I’m about to drop down a chuck of change to get my front panel made by the lovely people at Front Panel Express, but first I have a quick question. Aesthetics aside, is there any reason why I wouldn’t want the corner holes to mount my front panel to the pactec case?
I’m kinda shying away from the idea of only having JB-weld hold the control surface to the front panel. Having solid corner mounts would make the assembly a little easier too.
I too was thinking the same thing about the corner holes. I wouldn’t have minded them, but keep in mind that the corner holes aren’t the only things supporting the panel. You should still use JB Weld to mount the hex bolts. You’ll still need those to provide rigidity for the center parts of the panel.
So, if you have to use JB Weld anyway, might as well make the panel look a bit nicer in the process 
well if your going to have the face black then why not have the holes countersunk and then use black adonised countersunk 3 or 4mm bolts?
like these only adonised black and whatever length you need
I admit that glued (JB-Weld) counter-sunk screws are a weak point of the design, as other builders have reported. Mine held up quite well until recently when one lifted. The spacers are held on much better. Note that it’s the spacers that hold the PCB to the panel, the corner screws only hold the panel to the case, so they are what receive most of the stress of opening/closing the case, much more than the 23 spacers, that stress is so distributed that they’ll never break.
So aesthetics aside, there’s no reason to not put holes (pref. counter-sunk) in the corners.
You will need to make the hole match whatever screw you’re using, preferably M3, choose your countersink angle/depth to suit the screw… and place them in the right place. Refer to the PT-10 drawing PDF for exact placement… conveniently the mount holes are symmetric, so even though the FPD file has the origin at top-left, you can use the same coordinates as the diagram (see attachment).
One other thing… screw length should be long enough so it passes through the PCB mount holes, thus allowing you to use the corner screws to align the PCB to the panel for the spacer gluing stage. Don’t get screws longer than 25mm though.
I dropped the original mount holes into the FPD for those who are interested. I just have to figure out what countersink I need.
[MB-6582_frontpanel_r2_cheapest mod.zip](< base_url >/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=5382)
[MB-6582_frontpanel_r2_cheapest mod.zip](< base_url >/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=6435)
IMHO, ‘button’ head screws look better than Countersunk, in that they don’t require a precise countersink fitting, and there is less risk of a ring of exposed bright metal around the screw.
Here are some examples. If 12mm long would do, then I could get a box of either black or stainless from RS and post them around. I reckon the stainless might look good, myself.
If people want to be really fancy, I can get them in Torxtm too.
If you’re going for visible bolts, I myself like the (also non-countersunk) ones used on the Korg Electribe mkII’s. Korg used stainless (or at least stainless colored) ones on the electribe, but black ones are available as well.
(The ones on the picture aren’t exactly the same as on the Electribes. I the ones used by Korg have a higher ‘head’.)
I use the allen cap screws on the x0xb0x units i build. Against black, i think they look nice in stainless.
I think that the trick is to either try and make them totally blend in, and not get noticed, or to go the other way, and almost make a feature of them. I fear anything inbetween doesnt work as well.
Stainless comes in different variants. A2 and A4 have different finishes, A4 being the shiniest, but also the most expensive : (
I dropped the original mount holes into the FPD for those who are interested. I just have to figure out what countersink I need.
I just want to say first hand, that i used that exact file, and the holes are perfected aligned for M3 COUNTERSUNK screws only.
If you do not want countersunk holes, you will have to change them in Front Panel Express to normal holes.
Thank you mmalluck for you taking the time to put it up. 
Here is the panel screwed in:
Im thinking of going with these Black countersunk head bolts instead,
so they arent as visible as the stainless steel:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=400137588072#ht_776wt_911
I dont like the engraved numbers, in that pic, so i sent the seller a message asking if he has them without engravings.
Ill buy them anyway if he doesnt.
