Circuitbenders Forum
Circuitbenders Forum => Circuitbending discussion => BENDING TIPS => Topic started by: Circuitbenders on November 26, 2007, 08:42:13 PM
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One of the most common questions i get asked is 'what do i need to get started doing circuitbending' so this thread is so people can give general advice to beginners. If you want advice on specific machines start another thread but any general tips can go here.
First look at the tips page of the circuitbenders site http://www.circuitbenders.co.uk/tips.html
For a first bending attempt you really can't go far wrong with a speak&spell, theres loads of information out there, you can't fail to get some good results and they are difficult to kill, unless you mess with the power supply so don't. Theres nothing for you there. ;)
What you're going to need to get started:
Soldering Iron
Solder
A selcetion of Poteniometers - around 1K, 47K, 100K, 470K to get started
Some kind of output jacks, 1/4 inch mono for preference
wire - i seem to use 10/0.1mm or 7/0.1mm
Switches - SPST usually but having others handy is a good idea
Push to break buttons
Push to make buttons
As many screwdrivers & socket sets and you can find
A drill
What you may need in the future
A multimeter
Solder sucker
Solder mop / wick
Patchbay sockets - whatever type you like best
LED's
A guitar practise amp
Epoxy resin glue
Even more screwdrivers & socket sets
Trimmer Pots
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judging from that post the ability to be able to spell is clearly not a priority ;D
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hmm, i don't know the english word for it, but these little wires with a crocodile mouth on both sides
are handy too, when trying out the right value pot, try a new connection etc...
btw, i always start with some wet fingers... works great ! :)
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I think this article makes it sounds too complicated..
All you really need (without wiring anything up) is a screwdriver to open it up. Then just use your wet fingers or the screwdriver to mess with the circuitry. Then to wire stuff up you need a soldering iron (one with a _SMALL TIP_), solder, wire, and a switch or whatever.. If you don't have a drill you need a well ventilated area, and something metal the size of the hole you want to make.. You can heat the metal up with the soldering iron to burn through the plastic and make a very crude hole. That's how I do it anyway.. Make sure you DON'T breathe in the fumes. The hotter the metal is the more plastic you will burn, so keep it at a minimal temp.
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Doing that will end up destroying soldering iron tips and / or your soldering iron fairly rapidly though and as you say, it will be a very crude hole.
hmm, i don't know the english word for it, but these little wires with a crocodile mouth on both sides
Crocodile clips ;)
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I would add 555 ICs for clock bending as the simplest "advanced" bending necessity.
And if you're going to suggest LEDs you need to mention having some 1k resistors handy. Also when I do initial probing with wires I always put a 1k or lower resistor on an alligator clip to try and prevent accidental frying.
Also replace drill with dremel/rotary tool and you'll be set. I just put drill bits on my rotary tool when i need to make holes. Plus, the rotary tool makes cutting proto boards mad easy.
/tips out
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Doing that will end up destroying soldering iron tips and / or your soldering iron fairly rapidly though and as you say, it will be a very crude hole.
hmm, i don't know the english word for it, but these little wires with a crocodile mouth on both sides
Crocodile clips ;)
Hmm.. how does it destroy the soldering iron if the iron doesn't even touch the plastic? Or is it the fumes..
Also, what should I use as a cleaning cloth? i was using a normal washing up one, though then my iron started to have bubbling brown liquid on it..
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I suspect anything that coats your soldering iron tip with crap is going to destroy the tip and cause cold spots etc. I'd imagine on cheaper irons that puts the heating element under some pressure which isn't going to do it much good.
Soldering with a damaged tip isn't really advisable anyway. Its a lot more difficult and you could be looking at all kinds of problems with the resulting joints.
If you have a soldering iron stand, which i'd recommend, there will probably be a solder cleaning sponge in it which you just dampen with a bit of water and wipw the soldering iron on it. You can buy the sponges from most places you can buy irons.
Theres some good iron tips and information here http://www.inlandcraft.com/Uguides/tipcare.htm
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flux/tinner is quite handy for prolonging teh life of a soldering iron tip.
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Or is it the fumes
Speaking of fumes, what are people using to cut plastic? I've got a dremel, and it melts the plastic while cutting, which makes a hideous cloud.
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i use dremel too, yeah it's smelly but nice for square holes etc.
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Undoubtedly it's a great tool. I wonder if one with a faster rotational speed would produce less fumes?
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I use a soldering iron + metal currently but hopefully I'll get my dads hand drill.
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surely a slower rotation speed would result in less smoke?
anyway, what this board needs is a few pictures. pictures are always handy.
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wire - i seem to use 10/0.1mm or 7/0.1mm
Does that mean 10 wires inside isolation, which are 0.1 mm thick?
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Does that mean 10 wires inside isolation, which are 0.1 mm thick?
