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Here are a few photos of a Whitney 91 Punch (10 ton bench mounted manual punch), an EXAMPLE of a punch and die used with this press, a hand punch used to punch holes in paper, and a piece of thick (.093") forbon that I used to test with this punch. Now, this was done without the press being mounted securely to a bench surface, without the punch and die mounted at all, and without using the 3 foot handle on the Whitney 91 for added leverage. In other words, using barely any effort at all, I was able to put a few 1 1/2" x 1/8" channels in thick forbon. The 2 - 1/4" holes were done with the hand punch to test what kind of power is needed to perforate thick forbon. The Whitney 91 punch is rated to put a 2 inch diameter circle through 12 gauge mild steel.
This was only a quick experiment to prove the press has enough power to do the job. Once the press is mounted securely to a bench top (it weighs about 80 lbs), the handle is attached and a punch and die are aligned and mounted securely, you can cut blanks (strat flatwork bottoms, tele bridge / neck flatwork bottoms - not to mention the tops for strat and tele pickups - which use thinner forbon). Punching holes would require another punch / die combo, but would require even less effort. Granted this is an oversimplification of the process, but this is just to show what can be accomplished if a laser option is not available. The press cost me $100.00 from a used machinery dealer.
(After these photos were taken I tested punching two holes at the same time with the 2 hole punch you see in the picture above. It cut through fine, but took more effort, as the handle of the paper punch is about 4 inches long and is made of zinc metal or something. Regardless, if the paper punch can pop two 1/4" holes in .093" forbon, then the 10 ton punch won't even break a sweat punching all the holes in a top or bottom at the same time.)
EDIT - Punching holes in baseplates or covers with this punch is no problem at all, by the way. The baseplates are 16 gauge nickel silver or brass, and the covers are 22 gauge. Forbon or nickel silver, it all depends on how the punch / die / fixture combo is designed.
This was only a quick experiment to prove the press has enough power to do the job. Once the press is mounted securely to a bench top (it weighs about 80 lbs), the handle is attached and a punch and die are aligned and mounted securely, you can cut blanks (strat flatwork bottoms, tele bridge / neck flatwork bottoms - not to mention the tops for strat and tele pickups - which use thinner forbon). Punching holes would require another punch / die combo, but would require even less effort. Granted this is an oversimplification of the process, but this is just to show what can be accomplished if a laser option is not available. The press cost me $100.00 from a used machinery dealer.
(After these photos were taken I tested punching two holes at the same time with the 2 hole punch you see in the picture above. It cut through fine, but took more effort, as the handle of the paper punch is about 4 inches long and is made of zinc metal or something. Regardless, if the paper punch can pop two 1/4" holes in .093" forbon, then the 10 ton punch won't even break a sweat punching all the holes in a top or bottom at the same time.)
EDIT - Punching holes in baseplates or covers with this punch is no problem at all, by the way. The baseplates are 16 gauge nickel silver or brass, and the covers are 22 gauge. Forbon or nickel silver, it all depends on how the punch / die / fixture combo is designed.
Attached Files