[sdiy] mounting PCBs to FRAC panels

[Adam Schabtach]

>From Adam Schabtach's page :

http://studionebula.com/blog/v/studionebula/modular/album04/panel.jpg.html

Whoa, I was just about to plug my own site, and someone beat me to it. I'm
flattered. :-)

I've done a few more modules that way and I still think it's a pretty good
technique. I have learned a couple of things. The first is to *not* use
standoffs that have threaded ends sticking out that you put a nut on. They
don't seem to be very strong; I sheared one off easily by tightening the nut
with a nutdriver. Another thing is that an easy trick for getting the posts
in the right place is to attach them to the PCB first. It's kind of obvious
but I didn't think of it the first time. It's particularly easy if you do it
before you stuff the PCB, but I don't always think that far ahead.

Recently I've started using pieces cut from aluminum angle bracket glued to
the back of the panel. It's basically the same technique as that described
and photographed by Mr. Dompselaar (nice looking panels, BTW!) but it can be
done without any screws and holes through the panel. I tried using Super
Glue, thinking that it might work well between two smooth surfaces, but it
just doesn't seem to hang on to aluminum very well. I did find that in this
application 5-minute epoxy seems to work okay. I still think that the
epoxies formulated specifically for metals is stronger, but since the
aluminum angle brackets provide a larger area for bonding than the ends of
stand-offs it probably doesn't make much difference.

--Adam