Breadboarding tips

[@gloverelaxis]

This is like the electronic engineering equivalent of gardening or knitting for relaxation.

[@omniyambot9876]

Pleasure to design hardcore schematics and finally when we make a prototype, we put so much love and passion in doing breadboard.

[@HughWilliams1]

The Bob Ross of EE.

[@NeilRoy]

@@HughWilliams1 LOL, right. "Another happy little wire here..."

[@ingenierocristian]

Indeed

[@TheEmeraldMenOfficial]

Equivalent for me: opening CDs with an actual CD opener or looking at retro tech

[@shubhammaurya3671]

Title should be " How to BeNeater"

[@pislify34]

Underrated

[@mikeearls126]

that is some funny witty shit right there.

[@OrchidAlloy]

Incredible

[@existential_fred]

This deserves a heart

[@ChrisPavey85]

Congratulations! Sir, you have won the internet. 👏

[@SamBebbington]

When you realise you just watched Ben strip wires for 20 mins and you enjoyed it!

[@a52productions]

He's got such a pleasant voice!

[@du42bz]

Im Bensexual

[@michaelburns8073]

Nothing like a good stripper to get me all excited. 🤣

[@fmphotooffice5513]

Watching some of his multi-breadboard examples reminds me of a poetic compliment. He has the patience of a cow. Focused, always paced to get the job done, when the job is thoroughly explaining what he is doing. Very enjoyable. Regards.

[@CZghost]

**surprised pikachu face**

[@SpaghettiRoad]

Until these videos I didn't know I was attracted to cable management.

[@IceColdProfessional]

Cable management is an art form.

[@angrymario8259]

We don't Kink shame here

[@ivarnordlkken8082]

Better than watching paint dry 😀

[@DefaultFlame]

Check out @albinjd if you want to see truly magical cable management.

[@expolarity7541]

I think it's important to note that this takes a lot of practice and you shouldn't give up when you don't get it extra tidy on your first try

[@bitrot42]

Excellent point. It's really a lifelong process... I've been doing this stuff for decades, and I still get a little better each time. "Continuous Improvement"...

[@Super_Smash_Dude]

As a guy who is now learning this stuff properly, this actually makes me feel a lot better.

[@midnightrizer]

yeah and as ben said it helps if the circuit works first :)

[@thomasrogers8239]

Ben eater is the guy who I just watched eyeball a wire strip to within 3 decimal points to.3 inches.

[@question_mark67]

Ben is the REAL electronics designer. He is walking, talking and creative GOLD.

[@fractal5764]

256 likes

[@question_mark67]

@@fractal5764 258 likes

[@fractal5764]

@@question_mark67 it's ruined now

[@duncanwalduck7715]

@@braye00 Extra bits? Extra BYTES!

[@Otakunopodcast]

Save your cut-off parts legs! They can be extremely useful. I use them frequently for making power/ground buses when soldering components together on perfboards. If you snap a leg off a chip, as long as you didn't snap it off entirely (the top part of the leg where it enters the chip is still intact) you can solder on a cut-off lead to make a quick and dirty repair. They can also be used for repairing broken traces on circuit boards. And you can throw them at annoying coworkers like little tiny needle darts. :) (Okay, maybe that's not such a good idea...)

[@JohnHollowell]

I'm pretty sure this is the new Bob Ross but for electronics. The introducing us to the tools at the end, eyeballing things perfectly, saying it doesn't have to be perfect, the calm voice. It all comes together

[@ruutjormun2262]

thank you for this video. i found this in the final weeks of my third-year undergraduate robotics project. the examiner was particularly impressed with the breadboarding neatness. i credited you in my acknowledgements section of the thesis, and got a first class grade out of it! much love

[@renakunisaki]

More tips: Use consistent colors! In DC circuits red should always be + and black should always be -. I personally like yellow for clock, green for data, white for analog. I have to break the rules occasionally, but it makes things much easier. Once you've cut one wire, use it to measure additional cuts for the same length. Wire is cheap, and you can always cut it again. Don't be afraid to cut off more than you need. I have a set of red/black wires tying the voltage rails together for each breadboard. They're basically permanent. They can be removed as needed, but each board has its own pair. Good breadboards have little indents and nubs on the sides so they can actually snap together! If you need to strip an extremely thin wire and your tools can't do it without breaking it, you can melt the plastic off with a soldering iron. Just be sure you have a good fume extractor (melting plastic gives off toxic fumes), clean the crud off the iron afterward, and do it on a table you don't mind marking the surface of. Also, ensure no pets or toddlers eat the waste plastic! If something isn't working, don't forget to test the wires themselves! They can break or be defective too!

