Small arbor press with square punch and die

Hey everyone!

Not sure if I'll get laughed off the boards with this question, but after a lot of frustrating web searching, I thought I'd turn to more more knowledgeable people.

I get involved with a lot of different types of projects and one of the odd things that I'm doing is making a board game for some friends and myself. The actual game board will be made out of chipboard (condensed cardboard essentially) which is 2-3mm thick. I'd like to be able to punch square holes in it for some little wooden blocks (8mm and 10mm) to go in the holes.

It's a lot of time and effort to cut the holes in the chipboard with an exacto knife, especially since I'll be varying the design. So, I thought, I should be able to find an arbor press and some square punch and die sets for not too much. Making the holes would become super simple!

Well, finding a 1 or 2 ton arbor press is easy enough, but for the love of god I can't find any square punch and die sets to go with them.

Can anyone point me to where I can find a small arbor press with square punch and die sets? Or does this not exist for something that small?

Thanks for your input!

AJ

99% chance you gotta make or get someone to make a die for you. Easy project really, not hard to do.

You'll need:
1. a small 2 post die set (check around for a used one) probably 4" x 6"
2. Standard punch and die button from a place like Dayton punch, or Cleveland tool
steel (latter supplier is for ironworkers, may be a bit cheaper)
3. a stripper to remove the part from the punch, being hand operated press,
I suggest a solid stripper mounted in the bottom of the dies set.

You can't just use the arbor press because the ram is not held accurately enough for punching. A punch and die set will probably only have about .005 clearance and the ram on most arbor presses probably has .030-.060 slop.

Cutting square holes is chip board

Joe Fix It said:

Hey everyone!

Not sure if I'll get laughed off the boards with this question, but after a lot of frustrating web searching, I thought I'd turn to more more knowledgeable people.

I get involved with a lot of different types of projects and one of the odd things that I'm doing is making a board game for some friends and myself. The actual game board will be made out of chipboard (condensed cardboard essentially) which is 2-3mm thick. I'd like to be able to punch square holes in it for some little wooden blocks (8mm and 10mm) to go in the holes.

It's a lot of time and effort to cut the holes in the chipboard with an exacto knife, especially since I'll be varying the design. So, I thought, I should be able to find an arbor press and some square punch and die sets for not too much. Making the holes would become super simple!

Well, finding a 1 or 2 ton arbor press is easy enough, but for the love of god I can't find any square punch and die sets to go with them.

Can anyone point me to where I can find a small arbor press with square punch and die sets? Or does this not exist for something that small?

Thanks for your input!

AJ

Click to expand...

I have been trying to think of a cost effective way to accomplish what you need. A used 3-ton arbor press on Ebay can run $500.00. Electrician use a Knock-out Punch to punch holes in panels. I know they make punch and dies for round holes, but I am not sure about square holes. Check it out! Maybe you could somehow adapt tooling to your needs. Your going to have to be creative or cost will kill the project.

Roger

moonlight machine said:

You can't just use the arbor press because the ram is not held accurately enough for punching. A punch and die set will probably only have about .005 clearance and the ram on most arbor presses probably has .030-.060 slop.

Click to expand...

I have built a lot of small arbor press dies/shears/etc. One easy cheap way to do small ones is to make a small die, using ejector pins or drill blanks for posts, and drill jig bushings. Usually you have to have a floating conection to the ram, since the travel is not very square, as Moonlight stated. BTW, Dake, Greenerd and Famco presses are MUCH more square than the imports.

Or you could purchase a unipunch type set-up.
unipunch | eBay

Can pretty much just bonk them on top with a 5lb to cut your part....

Joe Fix It said:

Hey everyone!

Not sure if I'll get laughed off the boards with this question, but after a lot of frustrating web searching, I thought I'd turn to more more knowledgeable people.

I get involved with a lot of different types of projects and one of the odd things that I'm doing is making a board game for some friends and myself. The actual game board will be made out of chipboard (condensed cardboard essentially) which is 2-3mm thick. I'd like to be able to punch square holes in it for some little wooden blocks (8mm and 10mm) to go in the holes.

It's a lot of time and effort to cut the holes in the chipboard with an exacto knife, especially since I'll be varying the design. So, I thought, I should be able to find an arbor press and some square punch and die sets for not too much. Making the holes would become super simple!

Well, finding a 1 or 2 ton arbor press is easy enough, but for the love of god I can't find any square punch and die sets to go with them.

Can anyone point me to where I can find a small arbor press with square punch and die sets? Or does this not exist for something that small?

Thanks for your input!

AJ

Click to expand...

Chipboard is a lot more like wood than it is like sheet metal. So use a woodworking tool that makes square holes. It is called a mortising machine and they are as cheap as $170 including bits in the USA. Probably you can get metric bits up north, but mine only came with inch bits. Or you can make your pegs in 5/16 and 3/8 inch sizes.

They also make mortising attachments for 1/2" capacity drill presses.

NEW ! DELTA 14-651 Professional 1/2HP Bench Mortising Machine | eBay

I have used my mortising machine to make oak blocks with blind square holes to hold lathe bits. Works great.

