limited angle 30-160gr maximum (at 180gr will be on the side and not really that bright).

- To get a normal focus, you dont get close to the cube with the camera. Go afar and just zoom in from the camera zoom button or from software in editing mode in your PC. This way, the FOV (field of view) is avoided, as you got it in your original shot. Try it again and confirm it will get ok. It is better to have a better resolution camera (from 5Mpx up).

Plexiglass would be more durable than cardboard.

- Yah, i know ! But i work with what i can permit. I dont particularly like the cardboard option since its more work to make it especially if is bigger and with many contacts/tracks. But for small circuits is more than fine and is dirt cheap, actually is FREE, the word we like the most. I can not permit the luxury of PCB's until i make it "officially". I rarely do. Heh.

...adhesive backed copper foil...

- Tell me more about them. Im very interested. Im more interested about thermo-adhesives, heat resistent adhesives, resistant to my 350-400 gr Celsius soldering iron heat. I did actually find such products but they are super expensive in bottles or tubes. Im curious (IN TIME) what you can find.(NOT RIGHT NOW)
I have actually used such product in my Wings project:
It is called: Copper Foil Shielding Tape Self-Adhesive 0.5cm OR 5mm (is what I bought)
The other wider ones are very expensive. But the 0.5cm is good price and you can cut from it longitudinally also, to make more thinner bands.

It is the first time im using it in my projects and it behaves quite interesting under my iron 400grC heat. It's adhesive is resistant ! I was afraid it will evaporate under that heat, but it remained sticky. Which im very happy for it. From that 0.5cm I actually cut it longitudinally in 3 or 4 and obtain something about 1mm sheet wide, but very long. And that 1mm sheet i use it in my Wings project as the (+) Common track for all the LED's.

You can buy copper clad scraps for around $0.10 per square inch on eBay.

- Now, these days is way more expensive from last years when it really was cheaper. I never searched for scraps as you suggest here, i only find and searched for Full sheet PCB. It never occurred to me to search for scraps on ebay. It's a neat idea !
I just give it a search now but i didnt find anything diferent than FULL PCB's. Hmmm... Ill keep it in mind for future searches.

If you have any PCB houses nearby, you might be able to get scraps from them. The shop closest to me wouldn't sell any scraps...

Hehe, not everyone is lucky. I am not lucky. I wish I had some scrap houses near me. This is cute. Heh. I am PRO scrap as you, and i did adventure in them on the margin of my town, but they have some very strict guards at the entrance and they dont let anybody inside their scrap yards. I did a few times managed to flow inside, and I even bought my entrance with a bottle of alcohol to the guards, and some bones for the "chained" dogs, but i was adolescent and i was under the eye "if im taking the valuable thing? and sell it? even after explicitly tell them i need it for my personal delight, they didnt believe me. That was some 20y ago when i was Wild. Now... I will get shot on sight probably haha. Im not risking at my age.

The process I use is called toner transfer. For this project, I used some special purpose paper designed for toner transfer. I still need to etch the copper and drill.

Hmmm, so much to discuss here. I do know about this process. It is with a paper printed and you transfer the tonner from the paper to the copper with a hot iron, by pressing over the paper. I know i see this process somewhere in some videos. But my stupid printer does not print at the actual size I have there, I did try it a couple of times and i get that stupid white border around the paper every time. SO all the drawing you see there is made with pencil and ruler. Old traditional way. Thats why it took me longer. The drawing was like 1 week, slow but sure, little by little.
The drilling you mention, I do have some very special drill bits:

They are ULTRA thin. The problem I had with one, was that i literally BEND it. Now is like a dick, and when is rotating is shit.
Usually a drill bit is braking, being very stiff material. But these ones just bent. Like an ordinary wire. I was so mad when that happen. But i did made some very specific holes for some components legs, and they fit Perfectly ! I am suggesting to take this set, and not 1 but 10 of them (if you have the money; I dont have money so i took only 1 set = big mistake). Eh well. I live in Romania Capitalista. Haha

I could have done point to point wiring, but I decided to make a PCB instead.

Dont! From my heart. Its hell all the way. Unless you find a Easy way of preparing the wire. That was the part i detested the most. The rest is fun to work with, but when it comes to preparing the wires, ugh... very shitty. VERY !

 

The other wider ones are very expensive. But the 0.5cm is good price and you can cut from it longitudinally also, to make more thinner bands.

If you use tape intended for electronics, it's expensive. My Wife used to do stained glass, so I confiscated her big roll of 1/2" wide tape. You can also buy tape intended for slug repellant in gardens.

I do have some very special drill bits:

They are ULTRA thin. The problem I had with one, was that i literally BEND it.

I use carbide bits and those require a drill press or a very steady hand. The smallest holes I drill are about 0.029". I use a small drill press designed to hold a Dremel type drill. I tried in a larger drill press and the bits just broke because there was too much runout in the chuck.