[@alfredlily]

Thanks for sharing your experience . I also use wires of different colour instead of jumper wires I use wires in big projects I also connect data pin , power supply , gates input and output etc...

[@Bromon655]

I’ve had great success stripping 22 gauge wire by simply taking a small pair of scissors and gently squeezing around the circumference of the wire, never applying enough pressure to snip the wire but enough to cut the coating.

[@ivolocoso6989]

Adding to this, if you are working with audio/headphone/transformer cables (where there isn't an insulation sleeve, but instead there is just enamel) you can remove it by heating the soldering iron way more than you need and holding the cable over a molten drop of solder for a couple seconds, you can also burn/sand the insulation off, but in my experience this way is easier and faster.

[@ruutjormun2262]

@@ivolocoso6989lmao. imagine my surprise when the universe brings me to this thread weeks after completely failing a solder repair on one of my favourite headphones due to wire thinness. God bless you guys

[@bobweiram6321]

You're the Bob Ross of Electronics: "The Magic of Breadboarding"

[@chipsnblip6449]

Happy little LEDs

[@DefaultFlame]

I never thought of it, but that is an incredibly accurate decription of Ben.

[@TheB787heavy]

😂

[@TheB787heavy]

To be honest, there is no difference between him & a network engineer who keeps his cables neat.

[@DefaultFlame]

@@TheB787heavy If you think it's just about his cable management you missed the point of the comment.

[@RoboGenesHimanshuVerma]

Breadboarding so clean, even PCBs are embarassed

[@skilz8098]

FPGAs I can't compete with the Eater!!!

[@RoboGenesHimanshuVerma]

@@hamu_sando Not that I know of. Just heard it like a popular linr

[@ayoitscat]

Fr though, my pcbs look way messier than his breadboards

[@renzkoh]

Amateurs SMD components: *AMATEURS*

[@CainGantt]

Ben is the Bob Ross of computing. So calming to watch, only peaceful vibes, and with expert skill in the subject.

[@hahathatsgreat2]

The mark of a true engineer is calling a £5 tool (lead bender) "fancy."

[@colinpitrat8639]

That's just a nice way of saying useless 😀

[@Lawrence330]

If you're in the US, any Walmart will have a jewelry forming pliers set in the crafting section. The handles are typically pink/purple/blue/teal, and they aren't exactly precision-machined, but the ring-nose will do a great job putting a radius on your hookup wires and the flat pliers are decent for straightening leads. The cutters are "okay."

[@edwardpaulsen1074]

This was quite the excellent video and covered nearly everything I learned over almost 50 years of direct experience, including wire wrapping. There is only one bit of caution that I would like to add and that is "Bend Radius"... For the most part, these wires will likely be bent only once and will stay that way, however if these will be used repeatedly especially if it may get adjusted at the corner of the bend then one should take that into account. Bend radius varies depending on wire or cable type with larger wires or cables having a larger radius multiplier. Small wire (under 14Ga) has a minimum bend radius of three times OD, solid wire 12Ga or larger is six times the OD and for stranded that can go between 7 to 12 times the OD (larger multipliers are for really heavy gauges far beyond hobby levels) In this case, using 22 Gauge solid wire, the most likely OD is going to be 0.06 inches which, when multiplied by the 3x factor gives you 0.18 inches radius which is slightly over 3/16th inches or a bit larger then going around a standard pencil. This should be taken into account in final builds where there may be vibration or other movement that may occur. This is to prevent fatiguing the wire too much and breaking it, perhaps inside the insulation where troubleshooting can become very difficult! As I said before, maintaining that bend radius for breadboards is not as vital as it is generally a very temporary circuit but if it gets directly transferred to a perf-board with solder that can quickly become a problem and it is better to turn those best practices into a habit early on to prevent headaches down the road.

