Tried researching but I couldn't find an exact answer...
I have 16 RGB LED's that I want to control individually, I would like to add a 74HC595 in the mix on an expansion board but every example I have seen uses a breadboard.
SO simple noob question time... what do you call the board or part I need to mount the 74HC595 on?
Can I get any old PCB or proto board that has enough space to mount the chip?
Does anyone recommend a small easy to use board?
I buy from Jameco, Sparkfun, Digikey as well so if you have a part number that would work too, any help is appreciated.
Whatever you do, when you "mount the chip", use a socket; you might thank me later. Using a socket is preferred for a couple of reasons:
You aren't applying the heat directly to the chip - if you aren't well practiced in soldering, you can literally burn out a chip with too much heat.
You can easily replace the chip later if you have to.
As far as what such boards are called, typically "protoboard" suffices, otherwise you might have better luck with "stripboard", "veroboard", or "prototyping PCB" (from what I understand, in the UK and Europe the first two terms will probably get you the most hits).
Something like this would probably work ok, but with its individual pads you might find it more difficult to wire:
A board like this has multiple pads connected by traces (in a line, usually), to allow multiple easy connections and such; products like "stripboard" and "veroboard" typically will have long rows/columns of pads connected; on such a board you use a twist drill or other method (handheld, usually) to "cut" or "break" the traces where you don't want them to go. They can be difficult to use until you get the hang of laying them out (and there are software tools to help with this), but they can be ultimately easier due to not needing to run wires and such all over, like you do with the single pad-per-pin boards.
