Best way to punch IEC panel mount connector in boxes.

GroupDIY Audio Forum

Help Support GroupDIY Audio Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Pip

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 17, 2004
Messages
634
Location
New York City
OK I have had enough. I can do all the various holes in my project boxes and they all come out great except for the venerable IEC Panel Connector! Does any one know of a solution that is available other than ordering boxes with it done by the manufacturer. Something like a Greenlee Punch or the like.

Yours Truly
Aching Hands
 
I cut them with a Dremel, once the hole for the connector's body is done I place it and mark the screw holes

Actually they're almost the easiest for me
 
dirtyhanfri said:
I cut them with a Dremel, once the hole for the connector's body is done I place it and mark the screw holes

Actually they're almost the easiest for me
What tool on the Dremel? How do you manage to cut straight? And how do you make the rounded corners? What material? Plastic, aluminium, mild steel, alloy...
How nice is it ending? Do you rear-mount or front-mount? Front-mount is easy, because it hides the ragged edges, but not always feasible.
 
Just a cut disc holder, using cutting discs from eBay, nothing fancy. I use to work with aluminum enclosures. Cutting straight in such small dimensions isn't so hard at all (IEC sockets I use are 36x27mm. IIRC).

Never tried to do rounded corners as I mount them from the front side (from outside to inside)  and the edges stay covered, anyway, easy to do by hand with a file.

Ending is as nice as you want, again, using a file you can get smooth cuts, and due to dimensions it can be done in few minutes.
 
I haven't tried it yet, but I am looking for a nibbler tool. it lets you follow irregular lines and takes sharp bites... you can get hand operated ones and air / electrical ones.

- michael
 
Dremel with reinforced cutoff wheel.  File to clean/smooth/widen.  Takes longer to mark the dimensions than to cut.  15 minutes total? 

Exterior:
 

Attachments

  • IMG_4106.JPG
    IMG_4106.JPG
    644.2 KB · Views: 251
You can buy a punch, but there are so many size variants amongst connectors, plus the punches run several hundred dollars last I looked. 

interior:
 

Attachments

  • IMG_4107.JPG
    IMG_4107.JPG
    726.5 KB · Views: 74
I scribe the outline using a home made stencil, use a step bit to drill out a hole to the edges of the outline, and a hand nibbler to cut out the rest, staying just shy of the outline, then clean up with a file.
Still a PIA, I would love to have a punch for this, too...
 
There's a lot to be said for getting a small Chinese 3020 CNC for this kind of stuff.

I tried with a zen tools works 7x7 CNC but the frame wasn't strong enough.

On a serious note - a decent hole punch is a lot of coin. ($100+ ).  A small CNC would give you much more flexibility, but I think you'd have to use aluminium.

Cheers

R
 
Rochey said:
There's a lot to be said for getting a small Chinese 3020 CNC for this kind of stuff.

I tried with a zen tools works 7x7 CNC but the frame wasn't strong enough.

On a serious note - a decent hole punch is a lot of coin. ($100+ ).  A small CNC would give you much more flexibility, but I think you'd have to use aluminium.

Cheers

R

Exactly what I did, didn't try with aluminium, still learning about machining and PCB engraving, but the main purpose is make pannels.

Just done a few pcbs and I got to say this machine pays itself, the best invest I've ever done.
 
I burned out four Dremels before I bought a Foredom flexible shaft rotary tool. I'm probably too impatient but the rotary tool is very useful for all sorts of things.

http://www.foredom.net/rotarytools.aspx
 
I have the TX motor with the regular (not square) drive. If I was to do it over I would have gotten the LX low speed, high torque motor. It would be more useful for more kinds of metal. I may swap the TX out at some point but I'm trying to tell myself that what I have is fine, which it basically is.
 
FYI, there's one for sale with 18 days remaining:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/GREENLEE-731R-1-018-X-861-25-9mm-x-21-9-mm-Rectangular-Chassis-Punch-Set-/291742396208?hash=item43ed33af30:g:YIcAAOSw1DtXFjps
 
gyraf said:
This one works well for integral-fuse IEC sockets: http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/punch-die-combinations/0542302/

I've used these for a long time now...
How do these work?
 
G-Sun said:
gyraf said:
This one works well for integral-fuse IEC sockets: http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/punch-die-combinations/0542302/

I've used these for a long time now...
How do these work?

You can get the idea here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D44z72iRUgU

 

Latest posts

Back
Top