how tight should eyelets be?

[coppercone2]

A PCB eyelet, like from keystone, when depressed with their punches, how tight should it be in a PCB hole?

I did one of the 1/8 inch eyelets using their manual tooling combined with a automatic center punch with an adapter I made. It takes a few pumps but I can flatten them out nicely without tearing.

But anyway, if I mark the eyelet, and grab it with a pair of pliers, I can rotate the eyelet without too much effort (a light grip on small channel locks).

This seems reasonable to me as there are no serrations or anything like that.

Is this correct? Or should a eyelet be anchored more firmly? I don't see any gap when looking at it sideways, and it won't rotate without pliers.

I assume they are meant to be soldered down to the PCB. But I am curious about using them on bare PCB to make say a transformer distribution riveted PCB. For instance this would mean that turret terminals can rotate. Not as conveniant as I thought since it requires a board etch in that case.  The best I could do assuming its correct to apply epoxy with a syringe before the swageing.

I thought maybe its possible to put inner crown washers on both sides of the eyelet so it digs into the substrate a little bit. Is this acceptable practice if you get a longer eyelet?

You can use pretty much whatever board thickness you want, which means like a really beefy substrate for magnetic elements, large capacitors, etc. Requires a bit of point to point magic but I like how stiff the substrate is. And since its deformed thick brass, you don't have stupid glue related concerns, vias pulling out, etc. For heavy stuff its just logical.

[liaifat85]

The eyelet should be adequately swaged or pressed into the PCB hole to ensure a secure mechanical connection. It should not rotate easily by hand but might require tools like pliers to rotate. The absence of serrations doesn't necessarily mean it's not properly anchored, but it should have a stable, snug fit in the hole.  Eyelets are typically soldered onto the PCB to create a strong electrical and mechanical connection. Soldering secures the eyelet in place and ensures good electrical conductivity.

[coppercone2]

Well I had better results with other eyelets. I think maybe just that particular one was right on the verge of being too big for one of the tools.

I also found if i bolt the anvil to a drill press, rather then trying to use it on a block, the results are superior. I think I had insufficient stiffness for the impact base substrate.

You can use a wooden table for copperset vias, but for the keystone eyelets you want to use a drill press base or better

this PCB rivet hardware is awesome BTW. I was struggling to understand and accept the price but its well worth the investment.

using this stuff for prototyping is a total game changer