Hi,
Is there any other brand choices which have similar products like Roper
Whitney No 5 Jr Hand Punch Kit which also support square or rectangle
type die set? I have searched through the web but cannot find.
Thanks!
A hobbyist would typically use a nibbler to make non-circular holes.
For those with the dough, there are bench presses with tooling for
punching square, rectangular, D, double-D, D-sub, etc. holes. For
example, look for the 3000 lb press and matching tooling at
I regret to say that I own a knockoff, having felt cheap when I bought it a long
time ago. However, I have looked at a real No. 5 and my guess is that Whitney
dies will fit in the knockoff imports. You don't get square or rectangular dies
with the standard No. 5 anyway, so you'd still have to buy the punch/die sets.
Where are those available?
GWE
Keywords:
Roper Whitney sells a slightly larger model (the "XX") that can use
non-round dies. It comes with a completely useless & bizarre set of
punches, and the punch & die sets are pricey.
Doug White
Allied Electronics used to handle them - I think they are still alive
after Tandy.
Other electronic supply houses likely do as well. Wonder if Tandy does...
Digikey ?
Martin
A shop I once worked in had a punch similar to this
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fabricating sheet metal electronic chassis parts. The die holder
was different -- just 4 horizontal setscrews which positioned and held
the bevel-sided lower die. It took me a while to figure out how to set
the die quickly and accurately but it was a very useful tool for its
size.
My favorite way to make holes in sheet metal is to find a shop with a
Strippit, get a list of the punch sizes they own, and design
accordingly.
jw
Mouser(electronics wholesaler) has a table-top arbor-type press with
that type of tooling. Pump up your wallet, though. I don't know of
any Jr-sized hand punches that have square tooling, you'd need
something to keep the punch and die aligned radially and they have no
provisions for that, arbor press time.
A nibbler has always been my choice for rectangular holes in panels,
use Jr to make the first hole, punch the corners, then nibble away and
file to the line. Greenlee has square chassis punches, but you won't
find them in smaller sizes. If I need a really small squared hole,
I'll punch a round one and file to the line with needle files. In the
sizes Jr covers, that's not a big deal, maybe 5 mins. worth of work.
Stan
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