[@karmageddon9136]

Patience is key. Like plumbing or carpentry, preparing for the work takes time but it makes the job easier and neater. At the end, a lot more satisfying. Thanks Ben

[@Antonio_Gallego]

Your eyeballin' thing is together, Ben

[@desertfish74]

0.3000 eyeballed 👀🧐

[@duncanwalduck7715]

The Mk.1 Eyeball. Trimmed.

[@kingmallow]

Wanted to see which orientation you stand resistors and really wished there was a TOC. Feel free to use this: 0:00 Intro 1:10 Example of Neatly wired Breadboard 1:24 Bread Board and Wire 1:57 Tools 2:07 Tools: Wire Strippers 3:05 Tools: Wire Cutters 3:23 Tools: Needle Nose Pliers 3:50 Wires 6:55 Wires: Note on Fancy Wire Strippers 9:39 Components Intro 9:44 Resistor - Flat 10:01 Tools: Note on Lead Bending Tools 11:13 LED 11:31 Resistor - Standing 12:22 Wire With Bends 16:25 Arched Wire For Complicated Circuit 19:31 Conclusion

[@ahmedsamiatta4800]

He is very professional that he doesn't do a lot of editing and cutting in the video, one of the best and limited channels in electronics

[@PixelSchnitzel]

Excellent tips! Your videos *greatly* improved my breadboarding after decades years of tinkering. THANK YOU. I have 3 tips to add: 1) I finally pried ~$75 out of my wallet for a Patco PTS-10 thermal stripper on eBay. Best prototyping money I ever spent. I set the depth for 0.3" and can prep bazillions of wires in very little time. Less work / more prototyping! Also, wire nicking can never happen, so ALL my wiring work has improved. Bonus: Good enough for NASA! 2) Keep a set of disposable medicine cups (great for mixing epoxy too) to organize red & black wires for jumping to the bus bars (0.3 and 0.4" insulation length). These wires are used in great numbers and having a bunch on hand will save you time & keep things neat, even if you use random wires for everything else. 3) I keep a 6" scale graduated in 1/10" increments so I can simply count holes, add 0.6" and prep a wire using the ruler. When the breadboard is getting busy, that makes life easier.

[@rodcleaves9904]

In 1970 I bought a couple of HeathKit breadboard consoles. They included prepared jumpers, power supplies and adjustable/variable clocks. They even included provision for ganging several together for common power, ground, and clock. What Ben is doing in theses videos is exactly how we built systems.

[@FPiorski]

I measure wires the other way around - I lightly squeeze them with the flush cutter right where the isolation needs to end, then eyeball the cut point from that mark and then strip it right on the mark. I also use the same automatic Knipex tool you've shown even for short links by bending the other end of the wire back, then the tool reaches far enough to make even 0.1" links (the particular wire brand I have has no problem withstanding those additional two bends, I guess results may vary). With that being said, I'm definitely not trying to say my way is better or anything, it's just what I do. Thanks for the video!

[@Wayde-VA3NCA]

Great Bob Ross vibe. Happy little jumpers.

[@MichaelDSwanson]

Thank you for sharing your breadboarding techniques, Ben! Super useful.

[@photorealm]

I have never watched anyone wire a breadboard before and it was very helpful. The little tips really add up to make things easier and neater.

[@michaelb2132]

These videos are so well made. You can tell he actually wants to teach the material. It's more about education than about getting views. Respect :)

[@majddag4499]

20 min for a blinking light tutorial on breadboard? I would watch again 10/10

[@cosmic_jon]

Well this was a treat! Thanks for validating some of my own practices and also teaching me some new tricks -- why didn't I think of installing resistors vertically like that?! Genius!

[@lutyanoalves444]

some production boards end up with vertical resistors too! i think i saw it in some old console motherboard restoration video. maybe this one? kzbin.info/www/bejne/pZaTdamwgLKBm5Y i think youll like voultars channel btw

[@duncanwalduck7715]

@@lutyanoalves444 I did that on a through-hole refurb. I didn't have the right resistor so I used two in series making a kind of hump. I put heatshrink over the pair to be extra confident. It was a bloody stupid circuit with a transistor in linear mode controlling a power load. - - - I also added a hoofing great heatsink that came from a washing machine busted circuitboard. Ah, and of course I didn't realise that the body of the transistor is 'earthed' at the collector. Alas that was +12V vs. 0V on the chassis ground. I got a burnt trace. I jumpered it. I can't remember why I needed to change the base resistor! [I do know why I wanted to add a heatsink, though].

