On Jul 20, 11:52*am, "Bob La Londe" wrote:
I have been doing a bit of reading, and of course looking for some pieces of
O-1 since my thoughts on punching out aluminum. *One of the things I've
noticed is the stuff seems to be hard to find on-line. *There are several
vendors selling small pieces on Ebay, but its all pretty thin or not wide
enough to do the job. *I am curious if pieces as thin as .250 or .375 can be
used for the type of operation I described. *The only thing I have to
compare to is the hydraulic slug buster I use on electrical boxes. *It's a
heck of a lot beefier than that even for the smallest KO dies.

Enco and MSC are the places I get drill rod, flats CAN be had. You'll
have to do some calculations and engineering to figure out exactly how
thick you need to make punch and die, that info can be had in any
number of die-making books. One thing, though, is heat treat. Once
you get above the small pin-size drill rod, you're going to have to
invest in some heat treating, either find somebody to do it or get
some equipment. Thick stuff is beyond the propane torch and can of
oil level. Usually tempering has to be done for X amount of time per
inch of thickness at a specified temperature. Electric oven is the
preferred method.

Stan