I have a need, and it shouldn't be rocket science, but does have some
interesting "possibilities and opportunities." I'm working in HO
scale, buildings, and need a bunch of pieces with openings cut to fit
small (tiny?) plastic moldings, windows and doors. One or two, I cut
with an exacto knife, but I'm looking at making six or eight of the
same thing now, each with four windows and four doors. The material
is basswood, and I have an Electropress that I'm wanting to make a
punch for the different openings. Doesn't need much accuracy,
anything I can make that will come within .005" will be fine, but the
problem comes with the sheeting I'm using. It's scribed to simulate
boards, and that scribing is done on 1/32" sheet, so there isn't a lot
of split resistance left. The scribing is nearly half of that depth,
with the grain, 1/32" spacing. The moldings are made so they cover
the front a little, a rough opening isn't going to show unless it's
pretty bad.

Does anyone have any experience with making a hollow punch, maybe
coming down around a drilled hole for something like this? Doors will
be about 3/8" by 1", give or take a little, windows maybe 3/8" by
1/2". I'm guessing the press is somewhere in the 1/4 - 1/2 ton range,
a dandy little finger smasher. (It's a big solenoid on a heavy
frame.)

Greybeard

"Greybeard" wrote in message
...
I have a need, and it shouldn't be rocket science, but does have some
interesting "possibilities and opportunities." I'm working in HO
scale, buildings, and need a bunch of pieces with openings cut to fit
small (tiny?) plastic moldings, windows and doors. One or two, I cut
with an exacto knife, but I'm looking at making six or eight of the
same thing now, each with four windows and four doors. The material
is basswood, and I have an Electropress that I'm wanting to make a
punch for the different openings. Doesn't need much accuracy,
anything I can make that will come within .005" will be fine, but the
problem comes with the sheeting I'm using. It's scribed to simulate
boards, and that scribing is done on 1/32" sheet, so there isn't a lot
of split resistance left. The scribing is nearly half of that depth,
with the grain, 1/32" spacing. The moldings are made so they cover
the front a little, a rough opening isn't going to show unless it's
pretty bad.

Does anyone have any experience with making a hollow punch, maybe
coming down around a drilled hole for something like this? Doors will
be about 3/8" by 1", give or take a little, windows maybe 3/8" by
1/2". I'm guessing the press is somewhere in the 1/4 - 1/2 ton range,
a dandy little finger smasher. (It's a big solenoid on a heavy
frame.)

Greybeard

Since you have a master, why not just replicate it by making a silicone RTV
mold, then casting either urethane or low-temp melt metal that looks exactly
like steel and is solid at room temperature? The silicone mold will capture
the smallest detail from your master. It's really incredible stuff. You can
buy a kit with instructions and all you need from
http://www.freemansupply.com/ or do a bit of research and order from
McMaster Carr... or a local urethane supplier.

Wayne in ChulaJuana

On Mon, 14 Feb 2005 06:49:07 -0800, Tom wrote:



Perhaps something on the lines of a mortising chisel may work.
You could get an idea on design from he

A mortising chisel came to mind right away, I'm just trying to figure
how to make something that will work on the thin wood without
splitting it all to hell. Trying to make all of the buildings look
old and decrepit, so if a window isn't perfectly straight, it doesn't
matter. Just the number of them that I'm contemplating, hand cutting
works, but the time to make the winow openings looks excessive when
I'm looking at that number of them.

Greybeard

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


good luck

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.

Greybeard wrote:

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.


Go take to your local awards and trophy shop. Find one that has a
laser. They may be able to cut what you need for a reasonable price.

Howard R Garner
a fellow modeler.

Greybeard wrote:

I have a need, and it shouldn't be rocket science, but does have some
interesting "possibilities and opportunities." I'm working in HO
scale, buildings, and need a bunch of pieces with openings cut to fit
small (tiny?) plastic moldings, windows and doors. One or two, I cut
with an exacto knife, but I'm looking at making six or eight of the
same thing now, each with four windows and four doors. The material
is basswood, and I have an Electropress that I'm wanting to make a
punch for the different openings. Doesn't need much accuracy,
anything I can make that will come within .005" will be fine, but the
problem comes with the sheeting I'm using. It's scribed to simulate
boards, and that scribing is done on 1/32" sheet, so there isn't a lot
of split resistance left. The scribing is nearly half of that depth,
with the grain, 1/32" spacing. The moldings are made so they cover
the front a little, a rough opening isn't going to show unless it's
pretty bad.

Does anyone have any experience with making a hollow punch, maybe
coming down around a drilled hole for something like this? Doors will
be about 3/8" by 1", give or take a little, windows maybe 3/8" by
1/2". I'm guessing the press is somewhere in the 1/4 - 1/2 ton range,
a dandy little finger smasher. (It's a big solenoid on a heavy
frame.)

Greybeard

Not what you want to hear, but the model airplane folks are big on laser
cutting balsa parts these days -- you can make your outlines on a CAD
program & take them to most laser cutting houses along with your wood.
There's one or two pitfalls, but you get good, accurate cuts. The worst
problem for the planes is the blackened edges that you need to either
deal with or sand off; if you're using molding that's not going to be an
issue for you at all.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Greybeard wrote:
I have a need, and it shouldn't be rocket science, but does have some
interesting "possibilities and opportunities." I'm working in HO
scale, buildings, and need a bunch of pieces with openings cut to fit
small (tiny?) plastic moldings, windows and doors. One or two, I cut
with an exacto knife, but I'm looking at making six or eight of the
same thing now, each with four windows and four doors. The material
is basswood, and I have an Electropress that I'm wanting to make a
punch for the different openings. Doesn't need much accuracy,
anything I can make that will come within .005" will be fine, but the
problem comes with the sheeting I'm using. It's scribed to simulate
boards, and that scribing is done on 1/32" sheet, so there isn't a lot
of split resistance left. The scribing is nearly half of that depth,
with the grain, 1/32" spacing. The moldings are made so they cover
the front a little, a rough opening isn't going to show unless it's
pretty bad.

