I just wonder how you other folks do with holes when you have a large panel, meaning 200+ mm. Do you add more holes between the corner ones? If so, at what spacing?
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For my 400x200 mm sequencer I put holes in the corners and 100 mm from each edge, but didn’t put any in the center:
For my 200x200 mm fixed filter bank I just put holes in the corners:
For this 350x200 mm mystery project I plan holes in corners and center:
So I haven’t been terribly consistent.
I suppose it would depend in part on the panel material. These are 1.6 mm aluminum (first one) and FR4 (other two).
But I guess if you don’t worry about 200 mm spacing top to bottom, there’s not much reason to demand smaller spacing left to right.
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Thanks! That’s about the same as what I have done so far. I don’t want the center holes because of stubborn design idea darlings I’m not ready to kill just yet.
FR4 will be the material for panels. It’s the only option that combines a price I can manage, and my deep unwillingness to drill more holes than necessary. I have already made 20+ panels with aluminium angles and a hand drill. Never again if I can help it.
Last time I checked, JLCPCB’s prices for single sided aluminum were comparable to (two sided) FR4. Though when I tried it, it didn’t seem much stiffer, and while I had no such problems, some people reported bad silkscreen quality on aluminum. I switched back to FR4.
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Good to know. I also never make holes for LED’s, I mask off the solder masks instead.
I work with 3mm wood panels. They are not as stiff as FR4 or aluminum. Especialy when they have some load on them they bend things get instable. In that case i add hohles and screws as needed. I have no fixed system other than it should do the job and look good. I use wooden rails and don’t have to wory about a grid or such things.
And there might be some invisible reinforcements in selected places on the back 
(30cm 8 screws / hohles)
(2 x 40cm 4 and 6 screws / hohles)
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