Solder vs Other alternative??

I am not very good at soldering all this little stuff then shoving it in a tiny little case. Is there a good alternative to solder? Like some kind of quick disconnect or something like that? Or how can I make a circuit board that will let me solder all the stuff neatly and take up little space?

As I have big clumsy hands, I find soldering sometimes a bit difficult. I found that practice helped steady my hands and build confidence. I recommend the following kit as a useful investment if you plan to do a lot of soldering;

A stand-mounted magnifying lens.
An electric fan to suck away the solder fumes.
A strong directional spot table lamp so you can see what you're doing (!)
A solder-sucker to help removing solder.
A fine pointed soldering iron, and quality solder.

I also used blu-tac to keep my PCBs in place.

I used to make my own PCBs, and make simple microbots when I did an electronics course in my 1st year at Uni. They provided most of the kit. I found needle-nose pliers, and needle-nose snippers came in handy.

Alastair

P.S.
I heard that long-term exposure to solder fumes can do damage to guys (hense the fan), so I switched to Single Honours BSc Geology for my 2nd & this my final year. That wasn't the real reason . Electronics courses don't take you to Ireland, Spain, Switzerland & the Grand Canyon as well as all over the UK!!

When I was looking at AMD Duron articles the overclockers trick to turn on the disabled cache was to use some sort of soldering tape and/or soldering pen. I never planned to buy a Duron so I never bookmarked that article. I'll see if I can find it again. Basically it's used like correction tape or correction pen.

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"A knifeless man is a lifeless man"
-Nordic proverb

It can be tough to get everything compact and small enough to fit.

Another alternative may be the use of a small wire wrapping tool. I think you can get in there with the tool and make the connections without worrying about getting burned, etc.
I haven't tried it yet but the RAdio Shack has wire wrap tool/kits for around $7.

DaveH

Radio Shack also has some very tiny barrel crimps (for telephone wires, I think) that need their own small crimper..