hole punch for tobacco tin ideas please :) ?

[Fivetide]

Guys I’m trying to punch some holes in a tobacco tin for my CMOY amps , now I did buy Fiskars Fiskars 1/4 Inch Hand Punch, Circle but I bent it on the first use , waste of time really ! I think maybe the tobacco tins are maybe tougher than the US mint tins .. dunno . Anyway any ideas of what I could build to punch the holes or buy? I am thinking of a bracket that slots over the tins front and ( I need three holes) maybe use pointed bolts I’d have to tap the bracket of course but it would be a lot more accurate ? Anyway maybe you have a simple solution?

[Clive S]

How about a paper hole punch as in this vid;- cMoyBB v2.02 Casing Assembly - YouTube
... Clive

[Fivetide]

How about a paper hole punch as in this vid;- cMoyBB v2.02 Casing Assembly - YouTube
... Clive

Hi Clive thats the one I bought but it was useless :(

[Swarfing]

Any reason why you would just not drill it? put a piece of wood underneath, line up point to drill, place wood on top then drill? clamp it if you can.

[Jonathan]

When I needed to punch some holes in some shim steel I just made a simple punch. It was also 1/4", so I ground a likely looking profile on the end of a piece of 1/4" HSS bar I had lying around, then drilled/reamed a hole the same size through two block of steel. Put the shim between and tap the bar with a hammer and you get a nice hole. If you need to punch a lot of holes this might be worth it, otherwise, as the previous reply says, just clamp it between two bits of wood and drill through it.

[birchy]

I guess it all depends on the quantity of tins you want to put holes in. If you're doing a few, then a nicely constructed drilling jig would allow you to quickly clamp and drill all your holes within a minute or two.

[m_c]

milehighclub

[Fivetide]

I am aiming to do quite alot , the drill I have tried it tends to tear the metal and because its PCB mounted equipment I want it quite precise so it looks good.. i have looked at a numatic set of rams , but i want something simple to start with.

[ptjw7uk]

Have a look on the web for a Whitney hand punch, I have an old one that goes to 1/4", does 16swg steel ok but you should centre punch first to get a good location.

Just had a look on the web and they appear to be quite expensive! But they do work!!
peter

[John S]

To drill holes in thin sheet steel as others have said sandwich between to pieces of wood but main thing is do not use a normal jobbers drill but grind one up like a wood bit as a wing and spur.
If you have decent wood bits you could just use one of these but most i have come across aren't even hardened hence the grinding up of the wing and spur.

Worth keeping a few as they are also ideal on plastics and prevent splitting as they exit the hole.

John S.