[Elecraft] Hand Punch - Handy as a pocket in a shirt!

[Sandy W5TVW]

This looks like nothing but a "Chinese copy" of the old #5 Whitney-Roper punch.  I
bought one years ago (the original one) and never regretted it!  Extremely handy for
punching VERY clean holes in metal or PC board laminate.
73,
Sandy W5TVW
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Hammond" <n0ss@earthlink.net>
To: <elecraft@mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Tuesday, June 03, 2003 3:55 PM
Subject: [Elecraft] Hand Punch - Handy as a pocket in a shirt!


| Folks:
|
| If you're a builder. Particular if you're a 'from scratch' builder, here's
| a device which I've found invaluable... too bad I had to wait about 40
| years to find it!
|
| Harbor Freight offers a hand punch (sheet metal, PC board, plastics,
| leather, etc.) which includes dies & punch sets in the following sizes:
|
|     3/32", 1/8", 5/32", 3/16", 7/32", 1/4", and 9/32"
|
| This punch has a LOT of power behind it, esp. if YOU have a decent grip.
|
| I've found this punch to be great for making holes in thin metals where a
| standard drill bit might catch and tear the material, or in plastic where
| the bit will heat up and melt the surrounding plastic. It's also great for
| making precision-placed holes in PC board and front panels.
|
| The Harbor Freight web site shows this device at:
|
|    www.harborfreight.com
|
| Then do a search for Item Number 44060.
|
| The web site (as of 06/03/03) currently states that this device "Includes
| 2mm, 3mm, 4mm, 4.5mm, 5.5mm, 6mm and 7mm punch and dies, and a handy
| storage case", but THIS IS IN ERROR. It really does include the SAE
| diameter punches listed above. I have spoken with Harbor Freight today and
| they will try to get the advertisement corrected to properly reflect the
| SAE measurements. And no, they do NOT currently offer a metric equivalent,
| unfortunately.
|
| If you buy the punch off their web site, it's currently going for $16.99
| plus shipping & handling. However, if you get their catalogs, you will
| often find it discounted to as low as $12 with free shipping (be patient,
| it does show up in their catalogs this way at times).
|
| One suggestion if you do purchase one of these punches... in order to
| change dies, there is a Allen-type cap screw which must be removed to allow
| you to remove the die. This screw tends to lock rather tightly once it's
| been replaced and 'snugged down'. I've found that if I added a small
| O-ring, just the size of the O.D. of the cap screw itself, between the head
| of the screw and the body of the punch, I can now tighten the cap screw
| finger-tight and it will remain tight until I want to remove it, again with
| my fingers, rather than with an Allen wrench. Makes die changing a lot easier.
|
| 73 to all,
|
| Tom Hammond   N0SS
|
| _______________________________________________
| Elecraft mailing list: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net
| You must be a list member to post to the list.
| Postings must be plain text (no HTML or attachments).
| See: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
| Elecraft Web Page: http://www.elecraft.com
|
|