What is a Standoff?
A Standoff, formally known as a Threaded Standoff is a threaded component with a circular body, and is available in a variety of combinations. These being Male-Female, Female-Female and Male-Male. Standoffs are typically circular, hexagonal (hex) or with a square shaped body depending on the material and size. The materials that they are usually formed from are:• Aluminium• Nylon• Brass• POM• Stainless steel or steel.
How do Standoffs work?
Threaded Standoffs are more commonly used in electronics, they are used to raise printed circuit boards above a surface. The insulating parts of a Standoff prevent electrical shorts through acting as a spacer and ensuring that the two components do not touch each other.
Types of Standoff
Female-Female – Standoffs are available in both standard and swaged configurations. Swaged standoffs have one end that has been swaged (shaped by a device known as a swage) which looks like the male end of a female-male standoff. The main difference between the swaged female-female standoff and female-male standoffs is that the former has internal threads.
Female-Male – Unlike its female-female counterpart, the female-male threaded standoff has external threads. Most are hex shaped so that they can be easily tightened with a wrench.
Male-Male – These are suitable for a wide range of applications, usually do not require any assembly equipment and are the perfect solution for use when high mechanical strength is required because they act as a sturdy insulated spacer.