Dont! From my heart. Its hell all the way. Unless you find a Easy way of preparing the wire.

I can wire for an hour or two before back pain (from an auto accident years ago) forces me to stop.

I wired this 6 discrete flip flop in a couple sittings. It was a prototype for a digital clock that I was designing. I needed to test how my clocked R#S# flip flop design worked. I shelved that project because it was going to be free form (wire used to support all components), but I lost interest.



I did a PCB layout for this so I could used bare wire for most of the wiring. I use solid 30 AWG wire wrap wire and have a special tool for stripping the insulation.

 

This is the layout for the flip flop board. I designed it for 4 flip flops and extended it to 6 on the fly so I'd use the whole perf board:

The trace circled in red could have been with bare wire, but there was too much risk of a short, so I used insulated wire:


The board layout required one jumper for each flip flop.

 

... I designed it for 4 flip flops and extended it to 6 ...

Why so many flip flops? For what purpose? Or just for fun?

- You are right and I know it myself too, doing it with wires like that is messy and unprofessional. Im speaking of my thing, doing it as i did it. But I wish I could have a stock of virgin PCB's to play as I want, at discretion. Even the prototyping boards like the ones with holes is great too, to have at discretion. But I dont have them and i dont permit. So in a sense, I made my rules, I made it the way I did it, without thinking twice on the board/surface I make it. And is very true, in reality I dont even think about the board size or tracks or any of that. My only concern is the design and how to make it work, as practical as possible. In other times, when I was etching copper from PCB's, I was going to die if a board got a mistake on it. Now, i dont give a shit, I just re-make it from scratch without any concern for the lost cardboard. I collect all the tracks from it and move them on the new, improved, circuit board, if its the case, and it happened a couple of times before but really, i forget it even happened. Thats how strong I got attached to this way of doing. It is extremely practical, but also with its downsides , like time consuming and patience to bend and prepare every track in part. Its not for productivity, but is great for design and prototyping. Its like c++, slowly but surely.

 

Why so many flip flops? For what purpose? Or just for fun?

I saw this clock and decided to make one of my own, but instead of obscuring the logic I planned to arrange the components in functional blocks.

doing it with wires like that is messy and unprofessiona

You can make it a work of art if you want to. Jim Williams, a well regarded self taught analog design engineer, enjoyed making electronic gadgets that were both functional and artistic.

But I wish I could have a stock of virgin PCB's to play as I want, at discretion. Even the prototyping boards like the ones with holes is great too, to have at discretion. But I dont have them and i dont permit.

The board I used for the flip flops cost $0.20. There's really no reason for anyone to deny themselves of something that's so inexpensive.

 

The clock is interesting.

The board I used for the flip flops cost $0.20. There's really no reason for anyone to deny themselves of something that's so inexpensive.

Then, can you give me a direct link from where i can buy them this cheap also ?

 

The clock is interesting.

It took the guy 3 years to build it.

Then, can you give me a direct link from where i can buy them this cheap also ?

This is the best I found in 10 minutes of searching:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/325...earchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_

Shipping is the same for 1 or 2 lots of 10 boards, so buying 20 boards gives the best price ($1.38 x 2 + $1.17 s/h).

You save $0.15 per lot of 10 if you buy during the 11/11 sale.

You might find a lower price if you hunt around; this price was good enough for me. I just put 10 lots in my cart...

The quality of stuff on Ali Express is sometimes questionable. On the first batch of boards I bought, I noticed across a pair of pads that were shorted on one board. Now I do a check for shorts before using them. I'd prefer that they didn't have pads because I don't use them...

 

Can't I miniaturize that 1Gohm Resistor that is a match stick right now? (in the sensing circuit)
I made all the sensing circuit from smd's and that match stick is gigantic there. I want it eliminated and replaced with something smaller. What can it be, or made of ?
Thank you.

 

Can't I miniaturize that 1Gohm Resistor that is a match stick right now? (in the sensing circuit)
I made all the sensing circuit from smd's and that match stick is gigantic there. I want it eliminated and replaced with something smaller. What can it be, or made of ?

I'd try a reverse biased diode.

 

I'd try a reverse biased diode.

Working like a charm ! Thank you !

(that diode in the picture i used, is a weird one , with no classification, just pick it from random bunch of diodes in a little drawer) The negative is at the copper wire and the pos is on the transistor gate; is reversed bias as you said, since from the picture and all its colors you may think otherwise.
Right now i test it quickly with this through hole diode. I will insert a smd diode if i find one, or a smd transistor? because a transistor is 2 diodes, so it will be colector as negative and base as positive for a npn transistor that i have a bunch. Must probably i will find a smd diode, the smd transistor is the alternative it just pop out in my mind, and mention it here if its correct or not. Its faster to write than to test.
---
Edited here: - Yes, now i find a smd diode and mount it. Ill have to redimention the "board" now. Which i will gladly do it, with much joy in my hearth, after this little upgrade.

