Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: Modular Synth Panels

I've been looking on line at punch presses and other tools for stamping standard-sized holes in the sheet gauges we work with in the synth panel world. All I can seem to find are:

a) giant industrial-size machines that would take up my whole basement. Admittedly, such a machine is guaranteed to meet all my current and future needs, and would be a great conversation piece. Even if I could get one shipped to my house and assembled into the basement, though, I doubt my wife would consider it a good investment.

b) $3K-$6K machines that I could at least fit in the workshop, but would never justify the cost (I mean, I could commission a huge run of very nice Moog/STG style photo printing anodized panels for that amount of cash)

c) Nice knockout punches, but the hole sizes are too big (1" or greater)

d) Cheap manual hole punches with shallow throat depth that would maybe work for single-width panels in flimsy gauges, but nothing bigger

Is there NOTHING out there that can punch standard-size holes in synth panels on the cheap?

Don't even get me started on SQUARE holes; I've given up on those for now.

ALSO: If I want that sexy Moog/STG/Dotcom flange or bent sides (whatever that's called), how do I do that without investing in a full-on pan & brake press? Those things are awesome, but huge and expensive. Armed with one of those, I could turn a roll of raw sheet metal into a freaking refrigerator in nothing flat, but it seems like overkill for modular front panels. I fantasize about a mini pan & brake designed just for Moog-style panels, but unless there's a clan of industrious metalworking leprechauns out there somewhere, I'm not sure such a machine exists.

Suitandtieguy, I ∗KNOW∗ you have some magic metalworking tools tucked away in your blacksmith's shop; you've hinted at them before. So, what are the cheapest tools I can get that will work?