Panel mounting a switch

I saw a project on a ham blog recently which reminded me of this:

A picture illustrating the incorrect and correct way to panel mount a control or switch.  This is from a Hint and Kink in QST for April 2004, page 73 by W1VIV, Sumner.

The idea is to use a second nut behind the panel to result in a flush appearance of the switch.  In addition to appearance it may also help the mechanical performance of the switch making the project a little less tippy due to the tiny lever action of the protruding switch barrel.

The only problem with the C&K switches that I like is that the 1/4-40 sized hardware is almost impossible to find unless it's supplied with the switch -  I actually had an inquiry from a customer (a high school teacher) who needed some 1/4-40 hex nuts for some lab equipment - he had looked and looked and finally contacted me for some hex nuts which I was happy to sell.  1/4-20 nuts are easy to find but the thread pitch is wrong.  One workaround would be to use washers but the result might not be quite perfect.

I think the reason for the length of the control cylinder is that a lot of these types of controls were used on equipment that had a false finish panel in front of the mounting panel so the switch or pot needed that extra length to fit correctly.

Now most equipment would be more like the Elecraft K2 with circuit board mounted switches and pots which then protrude through the front panel.

People are watching, make it look good !  :)

Best Regards,
Chuck, WB9KZY
http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm