Put in a few at a time

• Start by putting in the IC sockets.
• Then pick a section next to a socket and put in a few components that connect to each other and/or to the socket. (See below for details on how each component goes in.)
• Then turn the board over and twist, solder, snip (see below).
• Pick another area next to the area you just did and put the components in, twist, solder, etc..
• Repeat this process till you fill the whole board
• When you get to a wire (an X or a dot that has a label on it, like “vol 2”), just skip it for now. Later, a wire will go here.

Twist, Solder and Snip

• The black lines that connect the dots on the solder side indicate which component leads get connected.
• After putting in a group of components, flip the board over to the solder side. Anywhere two or more leads come together make a joint by twisting them with needlenose pliers (at least a full 360 twist). Keep the joint on the board, that is, don´t let it be hovering even a millimeter up.
• When a lead comes in contact with an IC pin, make a joint by bending a little loop in the lead and lasso that around the IC pin (don’t bend the IC pin)
• Bend the leads along the black lines if necessary
• Solder each joint: ideally it looks like a hershey’s kiss, not a blob.
• Make sure all black lines are covered with wire (or a joint). Fill in any long black lines with scrap clippings or wire with the insulation stripped.
• Tips:
  • Keep things close to the board!
  • Stay on the path: follow the lines.
  • Kisses, not blobs. Be compact.
  • Fill every hole, cover every line.

How each component type goes in

• Resistors: put them in all the way, sometimes you have to stand one on end ...
• Capacitors: with the 1uF and 10uF and 100uF caps, watch out for which way you put them in.... the black line on the blue cap should line up with the black line on the oval on the board
• Transistors/FETs (if any): dont pull them all the way down, leave them sticking up as much as you can.
• LED/CdS: put the CdS cell in so its face is flush up to the LED face...
• X’s or dots (wires to pots/switches/LEDs/jacks): each dot or X is labelled with the name of the pot/switch/jack/LED that the wire goes to... the diagrams on the actual size board layout sheet give details...

Next:finishing the board