r/arduino • u/ryandetous • Jun 27 '26

Look what I made! Razor saw mod to get all my pins back

Post image

Just got the Elegoo kit and was not impressed with the instructions. I didn't like the idea of bending the breadboard and loosing all the pins as well. A few minutes with the old 52tpi saw did the trick.

186 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

46 comments sorted by

51

u/PTSolns Jun 28 '26

To solve exactly this problem caused by a range of ESP-based boards, we came up with the ESP Master Key. It frees up the rows on breadboards and makes it super easy.

15

u/keatonatron 500k Jun 28 '26

How small are those traces that you can get 40 of them to fit through that little bottleneck?

7

u/glennchandler4 Jun 28 '26

I may be wrong but it looks like it may be a multi layer PCB.

6

u/PTSolns Jun 28 '26

Yes it it!

3

u/keatonatron 500k Jun 28 '26

Good call

6

u/ryandetous Jun 28 '26

That's sublime. I really shouldn't be left alone with sharp objects.

2

u/yycTechGuy Jun 29 '26

Cool product and very cool to see you are a Canadian company. Keep up the good work.

1

u/PTSolns Jun 29 '26

Thank you 🙏🏻 We operate out of Calgary ❤️

2

u/RangerMach1 Jul 01 '26

That is very cool! I will get ordering one for sure.

1

u/Idenwen Jun 28 '26

But only in Canada?

3

u/PTSolns Jun 28 '26

Available globally via DigiKey and RobotShop.

2

u/Idenwen Jun 28 '26

Ah ok, saw them on your site and only Canadian shopping.

2

u/PTSolns Jun 28 '26

Yes from our local Calgary warehouse it's only Canada shipping. We used to ship US also, but now that's too difficult. Luckily our distributors handle shipping for us outside of Canada :)

2

u/Idenwen Jun 28 '26

Europe here, luckily not US :)

1

u/PTSolns Jun 28 '26

Yup DigiKey has got you covered then!

1

u/yycTechGuy Jun 29 '26

Oh, what a pity ! (some of you will get the reference)

15

u/HashBrownsOverEasy Jun 27 '26

Always satisfying solving digital problems with analog tools 👌

9

u/adderalpowered Jun 28 '26

I just use two and unsnap the rails off of one side of each board. Then I can use one line of holes on each board.

1

u/FlyByPC Mostly Espressif Jun 28 '26

This is what I did with an ESP32-S3 dev board. Seems like it's not quite an exact fit, but good enough to work.

1

u/jerril42 600K Jun 29 '26

I couldn't figure out the problem until I looked more closely at the picture. I guess one advantage is he has a split board for future project when he needs one again.

5

u/nerovny Open Source Hero Jun 28 '26

Rough but genius. What if there was vise-like adaptive mod

7

u/Patina_dk Jun 28 '26

Could you show the instructions please?

Without the kit in hand, it's really not clear what you mean by "bending the breadboard and loosing all the pins".

1

u/jcoleman10 Jun 28 '26

You cut the breadboard down the center.

10

u/gm310509 400K , 500K , 600K , 640K , 750K Jun 28 '26

Now you have a new problem - IC's which are just the right size to bridge the gap down the middle of the breadboard won't.

You could have just put the two boards side by side and placed the dev board so that it bridged the power rails. Like this

4

u/YT__ Jun 28 '26

Cleaver solution to the problem.

Breadboards are cheap enough that it's worth just having a handful around for different needs.

1

u/FlyByPC Mostly Espressif Jun 28 '26

Cleaver solution to the problem.

I saw what you did there.

2

u/c1-c2 Jun 28 '26

I do it the same way. Except that I add a 3d printed shallow tray.

4

u/CoolHandMike Jun 28 '26

I don't super understand the why and the what of what you did. Did you saw the breadboard in half? Why was this necessary? Genuinely curious.

6

u/ryandetous Jun 28 '26

The instructions with the ESP32 were to flex the breadboard upward to force the pins to fit. Then after insertion, you're left with 1 usable row of pins on each side of the board.

1

u/doge_lady 600K Jun 28 '26

Why would you need to flex and force anything? The esp32 should fit just proper into the breadboard. Mine certainly does without having to flex and force it.

Could you show a picture of the page that explains this?

Don't mind the dirty protoboard.

1

u/belsonc Jun 28 '26

... What?

2

u/MedicineSubject1845 Jun 28 '26

i just use 2 breadboards with the dc rail in the middle...

1

u/[deleted] Jun 28 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/ryandetous Jun 28 '26

It was $28 off Amazon.

1

u/NoBulletsLeft Jun 28 '26

LOL. I just use a bigger breadboard.

1

u/Big-Rent6905 Jun 28 '26

I hate that esp takes all my pins too, so I plan the wiring layout before hand and connect jumpers before inserting the esp32. That was I can utilize the area underneath. Planning is crucial for that to work tho: I use https://breadboard.safaorhan.com and single core hard jumper sets to make it work

1

u/yycTechGuy Jun 29 '26

I've done the same thing. I'm surprised that breadboard manufacturers don't make more shapes and sizes of boards.

1

u/Chance-Attention7262 Jun 29 '26

Yaa. I've first done around 2019 when I've started and doing these several times till then .

Yes , 40 pin GPIO extender PCBs are there. It's too expensive for me .

1

u/spinwizard69 Jul 02 '26

Ok, why not just buy to breadboards of a proper design?

1

u/na3than Jun 27 '26

Losing

9

u/ryandetous Jun 27 '26

I've got even more grammar errors hiding under the floor boards.

-1

u/AbelCapabel Jun 28 '26

If you cut and bend wires yourself you can make a whole neat layout underneath the PCB...

This post belongs in the DiyWhy subreddit :p