Post

Wire wrapping is neat. Never tried it before, but now I have and I love it for prototyping! (And no that is not AI-generated, somehow the physics of wire wrapping results in these beautiful little towers of gas-tight low-resistance connections!)

2 reposts93 likes

If my friend who's been repairing stuff since the 50s is to be believed, as thermal cycles happen, the gas-tight nature of the connections undoes itself, it might take a decade, but eventually you end up soldering all the connections.

I'm sure there is some "historical archives", a YouTube video from the 1950s/60s, that show the work involved. I recall a flick with rows of women working at tables doing wire wrapping. I want to say it was for computers of the era.

Wire wrapping is neat ... right up until you have to wire wrap something like the socket for a 144-pin MC68331 32-bit microcontroller. Fortunately, PCB design software and board fab services are infinitely more accessible now than 40 years ago during the 68k's heyday.

Haha true. But for a low profile quick connection to a dozen or so pins, especially if you don't have solder handy, it's amazing how easy/quick it is. I always thought those wire wrapped boards required more skill lol. Definitely not if I can do it!