Any ideas on how to do this efficiently?

I am working on a project where I have these long plastic strips of

1/2 inch width. I need to punch two holes (spaced about 1 cm apart) continuously down the strip also spaced about 1cm apart. So far I am using a small 1/8 inch hole punch and punching one line down and then the other line down the strip.

Needless to say, punching hundreds of holes like this is NOT my idea of fun...Is there a "roller punch" to continously punch a line of holes? Or any other ideas how to ease this process?

One extra tidbit, before I am working with the strips, I have a whole sheet of plastic before I cut them into strips, so if I can punch them before cutting into strips, I can do that too.

Thanks!

Reply to
Joe
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Reply to
George

You say "hundreds of holes" -- but how many hundreds does it have to be before you're spending more time on the tool than it would take to do it by hand.

If it's thousands or tens of thousands, consider taking it to an NC house.

Consider:

Stacking them so you do more than one at a time

Making a holder for two/four/eight punches so you can do many at once.

Jigging so at least the measurement is automatic (hole A goes over a pin that is the right distance away so that hole B is in the right place). If cumulative error is a problem (if hole Z must be exactly 25cm from hole A), then it helps to use the jig for multiple holes.

Mount the punch in a drill press, so all you have to do is stroke.

Making a piece of aluminum with eight/sixteen/xxx holes in it, so all you have to do is put the punch in a hole and hit it.

Combine several of the above.

Reply to
Jim Woodward

"Jim Woodward" wrote in news:Ve6dnZE snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:

I would think a combination of the above would be best, without getting automated. Get an Arbor Press. Make an aluminum guide with say 10 holes of the correct spacing. Make a jig for the arbor press, with the good suggestion of a dowel for ease of repetition. A brass plate under the aluminum guide would probably be a good idea also, to punch into. Make a steel cap with the punches held in with set screws, mount 10 punches in the cap and punch 10 holes at a stroke. (or 15, or however many you can get in the width of your fixture, and have the power to punch)

Reply to
Anthony

Big sheet metal shop might have a cnc punch

Reply to
Beecrofter

I would have a steel rule die made with the correct spacing and maybe ten punches on a board. Punch a few strips then move your registration stops and punch again. Repeat till the whole strip is done, The die will cost about a hundred bucks. from Ritchie die ,com

Reply to
dann mann

What plastic is it?

How thick is it?

What diameter are the holes?

How long is one finished piece?

Jim

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Reply to
jim rozen

Good idea. Maybe he could put some dowel pins or whatever in there to register on the last set of holes.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

Reply to
Spehro Pefhany

On 15 Nov 2003 03:24:28 -0800, snipped-for-privacy@msn.com (Joe) brought forth from the murky depths:

It's probably easier to handle in strips, so that's what I'd do if it weren't economically feasible to take the sheets to a production house to use a CNC mill.

I'd probably find a way to guide the strip through the punch and have a spring-loaded alignment pin/ball 1cm away which fit into the punched hole. Use a removable pin to do primary alignment for the first hole on a strip, then remove it. Push the strip's hole through until the pin/ball detented into it and punch again. If the holes are equidistant from the edge on both sides, just flip it 180° and repeat. Otherwise, toss in some shims to adjust for that depth/alignment change. Drill and loose-pin them for quick removal/installation.

Rinse, Repeat.

The jig should take an hour or two and save a lot of headaches. I'm looking at this from the standpoint of a handheld punch since I have a little Whitney #5 which I would also have to either clamp in place for the task or build a sheetmetal setup which fit near the mouth of the unit and was held in by the current fence screw. If portable, I could use it while watching a good -old- movie on TV.

Designing, building, and perfecting a roller punch for that would likely, at minimum, take days.

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Reply to
Larry Jaques

Reply to
Joe

I am not familiar with a steel rule die, and from my googling of it, I can't really imagine how this would work. Can you elaborate just a little more? I'm sorry for being so dense, but I have no idea what many terms (steel rule die, Arbor Press, jig) in this thread are...and I am extremely grateful for all your suggestions.

Reply to
Joe

A steel rule die is a low-cost piece of tooling that has the cutting element (in this case sharp steel blades, sharp on one edge) held vertically by something like a piece of hardwood. For punching holes, they laser holes into the wood and insert things like sharpened pieces of tubing of the closest standard diameter. The wood only holds them vertical, the actual cutting force is applied to the back of metal tubes, which are flush with the back of the wood, via a flat piece of metal.

You can get them made fairly inexpensively, as dann mentioned. They need something like a piece of polypropylene to back the material being cut, and behind that some steel or aluminum, and another piece of metal on the top of the die. You want to order it with stripper pieces in place, (for which the trade term is "rubbered") to push out the cut circles of plastic.

If you have a copy of Machinery's, there should be a simple formula in there for calculating the total force required on the die to cut "x" number of holes, based on the material, the thickness of the material, the hole circumference and maybe other factors. Since they don't use a matched mating die the tolerances are not as finicky as a "real" hard tooling die, but the laser cutting of the one-sided die is really pretty good these days. I just give them a dxf file and they can create a die in a day or so.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

Reply to
Spehro Pefhany

snipped-for-privacy@msn.com (Joe) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com:

An arbor press is simply a hand press. A 'jig' is a fixture for holding the workpiece while some type of work is done to the workpiece

Reply to
Anthony

Yes.

That's a "fixture". A "jig" is supposed to guide a tool.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

Reply to
Spehro Pefhany

If you are doing a substantial amount of these strips, make a drill jig with both a top and bottom piece. Then make a sandwich and drill the holes. Put several slices of "meat" in the sandwich.

michael

Reply to
michael

Err, unless I misread the original post, he is currently doing holes with a 1/8" punch. I'd be REAL interested in meeting someone making

1/8" steel rule dies.

Just another case of not reading all the post I guess.

On another subject, sphero, how come your tech support doesn't answer emails after a product is out of warranty???

Reply to
Jenny3kids

We used to sharpen 1/4" steel rule dies for a local book bindery. 1/8" is possible.

Or not.

-Carl

Reply to
Carl Byrns

Steel rule dies also include punches. Essentially sharpened tubes with springs inside to prevent the build-up of the "chads" so to speak. These are the simples forms of steel rule dies because the punches just press into the plywood. Easy to make yourself if you have the punches. Sandvik sells them.

Reply to
dann mann

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