Homebrew PCBs

I'd be interested to hear peoples experiences of using rivets for 
through hole connections. Newly joined the list and was surprised a 
search on this topic on the messages gave no results. the ones I'm 
considering are made by 'Favorite' and come in a range of sizes @ 
£14.50 per thousand here in the UK (that's about $27). The tool
for 
setting them is vastly expensive but I think a litle ingenuity should 
help create a homebrew setter.

AWEM