Yes, i use 7/0.1 for general connections and 10/0.1 for things that need to be more sturdy although its a matter of personal preference really. Some people use solid core wire which i find is a major pain to work with but thats just me.
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Yep - 10 strands of copper wire inside insulation (not seperately insulated). I generally use 7 strand with 0.2mm thickness as it is a little more durable, but it depends how much space you have to work with.
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I can thoroughly recommend building something along these lines if you are still using bits of bare wire to test for bends.
(http://img118.imageshack.us/img118/1166/testbenderew6.jpg)
Thats a case from a cold cathode inverter with two 4mm sockets wired across a 470K pot. The switch selects a connection via the pot or just a straight link between the sockets. You can plug probes or crocodile clips or whatever you want into the sockets but i usually have the probes you can see in the picture.
Essentially its a poor mans bending station but a lot more handy than some big box with loads of ins and outs.
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Something like this is my project for tonight. I never seem to have to components I need and the people at Radio Shack start to look at me weird after 2 or 3 visits in the same evening. :D
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I was offered a job at Radio Shack after my zillionth visit there. While I know that it's hard when you need something right away, you should avoid that place as much as possible. These days I plan ahead and get most stuff through Jameco or Mouser. Cheaper and better quality. Also, Partspipe on eBay, which Paul mentioned in another thread has excellent deals.
That being said, sometimes you can't help but hit up the shack. I usually have to buy knobs there, cause for some reason I can't get it together to order them. Again, Partspipe has fantastic deals, particularly on knobs.
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Hey i'm new to all this and need some advice on start up gear. Is this > http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=9910&DOY=17m9 < wire suitable for circuit bending. If not is there any recomendations of what wire to use. Can't seem to find the others mentioned in this post. I'm in the uk too so uk stores would be better if you could recommend.
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Basically the kind of wire you use isn't important. As long as it's thinner than welding cable and thicker than a human hair, it should be all ok.
I usually cut down CAT5 cable for wires. Flexible "patch cord" cable is usually stranded and can take a bit of movement, while single-core premises cable wire is more suitable for breadboards or where you're not going to be flexing it much.
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Cheers man
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i'd say that maplins stuff is way to thick. You'd soon run out of room with lots of cabling like that. Personally i'd go for something with an outer diameter of about 1mm or so.
If you're going to be shopping at maplins i'd recommend something more along these lines for internal wiring:
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=29
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=6192
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I understand how it could get crowded, especially with somethign small.
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Try doing a Roland 505, even with the finer guage wire from maplins it's still too much internal cabling.
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Try doing a Roland 505, even with the finer guage wire from maplins it's still too much internal cabling.
Use 25 way multicore, its a bit more tricky to work with but it takes up a lot less room
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Genius, never actually thought of that. will give it a go for the next one.
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When looking for resources for wire, one needs to look no farther than an old printer cable! yes, you too can extract up to twenty five colourful wires, hidden in a simple disposed old cable. First, cut off the ends (pesky ends!) and select a length that will work for your projects, i rarely need more than ten inches of wire, so i cut my cables up by the foot. take a blade (exacto or other knife) and place an incision down the outside plastic insulation of the cable. don't dig too deep into the cable, as to not cut the internal wires. the outside plastic/rubber that holds the many stranded coloured wires should pull off relatively easily. and blam! you now have twenty five colour coded wires, each twelve inches in length. I always look for cables like this in the trash or being disposed of at the office. its an easy way to recycle!
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good point, it can be tricky to find somewhere that'll sell you 25 way multicore by the metre. The best way round this is to find a parrellel printer cable with all 25 pins connected and just cut the plugs off either end.
Its a bit tricky to find one with a thin enough cable to work with but they cost virtually nothing these days. I got 30 for 25p each the other day.
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futurlec.com and .parts-express.com both have really cheap switches, leds, resistors, potentiometers etc. So if you need parts you can order there. If anyone finds anything cheaper then tell me :)
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Hi kind of a stupid question maybe...
I'm at the point of building a patchbay for one of my machines, in the list I saw the term patchbay sockets.
Googling them I couldn't find them, neither could I find them on electronic part sites, can someone please tell me what the right sockets are required for building a patchbay for the shortricuit connections from the rom chips etc?
What kind of category do they fall in?
Thanks.
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Depends what sockets you want to use. I tend to use mono 3.5mm jack sockets as you can pack a lot of them into a small space and they aren't very deep behind the panel:
http://www.rapidonline.com/Cables-Connectors/Connectors-Audio-Video/Jack/Miniature-jack-sockets/63488 (http://www.rapidonline.com/Cables-Connectors/Connectors-Audio-Video/Jack/Miniature-jack-sockets/63488)
Other options would be phono sockets which you can get individually or in panels of eight, 4mm single pole sockets sometimes called banana sockets, 1/4 inch jack sockets. Whatever you want really.
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Alright thank you :)
I might be back soon with more questions ::)
But first I'm gonna experiment a bit.