Does anyone have any experience with making a hollow punch, maybe
coming down around a drilled hole for something like this? Doors will
be about 3/8" by 1", give or take a little, windows maybe 3/8" by
1/2". I'm guessing the press is somewhere in the 1/4 - 1/2 ton range,
a dandy little finger smasher. (It's a big solenoid on a heavy
frame.)

Greybeard

Why not a master router template and a router attachment for a Dremel ?
Ken Cutt

For little jobs like that I would use a sheet metal nibbler. They are
fast, neat and cheap. I f you wnated to make 5,000, then a die would
make sense.
Bugs

Greybeard wrote:

I have a need, and it shouldn't be rocket science, but does have some
interesting "possibilities and opportunities." I'm working in HO
scale, buildings, and need a bunch of pieces with openings cut to fit
small (tiny?) plastic moldings, windows and doors. One or two, I cut
with an exacto knife, but I'm looking at making six or eight of the
same thing now, each with four windows and four doors. The material
is basswood, and I have an Electropress that I'm wanting to make a
punch for the different openings. Doesn't need much accuracy,
anything I can make that will come within .005" will be fine, but the
problem comes with the sheeting I'm using. It's scribed to simulate
boards, and that scribing is done on 1/32" sheet, so there isn't a lot
of split resistance left. The scribing is nearly half of that depth,
with the grain, 1/32" spacing. The moldings are made so they cover
the front a little, a rough opening isn't going to show unless it's
pretty bad.

Does anyone have any experience with making a hollow punch, maybe
coming down around a drilled hole for something like this? Doors will
be about 3/8" by 1", give or take a little, windows maybe 3/8" by
1/2". I'm guessing the press is somewhere in the 1/4 - 1/2 ton range,
a dandy little finger smasher. (It's a big solenoid on a heavy
frame.)

Greybeard

Perhaps something on the lines of a mortising chisel may work.
You could get an idea on design from he
http://tinyurl.com/9rfv

Tom

Greybeard wrote:

On Mon, 14 Feb 2005 06:49:07 -0800, Tom wrote:


Perhaps something on the lines of a mortising chisel may work.
You could get an idea on design from he

A mortising chisel came to mind right away, I'm just trying to figure
how to make something that will work on the thin wood without
splitting it all to hell. Trying to make all of the buildings look
old and decrepit, so if a window isn't perfectly straight, it doesn't
matter. Just the number of them that I'm contemplating, hand cutting
works, but the time to make the winow openings looks excessive when
I'm looking at that number of them.

Greybeard

Perhaps if you incorporated a top clamping plate, that could eliminate
the material splitting?

Tom

On Mon, 14 Feb 2005 00:34:11 -0800, Ken Cutt
wrote:



Why not a master router template and a router attachment for a Dremel ?
Ken Cutt

Probably because I hadn't thought of it. Might be the best way
though. Having to clean out the corners would beat cutting the whole
thing by hand.

Greybeard

Have you considered a steel rule die? These are steel knives set into a
kerf in a piece of plywood. Cheap.

--

Roger Shoaf

About the time I had mastered getting the toothpaste back in the tube, then
they come up with this striped stuff.



"Greybeard" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 14 Feb 2005 06:49:07 -0800, Tom wrote:



Perhaps something on the lines of a mortising chisel may work.
You could get an idea on design from he

A mortising chisel came to mind right away, I'm just trying to figure
how to make something that will work on the thin wood without
splitting it all to hell. Trying to make all of the buildings look
old and decrepit, so if a window isn't perfectly straight, it doesn't
matter. Just the number of them that I'm contemplating, hand cutting
works, but the time to make the winow openings looks excessive when
I'm looking at that number of them.

Greybeard

On Mon, 14 Feb 2005 08:36:47 -0800, "Roger Shoaf"
wrote:

Have you considered a steel rule die? These are steel knives set into a
kerf in a piece of plywood. Cheap.

COnsidered, but not seriously. There are die cut kits available, and
while it beats hand cutting, it still leaves a lot to be desired. The
router/master is looking the best right now, and cheap really isn't a
factor. There are four different window and door castings that I use,
that would mean four masters, not really a big deal. The occasional
odd ball that I use, one opening isn't a big thing, I've been doing it
that way for 25 years. Just not liking it when I'm looking at bigger
numbers. The basswood isn't bad to work with until you take the 1/32"
sheet and scribe halfway through it, then it likes to split a little
too easy. With the router, I might be able to stack sides together
and do the whole lot at once. Or maybe I'm dreaming too.

Greybeard

Greybeard wrote:
On Mon, 14 Feb 2005 00:34:11 -0800, Ken Cutt
wrote:



Why not a master router template and a router attachment for a Dremel ?
Ken Cutt


Probably because I hadn't thought of it. Might be the best way
though. Having to clean out the corners would beat cutting the whole
thing by hand.

Greybeard

I suspect that you will be done and happy with the results in nothing
flat ;-) . Luck
Ken Cutt

Greybeard wrote in
:

On Mon, 14 Feb 2005 00:34:11 -0800, Ken Cutt
wrote:



Why not a master router template and a router attachment for a Dremel ?
Ken Cutt

Probably because I hadn't thought of it. Might be the best way
though. Having to clean out the corners would beat cutting the whole
thing by hand.

Greybeard



Try using either a "corner chisel" or a V-groove veining tool for the
clean-out.