[@duncanwalduck7715]

The circuit in question was a bit of nothing, thankfully: a manual 'speed controller' for desktop PCs that fits in an expansion card slot (without plugging in there, of course). I got two more of them later for about what they're worth, and I had fun almost burning the house down! [but not as close as when a crufty power supply literally 'popped' under my eyes near the *#curtains#*.]

[@SiluS777]

Three years later, this video is still awesome!

[@kshitijmishra8878]

Hey Ben, I love your videos! I made the 8 bit breadboard computer for my uni project. Each part was separately working just fine, the RAM, the clock, the ALU....everything worked just fine by itself. But as soon as I wired everything together, things started to fall apart. At first I thought the issue was power supply, so I got a hefty bench power supply. Sadly, that too didn't work. Then I realised that the breadboards you are using are like 10x better than the ones I was using! It's really hard to get those breadboard here in India, and being a student I couldn't afford your kit. But anyway, thanks for making these videos, really love them!!

[@nextneilpeart]

Great video! That resistor trick is NEAT! I find it helpful to also test my circuit often when I'm replacing jumper cables with wires like this. Makes it easy to find issues in between replacements! Thanks for the video!

[@Ny_babs]

You don’t need to guesstimate on the 3 extra holes. Rotate your wire 90 degrees on the board and use the board. Great video, so satisfying

[@mikemargo]

The Lindstrom cutters and pliers are top notch.. I have some for 35 years

[@billkendrick1]

"this is the drawer where I keep various lengths of wire" - Prof Farnsworth

[@duncanwalduck7715]

Almost as bad as I imagined. Thank you. (That is wasn't as bad as I did imagine).

[@duncanwalduck7715]

(If you REALLY want to know, I was thinking Ramsay Bolton, except a non-fictional sort.)

[@PyroRob69]

I learned to do breadboards this way in the late 70's. You were proud of the work, even if it didn't function, and it was easier to troubleshoot. You get good at estimating lengths if you do it enough.

[@c1ph3rpunk]

My first years in tech (MIS then) was spent running all manner of cabling, your neatness hits the happy place.

[@AnonymousMaykr]

The beginning of 2021 has been blessed. Thank you, Lord Eater.

[@vinayakonimani7628]

Lord eater lmao XD

[@dimasfajarnugroho5628]

I don't know much about electronic engineering science i just randomly study science about everything this channel and some KZbin channel give me some clue about something i learn in the past

[@der.Schtefan]

"The fancy stripper", my stage name.

[@jlitodelcid326]

ikr

[@para111111]

"Again we can use the fancy strippers... And that should be the right length.. Let's stick that in there" :D

[@ScienceDiscoverer]

@@para111111 That's what she said ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[@TheB787heavy]

More electronics innuendos 😂

[@AgentM124]

11:25 I do recommend keeping the shorter leg shorter, so cut the leg of the LED that was initially shorter a tiny bit shorter too. This is because LEDs are directional and if you might want to swap it out or something, it will be much easier to see where + and - go.

[@Darkk6969]

Thinking the same thing. When he snipped them off like that I was like ummm....lol

[@1971merlin]

There's a flat on the led body on the cathode side. The lead length isn't the only indicator of polarity, so no need to worry about maintaining it.

[@AgentM124]

@@1971merlin Didn't know that, cool to know!

[@jasmine2501]

@@1971merlin And even without that, it's still easy to see which is the big side and which is the small side on the interior. The big triangle is the negative.

[@Carlos-kh5qu]

@@1971merlin you can also notice the smaller lead thing inside the LED, that's the anode

[@bowfinger26]

Fun trivia: the noun pliers stems from the French verb plier, which means to bend or to fold. So: tool naming for once right on point 😉

[@Wes8761]

I learned "Ben Eater Style" wiring over the summer of 2020 and my method is a little different from yours but with similar results. This video is very nicely done and the best advice i have for someone who wants to learn perfect wiring is honestly to just do a large scale project and learn as you go.

[@your_utube]

Yup, respect your professors. Thanx Prof.

