Talk to me about small project welding

[Scarpozzi]

I missed the post above about tapping and Howard's point about the metal being too thin...

My second suggestion is to use the predrilled mounting holes and line up a piece of 1/2" plywood...then mount the boards to the plywood.

 

[Red Squirrel]

How will the epoxy stay in the hole while the assembly cures?

If it's a low-load application, just get some right-angle weld studs from McMaster-Carr (e.g. 96466A040) and epoxy it right to the paint. If there'll be a decent amount of load then grind off the paint and epoxy the stud right to the base metal, covering up the exposed metal to prevent corrosion.

If highly loaded, I would go with the stud welder.

Not sure never used epoxy before, is it basically like glue or is it very runny? I was thinking the hole would sorta hold the standoff in place on it's own and the epoxy would just secure it further. Basically it would create more surface than just trying to glue directly to a flat surface.

I was thinking about a tap and die too but not really sure how to go about knowing how to space the thread etc, can't find much info on how to use one. The metal is actually decently thick so it could maybe work. I'd say it's about the same thickness as a computer case, maybe even thicker.

Stud welder sounds interesting, can I use my own nuts or do I have to use specially designed ones for the particular welder?

Was thinking plywood too, but I'm not sure I want to introduce a combustible material in the enclosure. The odds of it catching on fire are slim, wood is actually kind of hard to ignite directly after all, but still want to avoid it.

Oh and if it matters it's possible that I may have to put more standoffs in the future while the boards are already in place and the panel is mounted to the wall. (ex: expansion, adding more relays boards etc)

 

[Howard]

Not sure never used epoxy before, is it basically like glue or is it very runny? I was thinking the hole would sorta hold the standoff in place on it's own and the epoxy would just secure it further. Basically it would create more surface than just trying to glue directly to a flat surface.

I was thinking about a tap and die too but not really sure how to go about knowing how to space the thread etc, can't find much info on how to use one. The metal is actually decently thick so it could maybe work. I'd say it's about the same thickness as a computer case, maybe even thicker.

Stud welder sounds interesting, can I use my own nuts or do I have to use specially designed ones for the particular welder?

Was thinking plywood too, but I'm not sure I want to introduce a combustible material in the enclosure. The odds of it catching on fire are slim, wood is actually kind of hard to ignite directly after all, but still want to avoid it.

Oh and if it matters it's possible that I may have to put more standoffs in the future while the boards are already in place and the panel is mounted to the wall. (ex: expansion, adding more relays boards etc)

Epoxy comes in different viscosities but you usually would not want to use them for a vertical surface, or where there isn't much material to adhere to. It is not usually used as a filler material. JB Weld could be thicker than what I'm used to, in which case you could try using that instead.

You cannot tap something as thin as PC case sheet metal unless you are only using those threads to hold a clock. Any decent load will rip the threads right out. As I said before, you typically want at least 3 full threads to be developed in the tapped material.

You would need studs that are meant for stud welding. Some stud welders require use of their own brand of studs.

 

[Gillbot]

Friction drill it then tap/thread?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9z-GoBMkZMg

 

[Red Squirrel]

Been thinking this over and think I'll just go with a plywood backing. I originally did not want to do it for fire rating reasons but likeliness of it actually catching on fire is next to none even if something inside sparks up it's kind of hard to catch flat wood on fire especially if it's painted, and being in a closed cabinet it would not get much air, though I will want to have at least one knockout open on the bottom and top for some passive cooling as there will be a psu and circuit boards in there. I'm thinking if I drill small holes in the wood I can probably put the standoffs in the wood directly if I make the holes slightly smaller. Can always add epoxy or other glue product for good measure. This is going to be holding small circuit boards like a Raspberry Pi and a couple relay controllers I'll be soldering so not even the weight of a clock.