Threading a wire through holes is a very bad way to make vias but sometimes
it is the only option. Riveted through holes are supposed to be soldered
after riveting. Rivets can be hollow and also serve as pin pickups for
through hole parts, several makes are available.

The good part about rivets is, they are relatively easily inserted and
riveted with a machine. The bad part is, you need oversized holes and pads
to take the rivets which can take a standard IC pin after that. Also, the
simple mechanical machine is VERY expensive. Rivets are sold by many
suppliers, among them, Farnell I think, they are relatively cheap per hole.
But installing them without the machine is not a good idea, even if soldere=
d
afterwards on both sides.

I have used the threaded wire method and I use wire bridges made by hand al=
l
the time (single sided boards, milled). Hard to beat 30 minute turnaround
time on milled single sided boards with the CNC next door. But it took
almost 2 years to get the wrinkles out of the process and boards need to be
redesigned and reimaged to be manufactured by other means.

Tip: needle nosed pliers make great lead benders for jumper wires. Not in
the way one would expect. Eyeball the length of the jumper and use the
appropriate place on the needle nosed pliers jaws to catch the wire at the
needed width, then bend overhanging ends down using 2 fingers, insert into
PCB. Perfectly shaped jumper every time.

-- Peter


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