Best Way To Punch Holes In Sheet Metal

Eastwood deep metal hand punch.

Best way to punch holes in sheet metal.

For clean precise holes in thin sheet metal make a wood sandwich. Hydraulic hole punches our strongest punch this tool has 35 tons of force to punch through tough materials such as bus bars railings and i beams. An angle grinder fitted with an abrasive metal cutting disc works well to cut all kinds of metal including bolts angle iron rebar and even sheet metal. Get a carbide or tungsten carbide cutter.

Using the hole saw cutter on a drilling machine is one of the best ways of doing this job. Now that you re set let s get going with the process mark your hole center at first. Slide thin sheets of material into the included die block then punch an inner and outer hole to create a shim or washer. But the discs wear down quickly cut slowly and shrink in diameter as you use them.

Instead we recommend using a diamond blade that s rated to cut ferrous metal. It punches holes just a few here and there or in a dense perforation. Probably you ve already chosen your cutter. Use a ruler and sharpie marker to measure and mark where the hole will go.

The punch press is one of the most mature technologies in metal fabrication and yet it s still one of the most misunderstood. Simply sandwich the sheet metal between two pieces of wood and clamp everything down on a table or workbench. We ll start by marking precisely where the punch hole will be in the metal. Secure the steel sheet with clamps.

Place the die over the draw stud before inserting the stud through the pilot hole. Measure and mark your metal. The wooden bread layers of the sandwich keep the sheet metal flat and prevent the drill bit from wandering as it bores through the sheet metal. Metal centerpunch scribe sturdy carpentry nail or other sharp pointed object that can make a small dent in your metal sheet.

This tends to equalize the sheet stretching of both halves. Ares 10005 metal hole punch set 3 32 inch to 9 32 inch punches and dies included for aluminum brass and steel sheet metal and more 4 8 out of 5 stars 27 27 42 27. Alternatively if a sheet has symmetrical hole patterns you may be able to punch half the sheet flip it over then punch the other half. Ares 10005 metal hole punch set 3 32 inch to 9 32 inch punches and dies included for aluminum brass and steel sheet metal and more 4 7 out of 5 stars 19 27 42 27.

But if you haven t then again we re telling you. Cutting with a hole cutter. It cuts large panels. Modern machines and tooling have turned the punch press into the swiss army knife of the fab shop.

The punch is then. To setup the punch first drill a pilot hole into a piece of sheet metal with a step drill bit.