On Sun, 13 Feb 2005 14:03:08 -0600, "williamhenry"
wrote:

you do in fact need a hollow punch , and it needs to be surrounded by a very
resilient [80-90] durometer urethane sleeve at least three times the
diameter of the punch, the idea is the urethane is slightly longer than the
punch and it touches first and holds the material tightly down on the
cutting substrate [ uhmw] as the razor sharp punch cuts the material ,

As the urethane compresses, is it going to put any outward force on
the wood? Also, HO scale board and batten, the battens are not more
than .005" above the rest, if that much. Wouldn't take too much for
that to disappear.

I
would suggest a steel rule die, that is what is used to make the precut
model kits

Most commonly known as "Die crunched" or "Die smashed". ;^)) Don't
know if basswood is going to smash as easily as balsa, and I've
already figured that I'm going to have to finish the corners with a
knife, but that's better than having to endure the "death of a
thousand cuts" to get the opening through in the first place.

Looks like a little experimenting might be in order. If nothing else,
I reduce the amount of scraps and leftover wood I have.

There are places that will laser cut them, but in multiples that I
don't need, and I doubt anyone else is crazy enough to want anything
similar.

Greybeard.