 

I will insert a smd diode if i find one, or a smd transistor? because a transistor is 2 diodes, so it will be colector as negative and base as positive for a npn transistor that i have a bunch

The reverse breakdown voltage of the diode is important. No general purpose transistor junctions will fit the bill. A 1N4148 type diode will give you a resistance in the Giga ohm range. Diodes with lower reverse breakdown voltages will have a lower resistance.

 

I have some issues:

 

I have some issues:

Can you describe the issues?

 

Its all in the video.
But the most important one is that on the table it stays lit, while in the air is functioning normal, and on the wall, i have no idea how it will behave. So... probably a shielding of some kind should be put on it. Or not... thats why i wanted your advice. But is fine either way. I will figure it out alone, probably, in a decade. What is the most important aspect, is that is working,weird as hell but it does.

 

Its all in the video.

OK. I got that but didn't know if I missed anything else.

The antenna on the gate is picking up line frequency from power lines that your body is picking up (like an antenna). To stop it from reacting to any power noise wherever you mount it, you just need to use a metal plate (or aluminum foil) to shield it from wires in the wall. The plate needs to be grounded and will shunt any EMI to ground.

When the LEDs turned on on your metal table, the table was acting like an antenna and the antenna in your circuit was picking up what it re-radiated. If you ground your table, that problem should go away.

The reason why you don't need the diode or wood resistor with your shortened board is that the cardboard is acting like a resistor. If it gets damp, the resistance will go down. If it dries out, the resistance will go up.

 

All your points are excellent. You didnt miss anything, and thank you for watching my long explanation there. I will try to cut it more concise in the future, i dont like it either being so long. So sorry about the lenght of the movie. I am not that experienced with making movies, and speaking in english in the same time.
So... if I will add a simple metal plate on the back of the circuit, and ground it, that will behave as a shield? Without an all around metal case that will obscure the circuit, even if its the sensing circuit with the antena in it. Im trying to imagine how an all around metal case will look though, probably like a metal box but without the lead on it, to leave the antena pick up only the frontal signal from my hand and shield everything else all around, but the front. Right? Im not into this part of electronics at all, but i have a very dimmed general idea about the subject, probably like any other person out there. I will experiment with a simple plate/steel sheet, on the back of the circuit, grounded, and see how much that will eliminate the problem. And if not, I will have to make a metal case for it, also grounded? and test that as well.
I imagine all this shielding will be necessary only for the sensing circuit and not for the whole big thing i have there.
Im also wondering if there is other way of shielding but without grounding. That extra wire was not in my plan. I suppose a more careful calibration of the antenna. Hmmm....
Thank you so much until this point. Without your help, i couldn't reach this far.

 

Im trying to imagine how an all around metal case will look though, probably like a metal box but without the lead on it, to leave the antena pick up only the frontal signal from my hand and shield everything else all around, but the front. Right?

A grounded metal box without a lid would give the best shielding for your application. You might be able to get away with a grounded plate larger than your board with the antenna.

Im also wondering if there is other way of shielding but without grounding. That extra wire was not in my plan.

Without grounding it, it would have to be a closed box (Faraday shield).

EDIT: For line frequency, it would probably work as a box without a lid and not grounded because the wavelength for 50Hz is quite long.

I don't recall seeing the LEDs light when it was close to your drill press. Is the drill press grounded?

 

Oh, thank you for your kind and direct explanations !
When it was close to the drill press the whole thing worked normally (after several adjustments of the antenna), it was actually the only spot where it did work normally, and i call that spot "in air". But I think because the sensing circuit + its antena was in the Left side, far enough of the metal drill press, like 30cm (or ~12 inch), it was enough distance to not be influenced and i call it "in air" properly at that point, without too much thinking as I just did right now. On the table, the metal structure was at 1cm (~0.4inch), right beneath the wood board. So in very close proximity. When I was dangling it in the air at some point, the same sensing circuit + its antenna was touching the power cable from the power supply with 5V DC through it, and it lit only the 1st and second pin of the IC. I didnt do the wall test yet, i only put it in perspective. But with your upgrade with the shield, it should be no problems on the wall, IF it will work on my table.
All my extension cords in my room have no ground in them. And they are 4 in series. If i have to ground anything, Ill have to open them all, and insert the ground wire for each of them. I know, i should have done it from the start, but ... i didnt. It will remain into the todo list, sometimes in the future. And is a bitch Now, to disturb any of them, while 2 of them are very weirdly screw on the wall, and very hard access to them. Its a problematic matter for me. But is good that you mention about this issue, I will be more careful in the future about grounding wire. I never needed it, but now with this example, i kind of wish to have it. Im thinking of your suggestion with grounding the table and make a test from pure curiosity. I believe you that will work but for me is more important to actually do it.