For most everything a drill press is sufficient. Forget square holes though. I just bought a drill press for $75 including tax at Harbor Freight. Table top is good enough for the MU panels. The largest hole I've had to drill so far is a 0.375" diameter. Easy peasy for a 1/2" Jacob's chuck drill.
I must disclose that I also own a machine shop with a CNC milling machine so I can always drill them more precisely there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvl0NudRw1MI'm just guessing but I believe most of the MU panels are extruded aluminum. A brake press would be handy but would probably leave bend marks and possibly stress cracks. I dunno.
You might do a search for aluminum "C" channel. Most likely these are bulk buys from a mill, but again I don't really know. Just a guess.
-David
--- In ModularSynthPanels@yahoogroups.com, "Dotcom Refugee" <kendall.jackman@...> wrote:
>
> 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:
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> 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.
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> 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)
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> c) Nice knockout punches, but the hole sizes are too big (1" or greater)
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> d) Cheap manual hole punches with shallow throat depth that would maybe work for single-width panels in flimsy gauges, but nothing bigger
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> Is there NOTHING out there that can punch standard-size holes in synth panels on the cheap?
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> Don't even get me started on SQUARE holes; I've given up on those for now.
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> 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.
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> 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?
>