Through hole plating

oracacle

Senior Member
I am toying with making a double sided board for a project that I have been working one for a while. While there has been a bit talk on the forum about through hole plating, there hasn't been much more
The chemical option seems as though its going to e time consuming and could easily go wrong and waste huge amount of board and seems to be used with milled PCBs. I currently only have photo resist and etching.
The next option as small strands of wire poked through with the components and soldered in place.
The last option is rivets. Not needed for vias as that can just be a piece of wire soldered in place

if the PCB was designed with slightly larger pads to accept the larger diameter rivets I can seen an issue but was wondering if anyone did infect have any experience with using them.
I thought if the rivets are pushed through the top and soldered there first, the can gently sanded back to nearly flush and the bottom side soldered in at the same time as the component. Or the back side flared with a round ended punch and gently hammered flat before soldering in place.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PCB-Rivet-Brass-Tubular-Hollow-Rivet-Eyelets-Vias/292481885071?hash=item441947638f:m:mlwPf2N838-6NSEWx8brD1Q

There are still some things to work, like how to get each side of the board lined up with exposing to UV light, and how best to etch both sides. but without through hole plating these are non issues really.
 

premelec

Senior Member
With regard to registration of both sides before etch - I drill holes before putting on 2nd pattern or etching - the holes give precise registration...
 

Circuit

Senior Member
With regard to registration of both sides before etch - I drill holes before putting on 2nd pattern or etching - the holes give precise registration...
I would love to hear more about your process; how you protect the non-etch side, what you use to mask and how you actually align this with the registration holes, how you protect the already-etched surface etc. And then, of course, how you do the vias.
 

techElder

Well-known member
It is tedious on a big board, but using wire for through hole vias is a reliable connection method. Solder and snip. Over and over.
 

premelec

Senior Member
I probably can't help much... it's been years... more recently I've used commercial services... that said if you simply put some registration holes external to etch patterns you can line up... a lot depends on what resist processes you use - I wouldn't do one side at a time though that's possible with masking - possibly some of the liquid painter's masks [latex?] could work... and a lot depends on how fine your patterns are etc... BTW I did try some H2O2 + HCL recently that worked quite well - outside... and less staining than ferric chloride... in all cases you end up with you end up with toxic copper compound solutions... unless you mill the copper off into copper dust... ;-0
 
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mushroom

New Member
For me making boards is just too much work for a less than ideal result. I go here. https://www.itead.cc/open-pcb/pcb-prototyping.html . I usually use under 10cm x 10cm boards. Cost - $20 AUD For ten boards. Plated through, good quality. Takes about 10 to 15 days to arrive from China. Yes one must pay delivery on that, but I usually add other things I use from Itead to the order until the freight cost rises, then take one item off. This maximizes the value. I don't etch prototypes anymore. ( I rarely make one of boards, I end up using all ten in time).
 

oracacle

Senior Member
This is going be a unique prototype with basically no chance of others being made. Its looking like to get the form factor that I want will force a dual board layout.
I have a lot of patience so something being tedious and time consuming is of no bother (and if nothing else it keeps me of the streets).

I am thing that the registration holes would work quite well.
I may well leave of buying the rivets and seeing if I can design the board with only via and double sided solder joints on things that can be soldered on both side like resistors and diodes.
 

techElder

Well-known member
Considering that you will be etching your own highly unique boards, I would try to break the total board down into boards that could be routed on one side only.

Not being able to do that, then yes, route all vias to components to be placed as much as possible.
 

WHITEKNUCKLES

New Member
Greetings oracacle,

At one time a through hole soldering kit was available for 1/16" thick printed circuit boards but Google denies any knowledge of them.
The kit consisted of 2 sizes of 'bails' 2 special drills and 2 special reamers, punches and sets.
Bails in continuous trips about 50mm long and approximately 1mm and 0.8mm diameter.
Individual 1.9mm long snap off bails consisted of a hard outer sheath and a solder filling.

Too tight to buy the kit I raided my wife's sewing box.
One needle to expand and compact the drilled hole another to be ground along its length to almost half it's diameter as a reamer.
Reamed size is critical and must be the tightest fit on the bails without tapering the hole with an oversized reamer.
Bails must protrude equally on either side before being riveted when the solder expands and pushes the sheath against the hole.
Solder both sides for continuity and suck the solder from the hole.

If you are keen to give this a try let me know your preferred size and the number you need and I can send one or two spares for practice.
Dave
 
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oracacle

Senior Member
that's I kind offer, I will investigate the other options first.
I do vaguely remember those kits, but the closest I could find was the rivets
 

wayne_weedon

New Member
Many years ago Maplin (RIP) sold special terminal pins for the purpose of providing improvised via's. They were shorter than normal press in terminal pins and had a partially splined section to ensure they did not fall out before soldering.
 

eggdweather

Senior Member
Ive had many pcbs made for me via the many Chinese suppliers and 10 boards typically cost me $7 delivered for a double sided through-hole plated and silk screened with solder mask. The supplier market is huge and they all take about 10-days turnaround. Some do express delivery for very low prices. You can design your boards on fritzling
 

techElder

Well-known member
Just to reiterate something the OP said that might have been missed, "This is going be a unique prototype with basically no chance of others being made."

This isn't a Chinese made mass produced project, as I understand it, so it makes no sense to quote $7 prices on 10 boards. It is well known that the Chinese make cheap PCBs.
 

tmfkam

Senior Member
But with the cost of the rivets, the cost of etching a PCB and the pain of making it work, might it not be cheaper and easier to buy ten and throw nine away?
 
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