I've decided going to make a new one for the final cache. Rather than use
a whole BASIC Stamp, I plan on just burning a PIC-16 chip and wirewrapping
it up on a small breadboard. I may (if I can ever get this stupid
photoetch stuff working right) etch a real PC board and make it all neat.

Which type of photo-etch methods are you using I had some experience with trying a few different methods in school a few years ago and may be able to help some.