Providing a container for our projects is a continual headache for many makers - purpose-built project boxes are often expensive, while making one's own boxes from scratch is time-consuming and requires mechanical skill and equipment that not all of us have. Repurposing readily available containers as project boxes is a tradition as old as the hobby, and one of the most common boxes that lends itself to it is the humble mint tin, as used by Altoids and many other brands of mints.

These prototyping boards are just the right size to fit in such a mint tin. For holding it in place, I recommend using standoffs (3/8th-1/2 inch or 1cm long, 4-40 or 3mm thread) - you can either punch holes in the tin and screw the standoffs in from the other side, or glue them to the tin with epoxy.

This is by no means the first take on a prototyping board sized to fit an Altoids tin. For example, Adafruit sells a "solderable breadboard" in this form factor - complete with a $6 price tag - modeled very closely after the look and feel of solderless breadboard. I instead tried to optimize these boards for functionality and rapid prototyping - my board offers more groups of pins to accommodate more complex designs, and large exposed pads around the holes for ease of soldering. I offer both a simple through-hole prototyping board, and an SMD/Through-hole version with pads for a few SMD parts, including voltage regulators, and pads for a barrel jack on the side (you will have to cut a hole in the tin, of course).

Key Features

• 3.5 by 2 inch form factor with rounded corners fits perfectly in an Altoid or similar mint tin.
• Mounting holes in the corners, spacing 2.8 by 1.5 inches (#4 or 3mm screw)
• Power rail down the middle, ground rail down the middle and around the perimeter

Through-hole version

• 24 rows of holes, each consisting of 2 groups of 4 holes on one side, and 2 groups of 3 holes with one group of 2 holes on the other side.
• 4 sets of 4 rows on the ends, two with 4 groups of 4 holes, and two with 8 groups of 2 holes.

Mostly Through-hole version

• 24 rows of holes, each with 2 groups of 3 holes with one group of 2 holes, on the through-hole half of the board
• 3 sets of 4 rows on the ends, one with 4 groups of 4 holes, and two with 8 groups of 2 holes.
• SMD area with pads for either two SOT-23-6 or 5050 RGB LEDs (or neopixels/etc) and a DFN-6 part (common for good light sensors), or an SOIC-16 part on the back.
• Power supply area with pads for two 1117-series SOT-223 regulators and associated input and output capacitors.
• Outline for barrel jack connector for power, connected to the input of the regulators.

Mostly Through-hole version Rev. B (New - pics coming soon)

• Ground plane wherever practical for a more solid ground distribution, and
• 24 rows of holes, each with 2 groups of 3 holes with one group of 2 holes, on the through-hole half of the board
• On End: 5 groups of 4 holes on one side, 8 groups of 2 holes opposite. Other end has the four power rails (Vin, VTop, and VBot) brought out to there as well (in hindsight I should have routed those to the far end instead of the nearer end end.... When these run low, I'll correct that for the next run.)
• SMD area with pads for either two SOT-23-6 or 5050 RGB LEDs (or neopixels/etc) and a DFN-6 part (common for good light sensors), or an SOIC-16 part on the back.
• Power supply area with pads for two 1117-series SOT-223 regulators and associated input and output capacitors - either use the 1206 pads, or through holes, or simply put them between the supply rails and ground near regulator,
• Outline for barrel jack connector for power, connected to the input of the regulators.
• Compared to Rev. A, these have cleaner routing of the ground trace around the perimeter in general.

Mostly SMD version (NEW - pics coming soon)

• Ground plane wherever practical for a more solid ground distribution
• SMD area 1: 32 pins worth of SOP (narrow) pads to fill with your choice of SOP-8/SOP-14/SOP-16 on the top...or 8 SOT-23-3 packages on the bottom.
• SMD area 2: SOIC-20 on top, QFN-24 (4mm x 4mm, 0.5mm pitch - fits, for example, an ATtiny3217). At either end of the SOIC 20 is a 1206 footprint (connecting to the holes that go to the 4 extra connections to a QFN. However, there is a second set of pads which could easily be bridged to put a passive across the two pins on the end. Which are often the supply rails that need a decoupling capacitor, and would prefer it be mounted as close as possible to the chip. I try not to have specific parts in mind when designing these, to keep the, gemneral - but I was definite
• On Ends: 5 groups of 4 holes, and one with 8 groups of 2 holes. Other end has the four power rails (Vin, VTop, and VBot) brought out to there as well (in hindsight I should have routed those to the far end instead of the near end.... When these run low, I'll correct that for the next run.)
• SMD area with pads for either two SOT-23-6 or 5050 RGB LEDs (or neopixels/etc) and a DFN-6 part (common for good light sensors), or an SOIC-16 part on the back.
• Power supply area with pads for two 1117-series SOT-223 regulators and associated input and output capacitors.
• Outline for barrel jack connector for power, connected to the input of the regulators.

Similar products

After a few more through-hole boards sell, we'll be bringing in our new stock, w

Other protoboard offerings

2" x 4" protoboards with and without pads for SMD parts

Small 1" x 2" boards

Protoboard sized to fit an empty "Altoids" tin

"Solderable-breadboard" shaped protoboard with breakaway mounting tabs

Arduino Shield

Small (mostly 1" square or less) bits of protoboard