Though JB-weld is really tough, I ultimately went for through-hole screws. I think if the plate is thick enough, Schaeffer will do blind threaded holes. At first I used cylindrical hex screws but then went to countersunk black hex. I’d rather not have my fingers bang against screws and the like.
It seems he has unmarked screws in 20mm, im going to try them.
Even though you’re meant to use 25mm, which probably support the weight better, the 20mms have enough length to fit through,
and fit a nut under the pcb.
with socket head hex black screws(you can see to the left my x0xb0x with clear screws, like the electribes):
I did use something similar to JB Weld to fix the hex nuts (its called Bison Kombi Metaal). I also have a panel with corner holes. So i ordered m3 ones looking like these from ebay:
Right, as i made a monumental fuck up in aligning the pcb with the panel, i think I better give a warning to people who are considering having
Countersunk Corner Holes & Screws in their panel..
Bottomline is, that you should not use the 4 Screws to align the panel with the PCB,
as they will not be perfectly perpendicular to the back of the panel, because they will have room to move around in the countersunk holes., (unless you’re lucky)
This is basically what happened:
I put the 4 countersunk screws through the holes at the front of the panel, and i used a spring washer and nut on the opposite side of each screw, to lock them into the back of the panel.
When trying to mount the PCB, i realized that it was easy to get 3 screws through the holes of the PCB,
but it was tricky to get all 4 screws through the holes.
Looking back now, this was a warning sign that the screws were NOT perfectly aligned / perpendicular at that time, but i assumed i was not holding the pcb perfectly horizontal while trying to drop it into the screws.
I also used 2 additional nuts per screw, each were either side of the PCB to hold it in place.
And i inserted some switches as directed by the guide to help with the alignment.
It was only after the 24 hours of applying the weld, and clamping the pcb and panel together,
that i realized the shafts of switches were pushed a bit diagonally.
This was because the threaded spacers were between 0.5mm and 1mm too far to the left of the back panel (out of alignment),
and the switches (being the weakest) were forced to the side.
What i would recommend from my experience,
is to not use the screws to align the panel and pcb,
but to actually solder the switches first and use the switches to align them.
Obviously before you solder the switches to the PCB, be sure to mark off where the standoffs go on the panel, as stated in the guide.
You will have to be extra careful not to push a Switch into a blob of JB Weld,
in particular the button for SID L R, as that is the closest switch to a standoff.
Remember this is only for people using countersunk corner holes/screws.
Might be a better idea to use non-countersunk holes and button head screws, as they should be perfectly perpendicular to the panel.
Or even better use no holes at all, and weld the 4 screws to the back of the panel as Wilba did in the guide.
Sorry for you - how bad is it f***ed up?
And thanks for the warning!
As I have the beforementioned job ahead of me, I will try to first build the control surface with everything (standoffs, switches, leds) in place, aligned and soldered, and when the alignment is good, I will apply small blobs of epoxy directly on the standoffs screwed to the control surface pcb. Very small amounts of epoxy should suffice as there are ~20 connections points.
Bye,
Peter/Hawkeye
Sorry for you - how bad is it f***ed up?
And thanks for the warning!
As I have the beforementioned job ahead of me, I will try to first build the control surface with everything (standoffs, switches, leds) in place, aligned and soldered, and when the alignment is good, I will apply small blobs of epoxy directly on the standoffs screwed to the control surface pcb. Very small amounts of epoxy should suffice as there are ~20 connections points.
Bye,
Peter/Hawkeye
No problems, i was hoping it would be useful to somebody.
The panel was fine, it just had the blobs of JB Weld on the back.
I decided to sand them off, using sand paper, a dremmel would be ideal,
but sanding paper was all i had.
Half way through i flipped it over and there were quite a few light scratches on the front,
possibly from epoxy debris falling between the front of the panel and the cardboard i had it resting on.
So i decided to stop before i did more damage, and decided to use the first panel i received from FPD instead,
(the one with the bad paint infill).
The other one with the scratches will be going to nILS.
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