Best way to punch IEC panel mount connector in boxes.

[Pip]

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

 

[dirtyhanfri]

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

 

[abbey road d enfer]

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.

 

[dirtyhanfri]

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.

 

[abbey road d enfer]

OK, should be useful to members.

 

[audiomixer]

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

 

[emrr]

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

Exterior:

 

[emrr]

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:

 

[nielsk]

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...

 

[Rochey]

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

 

[gyraf]

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...

Jakob E.

 

[dirtyhanfri]

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.

 

[Gold]

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

 

[Andy Peters]

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

Looks great, and you can even do horse dentistry!

 

[Gold]

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.

 

[leadbreath]

rectangular chassis punch as previously mentioned, you'll never look back...

 

[GasJunkie_Jabz]

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

 

[G-Sun]

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?

 

[warpie]

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

 

[G-Sun]

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

Thanks!