Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: Homebrew PCBs

These aren't rivets specifically designed for through-hole vias, but they work pretty well. They are 2mm in O.D. silver cylinders, .077" in length sold at Hobby Lobby for jewelry use here in the US. They are OK for the thinner sizes of double-sided boards. They are sold as crimp tubes, under the Westrim Crafts name. A bag of 62 is $1.49. They are very soft (I squished the one I measured with the digital caliper) and accept solder extremely well. A light touch with miniature Phillips screwdrivers applied simultaneously on both ends will flare their ends in the hole, keeping them in place until solder is applied.

Ted, KX4OM