[@CDReimer]

A very timely and helpful video. I started working on the Ardunio EEPROM programmer when I came across three problems: I didn't have any 2K EEPROMs (I had larger EEPROMs with more pins), I kept cutting my wires too short, and the breadboard had busted contacts. I got 2K EEPROMs and breadboard coming in. Adding wire stripper to my shopping list.

[@chriskelly7156]

So satisfying to watch

[@pmanolak]

You belongs to university. You are better on explanation than many professors!! Thanks a lot!!

[@adirondacker007]

The Bob Ross of electronics. A fine point Sharpie is wonderful for marking cut and strip points.

[@BFLmouse]

A trick that I use for measuring how much to strip is to use the pliers as a measuring tool. When I use the pliers to bend the end of the wire, I use the cutters to trim off any excess bare wire sticking out past the pliers. The result is a perfect strip length every time.

[@bjornedstrom]

One of the most satisfying cable management techniques I've seen in Ben's videos is when he ties down a bunch of long wires (for example a bus) by having a shorter wire run across them. This technique is used many times in the breadboard computer project.

[@nikkiofthevalley]

I usually just use zip ties instead of trying to organize wire runs in that way, I have a large supply of them in my supplies container.

[@Ilan101]

Thanks! I just got the 8bit computer kit! It’s really fun.

[@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers]

I love breadboarding. It’s a very zen activity.

[@uhlersoth99]

What a genius. Finally found someone I can relate to.

[@thomassharratt4047]

i breadboard in a very similar way apart from how i measure the wire length. Instead of adding 3 squares and then eyeballing that when stripping, i instead make an indent on the wire with my nail at the correct length, take it out then make the cut 3 squares further along and then strip the wire at the indented point. The main benefit being that if I eyeball the length wrong, the wire still fits where it should.

[@jasonzurlo1543]

The most anticipated video of 2021

[@ByWire-yk8eh]

Great! I find it useful to add some insulation to components with long leads to avoid shorts and make the breadboard nicer. For example, for your upright resistors, I use a little piece of insulation stripped from the right size wire on the longer lead. And when I use components to interconnect two pins, and the leads are relatively long, I'll insulate those too. You can use some tiny heat shrink tubing if you like. Also, I've found that when stripping wire, wire nicks are really bad news. Wire easily breaks at even very small nicks with only a small amount of bending. One way to avoid nicks is to use strippers that just squeese the insulation down to the metal without actually cutting it. These strippers work really well with teflon insulated wire. In fact, in the old wirewrapping days (usually yellow wire, 30 GA), the squeeze type strippers were the only ones that did not damage the wire. (Diamalloy 452528). Thanks for the video.

[@evanleeturner]

Ben, thank you so much for putting this out. We have followed your channel for a long time now and even made a couple little videos on my kids channel (fritzbuild3r) on your clock. We bought a ton of chips and boards and we completely got hit by the cheap-board problem. Our issue is the wiring of the components is so thin it doesn't make proper contact. We then swapped over to making the registers and ALU using adafruit 'perma proto' boards, but it defeats the purpose of testing with breadboard! Now that you have kits I will absolutely be ordering for you. I just have to say we really enjoy these videos and as a former teacher, I find your lessons stellar.

[@CastleVintners]

Thanks! Lovely technique. When it comes time for the soldered board, I like to use zero ohm resistors as jumpers rather than wire jumpers, whenever possible. No stripping required, the leads are tinned, they solder so easily, the small expense is worth the ease and slightly faster construction, for me.

[@ronimikkonen1764]

Why are these videos so relaxing and so educatioonal at the same time?

[@mannyfresh2deff]

Man i can hang wit u all day everyday,and wouldn't be bored..and learn..ur good...

[@EvelienSnel]

Very neat Ben, looks great. One tip though: when stripping very short wires like these, I always use my needlenose pliers to hold the insulation. That way you don't have the risk of deforming the wire you have shaped so carefully.

[@42jnyl]

This was cool to see after trying to mimic your style. I never made the computers but I really like the way my data transmission setup turned out.

