How to Build or Make Your Own Amtel Board
Making your own craft version of an Atmel board is a creative way to display your passion for electronics. Atmel boards are prototypical circuit boards that carry electronic information to mechanical controls. Circuit boards are central elements in virtually all electronic devices -- from remote controls and computers to cellular phones and cars. Build your model Atmel board for as a school art project or for use a stage play prop. Using a few basic household items, you will have your board constructed in no time.
Things You'll Need
- Work gloves
- Safety glasses
- Dust mask
- Ruler
- Measuring tape
- 1/8-by-2-by-2-inch tin sheet
- Hack saw
- Abrasive sanding pad
- Green spray paint
- Solder gun
- Solder wire
- Damp sponge
- 1/16-inch metal beads (multiple)
- Fine tipped gold marker
- 1/2-by-1/2-inch cardboard block
- 2 cardboard blocks, 1/8-by-1/8-inch
- Black, blue and red acrylic paint
- Paint brush
- Permanent epoxy
Instructions
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1
Slide on a pair of work gloves, safety glasses and a dust mask to protect your skin, eyes and lungs.
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2
Measure and cut a 1/8-inch thick piece of tin metal with a hack saw to 2-by-2-inch dimensions. Dull the edges and corners of the tin with an abrasive sanding pad. Spray paint both sides of the tin green to emulate a traditional circuit board. Allow two hours for the circuit board to dry.
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3
Preheat a solder gun. Rub solder wire to the warm tip of the gun. Wipe the tip clean with a damp sponge.
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4
Place a 1/16-inch metal bead on top of the circuit board. Adjust the bead so it sits in the bottom right corner, 1/16-inch removed from each edge.
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5
Place the end of the solder wire to the connection point between the tin board and the metal bead. Touch the tip of the hot solder gun to the wire to bond the connection.
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Add a second bead to the right side of the first bead. Continue repeating the bead bonding process until beads cover the entire perimeter of the board. Add beads throughout the middle part of the board in miscellaneous spots. Keep at least one 1/2-by-1/2-inch area and two 1/8-by-1/8-inch areas of bead-free space on the board. Avoid touching any of the beads flush with one another. The beads act as circuit board connectors.
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7
Trace straight gold lines with a fine-tipped pen from one metal bead to another. Do not touch any of the gold lines together. The gold lines represent the printed metal connection lines in circuit boards which transmit electricity.
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8
Measure and cut one 1/2-by-1/2-inch cardboard block and two to three 1/8-by-1/8/-inch cardboard blocks. Coat the front and back of 1/2-inch block with black paint and the two 1/8-inch blocks with blue and red paint, respectively. Position and bond the blocks into the bead-free spaces with permanent epoxy. The black block represents an integrated circuit and the colored blocks represent circuit board relays.
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Tips & Warnings
Touching any of the metal connectors or gold lines together would cause a short circuit on a real board.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Photos.com/Photos.com/Getty Images
