Many thanks for the link Erich. I'll take a close look at those.

Dave

"Kathy and Erich Coiner" wrote in message
...
Penn Engineering, makers of Pem Nuts, makes just the product you need.
They are called concealed head studs.
You take an end mill and make a counter bore part way thru your panel.
Then
you press this stud in. Viola! instant stud with no head or hole visible
on
the outside.

http://www.pennfast.com/fastening_pr...pdf/chdata.pdf

Erich



"Dave Marsh" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I need to space off a PCB by 0.25" behind a small (4" x 1" x 0.06"
thick)
anodized aluminum front panel for an electronics project. The PCB
contains
the push buttons that protrude through holes in the front panel.

The PCB has M3 holes drilled for fastening purposes but I can't put
holes
in
the front panel for appearance sake. I need to fasten the PCB strongly
enough so there is no danger of it coming loose when the user presses
one
of
the buttons.

My idea so far is to glue 4 metal hex spacers to the back of the
aluminum
panel. I can then bolt the PCB to that. Alternaitevely the same kind of
idea
but glue the flat heads of 4 countersunk M3 screws to the panel instead
(I'm
thinking the contact are of a screwhead will be greater than that of a
hex
spacer with its central thread hole).

The hex spacers are made of nickel-plated brass. The screws could be
zinc
plated or stainless steel.

So far I've tried an epoxy ("plastic steel" by Draper) with the hex
spacers.
Initially it seemed ok, but with a small amount of leverage the spacers
came
away.

Could someone please suggest whether I would get better adhesion on the
anodized aluminum with the zinc screws, stainless steel screws or the
nickel-plated hex spacers? What epoxies would you recommend? I've also
been
advised that curing the epoxy will improve the adhesion - does this make
a
big difference?

Many thanks,

Dave