[@bwave57]

Nice. One tip I learned years ago - back in wire wrap proto days - to make short jumpers strip off a length of wire and "part out" short lengths of insulation that you need to bridge. Move it along with the stripper to the stripped end length ( .3" for breadboards) and snip off the other stripped end to the same length. It works up to several inches so you can make a few of the tiny jumpers with the exposed wire! With 22AWG wire you can also save the long stripped length of insulation to put on resistor or capacitor leads that need to bridge longer lengths.

[@DerMarkus1982]

I don't need to see the label print on that IC, to know it's a 555. Nice to see this "ancient" staple of electronic circuit design appear in your videos every now and then, Ben! Keep up the good work!

[@dentakuweb]

One of the great things about that brand of breadboard is that the power rail holes line up with all the other holes in the main part of the board. It make everything so much better organized than on cheap breadboards. Now if they could only make power rails without the gap every 5 holes it would be even better. I'd also love to so a manufacturer add two extra rails down the center channel instead of leaving it blank.

[@fairdiscussion8258]

You just casually eye-balled 0.3 inches perfectly on that first cut. What the actual.. That's truly insane expertise in a skill.

[@starlino]

Great video, I usually precut popular sizes and this speeds up the process.

[@luis7974]

Content like this are the ones that motivates me to study computer engineering 👏🏼

[@kewakl8891]

The lowly solderless breadboard as a wire gauge! Props!

[@S0NOSMANLl]

Hard work+Dedication+Perception+Cleanness = Ben Eater

[@DefaultFlame]

I often need needlenose pliars just to plug things in. My hands and fingers are unfortunately size XL. I never realized how small breadboards, and the components, were until I got some and realized that Ben's hands are a fair bit smaller than mine. The tip of his index fingers are just a little wider than a 555, mine are almost twice as wide as a 555. Hell, when I unpacked my first breadboards I thought I'd gotten scammed and sold miniature breadboards. Edit: On a side note, I find it really relaxing and meditative to draw traces in KiCad. There's just something really satisfying about it.

[@josecanedo007]

The best breadboarding tutorial I have seen. 👌

[@NerdyWordyMatt]

Watching you tidy up that first project was oddly satisfying.

[@rjbuchman]

It’s hypnotic the way you explain things..👍👍 I think you edited out when you dropped the cap onto the board😀😀 I like your approach to how you dress the wires!!!

[@nuggetteam7]

I have learned SO MUCH from you! you are the god of breadboards!

[@jaredhanson9758]

Great tip at (5:10). Never thought about using the breadboard hole spacing to size the wire snip location. Smart

[@lekoman]

Just bought the 8 Bit computer kit and have put my first two breadboards together and then had to pause, but I’m glad I did, cuz this is exactly the set of tips I need! This tutorial should be required viewing before even embarking on that project!

[@drivers99]

I just built the clock module and I’m starting the 65C02 project as we speak, but I decided to rewatch this first since I’ll be making a bunch of wires now lol

[@OwenTheProgrammer]

if you mark the wire casing on the pin that the wire needs to go into with the wire cutters, you will also have a little mark on the wire for where you have to strip it! (for anyone that cant eyeball it or doesn't want to)

[@thebinarybandit88]

I use the same method for measuring the wire, but when stripping, you can nip the wire at the hole with the cutters, then cut the wire to length, now you have a mark where you strip. Or, if you're lucky enough to have access to a cutting machine, you could program that to do a batch of the regularly used lengths, such as red and black for the power rails - obviously this can be an expensive option, but you can fairly easily make one using an Arduino, and a 3D printer!

[@markrhine5809]

Ben, Hi, I have been building electronic projects sence 2010, both from kits and my own design, I never really understood the true concept of breadboarding, I thought all breadboards were the same, until I watched your videos on the 8-bit computer, I am going to purchase thiis kit, it looks like a fun project. I am beginning to watch all the videos and learn the basics. Thank you kindly for all the videos and schematics to help, have a great day.....

[@JacobPlays136]

I use some bigger wire strippers with the two jaws that pull the insulation apart, I've been able to strip one end at 0.6" and then just strip the wire at the length I need and pull the insulation over to even out both ends.

[@MatthiasLenardt]

Beautiful! Congratulations!

[@sarvagnyapurohit9719]

This upload by Ben gives me hopes that 2021 will be neat and tidy ... only if I have good eyeballing skills

[@Malkasphia]

Thanks for showing this off! This was really cool to watch, love how presentable it makes the board look.

