If you’re looking for yet another alternative to etching your own PCBs, then check out this new Instructable on 3D printing test circuits!
[Mikey] decided to try out this method when he needed a small board prototype. He designed the perfboard to have a standard thickness—only 1/16th thick (~1.6mm)—with thin, recessed channels on one side and through holes on the other. [Mikey's] circuit board allows you to stuff your components in, hold them down with a piece of tape, and then fill the channels with some kind of conductive material. In this example he’s used a highly conductive paint.
This 3D printed option probably won’t suit all your circuit-building needs, but it could provide an excellent shortcut for your next hack! As always, there’s a video after the break.
Unlike printing your PCBs on a regular inkjet printer, buying a Kickstarter robot PCB printer, etching your own, or modifying your 3D printer to extrude solder, this hack is probably the easiest method you can use—assuming you have the skills to make the 3D model and have access to a 3D printer…
[Thanks Barry!]

Filed under: 3d Printer hacks