perforated circuit board connection

[livehho]

i've been told that i can use stripped UTP CAT 5 cable to make the connection between components on a perforated circuit board (i don't want to order PCBs yet)

my question is, can i use solder insdead of the UTP cable to make the connection between the components? you think it will work the same?

 

[kchriste]

You can solder the legs of the components together. Using solder as "wire" is wasteful and difficult to do.

 

[bassnut]

Sounds OK, any thin bare copper wire would do(insulated or not). You can also use veroboard which has strips of copper connecting rows of holes, but you will probably still need some connecting wires.

 

[HarveyH42]

I bend the component leads over to make connections where possible, use pieces of leads I trim to make others. But where I need insulation, or a longer run, I've got an endless supply of salvaged scrap I can find something to use (little tangled up...). I've been etching my own PCBs for a few years now with toner transfer. Still use perfboard occasionally for simple stuff, or LED boards (hate drilling a lot of holes).

You can use solder to bridge adjacent holes, but its best to have some sort of wire in there for strength and support. The copper on perfboard is only held on with a thin layer of glue.