Doh, forgot to put in my T-nuts! Suggestions?

[vputz]

OK, here's the situation... I'm making a CP out of 1/2" particleboard and 1/4" of Pergo laminate flooring (had some extra from a previous flooring project).  I'm making 3/4" panels by gluing the pergo to the particleboard, and the Pergo itself is the end finish (whee, fake woodgrain!  But it looks pretty decent and is all but impervious to casual use; this stuff is durable).

The problem is that I am undermounting my joysticks.  If I had had half a brain, I would have put T-nuts in on top of the particleboard and just sandwiched them in between the layers.  But I didn't, and now I have a problem; I don't want to drill all the way through if I can avoid it, but I need some way to securely undermount the joysticks to the CP... and I'd really like to avoid completely redoing the CP.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.  Right now I'm looking at the idea of some sort of strong threaded insert which could be screwed or glued into place, but I'm a bit new to particleboard fastening, so I'm not sure what's feasible, what isn't, what will pull out, what won't, etc.

If I absolutely can't avoid it, I'll drill through and use carriage bolts (maybe find some nice shiny brass crowns; would look decent with the woodgrain) but I'd like to keep the top clean if possible.

Suggestions?

-->VPutz

[menace]

just use #10 1/2" wood screws from underneath to hold the joystick to the bottom of the particle board.  make sure you predrill your holes based on the shank dia. of the screw.  This should hold it unless you are one of those guys that punishes joysticks you may need a washer in there--if so make your screws 5/8".