Chris Green wrote:

I'm looking for some small switches that I can mount on a surface,
i.e. on flat walls (mostly wooden panels, possibly metal in a couple
of cases). They can't be mounted in a hole at all because the other
side of the same panel is also an 'outside' surface.

They don't need to be safe for mains, they are only switching 12 volts
at quite a low current (LED lighting, maximum an amp or so).

Can anyone suggest anything suitable? Part of the trouble is that
searching for 'surface mount[ing]' just produces an overwhelming
number of SMD components which doesn't help at all.

An architrave switch in a matching box is about the best I can manage
at the moment but they're far bigger than I really want.

They used to make miniature versions of the old round lightswitches,
about an inch and a quarter in diameter, which could be modified to take
side-entry wires. But I haven't seen them for half a century. Have
you tried Maplin?

--

Roger Hayter