[sdiy] LEDs protruding through front panels

[Florian Teply]

Am Samstag 04 April 2009 22:48:47 schrieb David G. Dixon:
> I think I've got a handle on power distribution issues now.  Here is my
> last dumb design question for today (promise):
>
> I'm making my first panel with LEDs on it (a triple LFO), and I just want
> to press-fit the LED into the 1/8" aluminum panel, with no bezel or
> anything. (Note: my panels are bare aluminum with black graphics.)  If I
> drill a 3/16" hole, the LED will only go in about half way, and only a
> small bit of the tip will protrude from the front of the panel.  If I drill
> a 13/64" hole, I believe the LED will go in clear to the hilt, in which
> case it will protrude by about 4 or 5 mm, or about half of its length.

Well, looks like i am a tad better of here, having only metric drills at 
hand ;-)
Here's what i did:
First I'll drill a 2,9mm hole (or 4,9mm for 5mm LEDs) and then use a 2,99mm 
reamer ( or 4,99mm for 5mm LEDs) to widen the the hole for a really tight 
press-fit. The LEDs themselves are ground to height on sanding paper, so they 
are level with the front panel. That way, the LEDs would stay in place even 
without glue and there won't be any edge between panel and LED. Just have to 
be careful not to grind too much off the LED, sometimes i'll have to add some 
tiny bit of PCB as additional spacer between LED and backside of the panel.

This works for so far.

Greetings,
Florian