The back taper relieves a lot of the stripping force because as the punch enters the material, it gets smaller the deeper it penetrates. This punch construction makes it easier for the punch to pull out because the material does not drag along the entire length of the tooling, as it would if the punch were straight.
Figure 3: A general rule when punching holes on a turret punch press is that the hole size should be equal to or greater than the material thickness. However, advances in punch design have challenged this thinking. New tool designs can punch a hole size as much as 56 percent of the material thickness. This development eliminates the need for some secondary processes, such as the drilling of small holes. Photo courtesy of Amada America Inc. A right angle is the wrong angle to take concerning the correct shape for tooling used to punch thick material.
Once you start to go up in the higher tonnages required for thicker materials, those areas are points that wear faster. The advice is straightforward: Fabricators working with thicker material must ensure the punch has a radius shape on its end. Also, if you put a 0. Conventional tool steels used to manufacture punch tooling can perform effectively on 0.
A step up is premium powder metallurgy tooling. In the powder metallurgy process, molten metal is passed through an atomizing nozzle with fast-moving inert gas that turns the molten metal into small droplets, which are then collected in a forging capsule.
The droplets are exposed to increasing temperatures and pressure within the capsule, and a percent dense ingot with no internal voids is created. Did they want a tool that was impact-resistant, or did they want one that had real good edge life?
Powdered metals give you both. The higher cost of premium tooling may discourage some fabricators, Shuldes added, because shop management may be concerned about whether machine operators will take care of the more expensive tooling.
Powder metallurgy tooling can crash just like conventional tooling. In the end, the fabricator needs to feel comfortable in knowing that more expensive tooling will work effectively with thick material and deliver savings through reduced downtime linked to longer performance life.
By specifying a coating for punch tooling, the fabricator gets a layer of protection added to the tooling surface. The question is whether the added expense is worth it. For example, punching thick metal such as copper is a very different experience compared to punching mild steel.
The copper is very gummy and wants to stick to the punches aggressively. Coated tooling see Figure 2 makes it harder for the soft metal to adhere to the retracting punch surface. Lowry encouraged fabricators to find out for themselves if coated tooling makes sense for their applications. Punching thicker material means higher wear rates for the tooling. The result is cut that gradually tapers in from the edges and comes to a soft point at the end.
The resulting shape is both functional and aesthetically pleasing. Round drive punches are thin, cylindrical steel tools used to cut holes in leather. The cutting end is made of a sharpened edge around a hollow metal tip. There is usually an opening in the cylinder near the cutting end.
The other end of drive punches is solid steel. The force generated but the hit drives the cutting end through the leather. This creates a hole in the leather and a small leather circular piece that used to fill what is now the hole.
As more holes are punched, the circular pieces begin to push up through the cylinder and out of the opening near the cylinder end. Alternatively, after a few punches, the excess circular pieces can be pushed down and out of the punch with a small pin or other thin implement, pushed through the opening. Round drive punches are available is many different hole sizes. Some are individual tools fixed in size. Others are handles with interchangeable punch size tips, requiring less storage space, though some additional time to change tips between sizes.
Most leather crafters will find themselves with at least a few round drive punches in their leather working tool kit. Round punches are great for making buckle holes in belts, as well as across leather projects when creating holes for grommets, eyelets, or even holes for large laces. Here is one in action:. Leather trace punches are metal tools with a cutting edge used to punch tapered holes into leather. If you imagine an oblong cut, with one side wider than the other, that is what a trace punch creates.
They are generally made of steel with highly-sharpened blades for efficient cutting. Multiple sizes are available for use based on preference and what might work best for your project. Leather oval punches are metal tools with a cutting edge used to create oval-shaped holes in leather material. There often have an opening in the punch near the cutting end. The other end is usually made of solid steel, providing an area to be struck with a hammer, mallet, or maul. Oval punches come in a variety of sizes, offering many options to ensure the crafter has the size that is most helpful the the type of project and work that they are doing.
For example, different straps might require different oval punch sizes depending on their width. Leather rotary punches are manually operated, hand-held metal tools with multiple hole-sized punches used to make holes in leather material. There is often an integrated surface for the punches to much onto when cutting. This is the most common punch people often picture when thinking of leather punches. They work by rotating the turret to select the side punch to use, placing the leather material between the punch and cutting surface, then squeezing the grips closed by hand.
The gripping motion pushes the punch through the leather and results in a hole. Rotary punches are available with different sized punches. Some have interchangeable punches, making it easy to have any 6 or so available at a time, quickly accessible at the spin of a turret and squeeze of the grip.
Individual punches usually yield more precise results, and also allow more force to be used resulting in generally smoother, cleaner cuts.
Though, for smaller holes and thinner leathers, rotary punches can be a quite effective leather working tool. Button hole punches are metal tools used to simultaneously cut holes and a connected slit, into leather material.
They are a somewhat specialized, though very useful type of punch. When working with button studs, they join leather by pushing through a hole that is slightly smaller than the stud. Hence, once through, the stud holds the button in place.
In order to have enough room to push through, there needs to be extra flexibility around the hole to accommodate the stud. This is done by cutting a slit directly connected to the button hole. The slit parts the leather, making it flexible enough around the hole to accommodate the larger stud. Button holes can be made using a standard round drive punch, then cutting a slit below it with a knife. Alternatively, they be made with a button hole punch. This makes it much easier, with more consistent results, as all of the cutting is done with one tap of a mallet, hammer, or maul onto the button hole punch.
They are available is different sizes so the proper size can be selected based on the needed sizes of the hole and the button stud hardware that will be used. Leather slot hole punches are metal tools with a cutting edge used to create narrow, oblong holes in leather material. There is usually an opening in the punch near the cutting end to insert a thin metal wire and push to release the cut leather material.
Slot hole punches are helpful when making holes to run straps through, such as in bag or case making work. For Ruby the Reindeer I inserted a safety eye through the felt circle to make the eyes more prominent and cuter!
Sizzix punches come in all kinds of shapes including leaves and flowers, hearts and bows, all kind of holiday motifs. I punched a ton of little hands and make the feathers for a bird.
Do you have these punches? If you do, what have you used them for? Do you use another die cutting tool for making fabric shapes? Any other tricks for cutting perfect felt circles? Thanks for sharing! I buy pre-cut felt circles. They are available from a number of etsy sellers, in a range of colors and sizes. You can usually buy at a time. It saves me a ton of time and frustration to have them pre-cut and there when I need them!
This is a great option for crafters who make a lot of the same product. Thank you so much for the idea! Thank you, Michelle. I made that bird so many years ago. Paste as plain text instead. Only 75 emoji are allowed. Display as a link instead. Clear editor. Upload or insert images from URL. How Do I Do That? Search In. Sign in to follow this Followers Reply to this topic Start new topic.
Prev 1 2 Next Page 1 of 2. Recommended Posts. Report post. Posted April 30, Hi, as the title says What is best surface material for hole punching on the bench. Would appreciate all and any advice from those who know, many thanks JJ. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites. Posted May 1, Use end grain wood, its by far the best thing for the tools.
Warning only melt down lead in the open - I use an old camping stove. Cheers, Lois. Posted May 2, Sometimes you see such blocks on Ebay. Posted May 2, edited. Edited May 2, by Tugadude. Posted May 3, I have always used lead. Will continue. THANKS ALL, Some really great advice and solutions there, will try and get hold some of the clicker press back board,the lead sounds a good idea but I would have to buy from a scrap dealer or similar so I wont use that one, I will keep all the suggestions in mind and work thru them till I find what suits me best.
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