[@jimstanley_49]

Here's a tip if you're having trouble eyeballing the strip length at the cut end. Before you cut to length, give the insulation a little pinch with the cutter at the hole the wire will go into. JUST a pinch, mind. It doesn't even need to cut at all, but the mark it leaves will catch in the stripper jaws and give you the perfect length. Also, you can use the stripper to slide the insulation off, but you don't need to squeeze the heck out of the stripper while you do it. That's how you damage the wire. The best way is to just use your fingers (like in the video), but if you let up slightly on the stripper, or even open all the way and gently grab the tag of insulation, you will have nick-free wires.

[@chillgenxer2790]

I currently do the same with the pinch at the hole, but will be incorporating the 3-hole technique now as well where that works to save a step!

[@Scrogan]

While not suitable for bending wires, I find 45 degree tweezers more convenient for accessing a cluttered breadboard to pull jumpers out. The 45 degree angle also makes for a reasonable lever to yank ICs and such out from beneath them if you’re desperate.

[@Andrew90046zero]

Now I know how much work goes into these videos. Wow, lots of dedication!

[@alexramirez5104]

Ah...building Ben’s breadboard computer with relaxing music will always be a favorite memory of mine

[@ZeusBotko]

I was looking for this, thank you a lot!

[@JulieanGalak]

Fantastic video, thank you, I've used bread boards for decades and there are tips in here I'd never considered. Also, just the pointer at a specific brand for quality bread boards is worth the watch. Really enjoying your content, thank you.

[@Sha-ri2kc]

Can you make a series or one longer video about Atmel microcontrollers. You are the best, you even make complicated things easy. You are a great teacher and thank you for doing this.

[@andreasadam2852]

funny coincidence - just got to bed from 3 hours building your 8-bit computer with wound fingers when your tips popped up. Happy new year from Germany!

[@tim_allen_jr]

The king of breadboard tutorials.🧠📈✨️

[@guavacocktail9235]

rom Egypt, mother of the world, I love you. continue what you do thank you :)

[@davidfairchild1991]

I think this just stepped up my prototyping game... super helpful tips, thanks!

[@TR3A]

When I got my Ben Eater kits, I applied the supplied metal plates to the bottom of the breadboards. That caused me lots of grief since I would sometimes cut wires so long that they would make contact with the metal plate. I ended up getting rid of the breadboards that I stuck the metal lates onto and using new breadboards (without attaching the plates). That eliminated many problems. Perhaps other newbies can benefit from that experience. As far as I can see, the metal plates are nothing but trouble.

[@byronwatkins2565]

For straight jumpers, you could strip 0.6 inches first, bend 0.3 inches, attach it, measure it, and use the strippers to slide the insulation down 0.3 inches before cutting to length. For longer lengths this precludes the need to remove the first end.

[@cwrigh13]

This is so relaxing to watch.

[@leedavis1238]

Thanks ben eater for teaching us how to be neater

[@davidkomdeur]

A small tip for when you need to hook up a wire to a power bus, the length between the closest bus and the component part of the board is exactly 2 holes. So if you need to hook up to a bus, measure a jumper for 2 holes if you need the inside bus and 3 holes if you need the outer one

[@Zadster]

A couple of tips from me (apologies if they are also covered in the 237 comments below...) I also use those Lindstroms, more by chance than anything, but if you cut a piece of wire and slot it (centred) right at the base of the jaws and bend the wire ends over, that will give you a quick and easy 0.3in jumper. The pliers are 0.25 in, plus the diameter of the wire and radius of bending makes it (near as makes no difference) 0.3in. Before I bend the ends over, I just hold it tight in the jaws and use cutters to strip it. It is easy enough to do with cutters with a little practise. I often use bare wire anyway for short jumpers when prototyping. You get used to which part of the needle nose jaws equate to 0.1in and 0.2in spacing etc. Secondly, when bending the leads of radial components (mostly resistors), grab the component lead where it enters the component with the nose of the pliers, and bend the lead on the side _away_ from the component. Bending legs right where they enter the component can make them break off, and the sharp radius will lead to the wire fatiguing relatively quickly if you re-use it. An extra 0.1 inch overall component length is usually not an issue.