[Noisebridge-discuss] good deal on those Breadboard Wires with nice solid ends

[Josh Myer]

I bought a set of those from AdaFruit, and they're awful!  The ends are too
thin to make consistent contact with breadboard points which have been
slightly abused*.  The little rubber barrels keep coming off.  And, when
they do, you can see the solder splice between the pin and the wire, which
looks kind of dodgy.

[ Gettin' on the soapbox, steadying myself with my cane and adjusting my
hearing aid... ]

Learning to use strippers is a crucial skill if you're building anything
permanent.  One of the most common failures you'll have is wires breaking
due to nicks in the copper, which grows into a break after a bit of
handling.  Breadboarding is really hard on the bends, so these breaks will
fail quickly, giving you lots of motivation to not nick the blasted wire.

If you're having a hard time with the totally adjustable sort of strippers
(I still do, to be honest), get some pre-sized ones:

>From AdaFruit:
http://www.adafruit.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=8&products_id=147

>From Radio Shack**:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3932544

You should also learn how to strip wires with a pair of dikes and a razor
blade.  You can't beat the dikes for convenience (cut, strip, go), and the
only way to get nick-free wires (ie: ones that won't inevitably fail from
motion) is with a knife.

I don't endorse stripping with one's teeth, but I will say that it's
sometimes the only way to strip wires when you're in cramped quarters.
--
/jbm

* I used to use 20ga instead of 22ga for breadboarding, which stretched the
spring contacts out.

** I prefer the Radio Shack ones because they make it easier to go after
really tough, heavy insulation on relatively thin wire: you can grab them at
the middle and pull along the wire, instead of only being able to use the
wimpy handles.  That said, you really should use a knife for that sort of
work.  Also, my pairs of them were free: my grandfather was an electrician,
and I inherited a bunch of his extras from work.
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