Larry

Make a template that gives you a variety of sizes of holes for your board. Use a marker or other method to create the outline on the board. Use a good quality carpenter's chisel and a hammer to go around the shape and cut the profile through, using a backing plate of UHMW polyethylene or similar plastic. Should give fast results, especially if you keep a couple widths of chisel for full-length cutting.

You can also get custom arch punches made if you want a one-shot square hole. Round or oblong arch punches are available from stock in a variety of sizes. Also known as "hollow punches".

There are many sources of die and punch sets: many metal tooling places like MSC, and others. Trouble is, they are intended to be used in a tool that provides the precision alignment that an arbor press can not. It is possible to make the die and punch as a separate assembly and just use the arbor press for the needed pressure to activate it. But you will have to make one with a deep enough throat for the location of the holes you want. And, of course, the arbor press will need a similar or larger throat. But wood, especially thin wood, double especially chipboard, is better CUT rather than punched. I fear you will have a lot of edge tear with any punch.

You want to cut chipboard that is 2-3mm thick. That is about 1/16" to 3/32". I would look for a better way to cut them. A wood chisel that is the width of your square hole would make swift work of it with four hammer blows, one for each side. You could use a steel guide to locate it quickly. And it being flake board, that steel guide if clamped down firmly, will help to prevent tear on the edges.

The mortising machine that Larry mentions above is another good way. If I were doing a lot of them, I would go that route. Again, with chip board, I would clamp it between two scraps of the chip board or something else to hold down the edge tear.

A laser may also be a good way to cut them. It could even be CNC: program it and push go. If you could stand a small corner radius, a small diameter, high speed routing cutter (1/8" diameter) may be an option.

If you want to punch them, get a Unitool set-up Unittool Punch & Die Company | Light Duty C-Frames Punching Units

If you have a Drill press, get a mortise set-up DELTA 17-924 Mortising Attachment with 1/4 Inch, 5/16 Inch, 3/8 Inch, and 1/2 Inch Chisel and Bit Sets - Boring Bits - Amazon.com

JR

with the right backing material (possibly cork or soft strand board or UHMW urethane,or a combination) it might be possible to cut it in one shot using the square Mortising chisel for the mortising machine mentioned above, but using a heavy hard face mallet.(Lixie brand with black face insert). It won't last for thousands of holes, but it should be cheap enough to give it a go! search Ebay for them,

(unless the stuff you are punching is masonite, then more robust tooling is in order. what is it exactly?)

cyanidekid said:

with the right backing material (possibly cork or soft strand board or UHMW urethane,or a combination) it might be possible to cut it in one shot using the square Mortising chisel for the mortising machine mentioned above, but using a heavy hard face mallet.(Lixie brand with black face insert). It won't last for thousands of holes, but it should be cheap enough to give it a go! search Ebay for them,

(unless the stuff you are punching is masonite, then more robust tooling is in order. what is it exactly?)

Click to expand...

Mortising machine chisels are hollow and there is a drill bit in the center. The drill makes a round hole and clears the chips and the chisel just cuts out the square corners as it is pressed into the work. In other words, if you start with a round hole, you can hammer or press the chisel through the wood or similarly soft material to make the square hole. You have to be careful in placing the chisel on the center of the hole and align the chisel in the desired orientation if you want a good result. I have made round holes into square holes in soft plastic using just the machine chisels and a press.

The chisels are carbon steel and can be sharpened with a slow speed rotating ball end mounted point of the right size.

Larry

This sounds much like the back of an old fashioned "T.V. Set"
or "Console Stereo".

Those all had 1/8" thick particle board, and the
hundreds of holes & slots sure look like they were punched.

square holes in chip board

rogertoolmaker said:

I have been trying to think of a cost effective way to accomplish what you need. A used 3-ton arbor press on Ebay can run $500.00. Electrician use a Knock-out Punch to punch holes in panels. I know they make punch and dies for round holes, but I am not sure about square holes. Check it out! Maybe you could somehow adapt tooling to your needs. Your going to have to be creative or cost will kill the project. Roger

Click to expand...

Try Hobby Lobby or other hobby stores. Look for information on tooling for making custom greeting cards. Also check the sewing hobby. They make tooling for cutting pattern shapes for quilting. My daughter makes greeting cards, you might be surprised in the different cutting tools available. Also Tandy Leather stores.

Roger

How about unitized tooling, like unipunch? Used tools are cheap, and I bet they make metric square punches and dies.

In chipboard I bet you could hit it with a mallet.

Hey everyone!

Thank you for all of the thoughtful responses. I really appreciate the knowledge and experience that you've all shared.

It seems like my original idea was kind of flawed (given the slop) but there are a lot of better options for me to look into!! More research, but that's okay as I'm learning lots as i go along and i have a path forward!!

You guys rock!

AJ

Are you doing a million of them?
worry less about the slop if low volume
I have done this with an arbor press with soft material and low tolerances. Wears the crap out of the dies, but if you are not doing a million, who cares

in pressboard one could use soft dies, which means you could make them yourself which means you could build in a pilot if it became a problem. .250 pin in the male die, hole in the lower die on a removable piece to clear plugs. You probably don't need a .001 radius in the corners so I think you could make the dies yourself, lowering cost

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/v...cher-whitney-angle-notcher-etc-lou-ky-331830/

^^^^
I have a bench punch with square die installed as well as a unittool...both for good price. Your being in Canada will increase ship prices though.