[sdiy] Making neat holes in laminated front panel overlays.

[KA4HJH]

On Feb 18, 2013, at 3:58 PM, Dave Kendall wrote:

> Hi Guys.
> 
> As I'm a cheapskate, I'll be using laminated laser-printed thick paper overlays glued onto prepared aluminium front panels for the modular. The panels will have all holes drilled before the front panels go on.
> Does anyone know of a hole punch, or similar tool, with different sized punches that would be suitable for making neat holes relatively quickly?
> There will be *lots* of holes to make for pots, switches and sockets, and doing it with a Stanley knife or X-acto type knife is possible, but from experience, there is a risk of ragged edges if not done very carefully and slowly.
> 
> I once had a hand-held leather punch with exchangeable bits, but from memory it was relatively crude.
> 
> Sorry for all the questions - I'm finally getting around to trying to turn a pile of miscellaneous PCBs, modules and perfboard lash-ups into an *actual synth*...  :-)
> Any ideas or suggestions would be welcome.
> 
> cheers,
> Dave


I don't know how well this would work with paper but for plastic, attach a piece of copper tubing to a soldering iron. Once it's hot touch it against the plastic. You're done.


Terry Bowman, KA4HJH
"The Mac Doctor"