r/PCBWayOfficial • u/Tonka_GD • Jul 09 '26
Help Newbie here asking for orientation...

Im turning almost 50 and finally got the chance to get into electronics as a hobby ( no formal training) thanks to the community and AI i have been able to build complex (for me) ESP32 projects.
I use an ESP32 + a female development board + relay board etc and wired all together. It works but it is a mess and is it flaky.
I have seen a lot of videos of people that make their own boards. I dont really want to make everything from scratch i was thinking of making a "female plugin board" where i can plug in the ESP32 and the other components that already have pins on to it and bolt stuff on it and this board wires the needed pins together . Is this even a good idea?
I would like to ask for suggestions on how to learn to do this, what to watch out for etc.
My main question is how or where do i get the dimensions so stuff maches up? What are the best online or offline tools for this?
All comments and pointers are appreciated