What Type/Gauge wire is best for soldering onto Arduino shields

I need to make some external soldered connections onto an Arduino UNO compatible shield. I have a stock of so called "bell" wire from days gone by but am finding that this is far too chunky for this type of interconnection. What would be the recommend type and wire size for Arduino work and is a stranded construction to be preferred to a single wire type?

I use the wire stripped from ethernet cables. It's stranded wire and flexible. I don't use shields but solder directly to the holes in the arduino pcb (nano). For some reason I seem to have a lot of spare ethernet cables.

I try to avoid soldering connecting wires since they are hard to get off! Preferred method is either to solder in a header pin and use an appropriate female connector on the (stranded) wire; or solder in a small screw terminal block. You can get sets of connecting wires with ready applied female connectors at each end quite cheaply, and in lengths where if necessary you cut it in the middle to get two or cut the connector off one end. The screw terminal blocks are available from the likes of RS or Farnell. Header pins available from many suppliers, like the ones used on Arduino boards in strips. Just snip off the number you need. You can also get kits to crimp a female header connector on the end of a bit of wire but I've never mastered that. Use stranded wire, ~1mm dia or a bit bigger.

**LINK**

I use wire from 4 core telephone cable

If its for signals rather than power, I use 22 or 24AWG 7 to 9 strands PVC insulation 'hookup' wire. 1mm I feel is far too large and in-flexible. Nothing more frustrating than trying to debug the project where wires break off because they are too stiff at the solder joint. Same reason I would not propose ethernet wire - they have only 4 or 5 thickish copper strands and break easily at the solder joint after some flexing. If you are sure of your wiring, and the board won't be manipulated, then I suppose stiffer wiring is OK, but that's tempting Murphy..

Duncan, here in Namibia, 'phone cable is single solid strand - I would not recommend that!

Joe

in UK you can get solid for permanent wiring and flexible for extensions etc where it is going to flex.