Festool sandpaper punch

[afish]

Well, I have been threatening to make this for awhile. Today was the day.  If you have read the other posts about 3m cubitron sandpaper you will know it is the best sandpaper out there.  Not just my opinion.  The problem is on the 125pads the dust collection holes dont align good at all with festool sanders. Actually its kind of bad.  The 150 has a lot more holes so its less of an issue. The dust collection performance suffers considerably with the 125.  My main reason for buying Festool sanders is the dust extraction but I love the 3m cubitron film backed paper too.  I was hopeful when the new 3m mesh came out but after trying some the durability just wasnt there like the film backed discs. 

So, I made this from some scrap I had.  I wanted something that would quickly punch out all the holes accurately and not require me to try and lay an old disc over a new one and punch each hole one by one.  I was a little worried since the 3m film is pretty tough and trying to do all 9 holes at once might cause issues.  Im happy to report that is NOT the case.  A couple whacks with a rubber mallet and it goes right through. Leaving nice clean perfectly placed holes. I already did some sanding and the dust collection is night and day improved.   

 

[Packard]

What did you use for the punches?  I would have thought you would have used drill rod.  It obviously works.

 

[ChuckM]

Simple but clever.

 

[Bob D.]

Nice. Looks like steel tubing with a inside bevel. Should make a clean cut.

Reminds me of my set of gaskets cutters. They are shaped the same
way but have a T handle so you can manually twist them to cut holes
in thin paper gasket material like that on carburetors.

 

[afish]

Its just mild steel tube.  I originally thought about about some hardened shaft but didn't want to deal with cutting it or sharpening it when needed. Then the voice in my head kept saying KISS.  I figured 99% of the paper punches most manufactures include with their sanders are either plastic or stamped steel at best. This was meant to be a prototype but it works so well I dont think I will be changing anything unless something pops up.  The test discs I did were all on 80 grit which is the toughest to punch too. The finer grits should be even easier to punch.

The beauty of the way I did it is its easy to re-sharpen if needed.  I just turn it over and run a counter sink over the tips and it gives a nice sharp edge. Originally I was going to cut the tube on an angle but I heard that voice again and tried square cuts first.  If I had cut it at an angle I wouldn't be able to re-sharpen easily either.  The tube only sticks out approx. 5/8 so not much chance of it bending but if it did its easy to replace. They are just a press fit no glue or anything. I would just need to unscrew the cap and tap out the bad one and tap back in the new tube.  I got what should be a lifetime supply of the tube for $10 so its also one of my favorite things, "economical". 

 

[afish]

Nice. Looks like steel tubing with a inside bevel. Should make a clean cut.

Reminds me of my set of gaskets cutters. They are shaped the same
way but have a T handle so you can manually twist them to cut holes
in thin paper gasket material like that on carburetors.

Correct, A zero flute counter sink chamfers the ID and provides a nice sharp edge lickity split.

 

[afish]

I didnt take a picture but the male part of the punch has a 3/4 cap that you can see in the photos.  I mortised in a penny behind each tube to provide some solid backing so the back side of the tube wouldnt cut into the cap.  Thats why the top is 2 pieces.  I wasnt sure how hard it was going to be to punch.  Probably could do without the pennies but its cheap insurance at only 9 cents plus who uses pennies anymore anyways.  On a side note I never realized a penny is exactly .750 right down to the thousandth.   

 

[Steve1]

Very nice.

 

[ToolGuy42]

Awesome build!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Dynamo]

Wow, this is just what I was looking for! Wanted to recreate your punch tool myself. Newb at at CNC, had some questions:

Clearance: What clearance did you use between the wooden top and bottom parts of the tool? What about between the steel punches and the holes? Thinking it needs just enough so that the tool slides smoothly but not so much that the punch and die can be misaligned.

How many 80 grit sanding discs can you punch at once?

I go through a lot of sanding discs every day sanding auto body so I'm looking to punch as many at a time as I can get away with.
Thanks!

 

[luvmytoolz]

[member=80849]Dynamo[/member]

If you go through so many discs, have you tried any of the mesh discs? For auto body work I think they might be extremely useful for you as they won't clog up like normal discs?

 

[Steve1]

I made a similar punch after seeing this thread.
Holes are 12mm, which is a little big, but I had 12mm tubing for the punches.
But I have not been using it recently.  I find the holes in the factory cubitron are sufficient for clearing the dust. 

 

[Packard]

A couple of observations:

1.  You will likely get longer wear from your “punches” if you have the Velcro side up.  Having the abrasive side up will add to the wear on the sharpened edges.

2.  They sell replacement punch tubes for leather.  These are high carbon steel items.  But they cut against an anvil. The scrap gets pushed up into the tube and exits from the top.  So after some use it would have to be unscrewed and cleared of the scrap.
https://www.google.com/search?q=lea... tubes&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1-m

3.  Finally, C1040 - C1065 grade of steel tubing is available, and is used by makers of steel rule dies.  You can probably find a steel rule die company that will supply you with pieces to your specifications and that are hardened.  The last two digits in the steel type represents the carbon content.  C1040 is the minimum you want to harden for cutting.  C1065 would be preferred.  Anything between those grades would do fine and would last a whole lot longer that the mild steel you are using.

A simpler (but slower) method would be to make a template which you would place over the sanding disc.  There would be openings in the template that would guide a single hole leather punch.  You could probably stack 2 or 3 discs to perforate at one time.

Lee Valley sells nice ones.  Harbor Freight has economy versions. 

 

[Dynamo]

[member=80849]Dynamo[/member]

If you go through so many discs, have you tried any of the mesh discs? For auto body work I think they might be extremely useful for you as they won't clog up like normal discs?

They would be, but Unfortunately, I've found mesh ends up fraying and don't last as long as normal sanding discs. When it frays it can mess up surface finish so that's another con

 

[luvmytoolz]

[member=80849]Dynamo[/member]

If you go through so many discs, have you tried any of the mesh discs? For auto body work I think they might be extremely useful for you as they won't clog up like normal discs?

They would be, but Unfortunately, I've found mesh ends up fraying and don't last as long as normal sanding discs. When it frays it can mess up surface finish so that's another con

The 3M frays like mad, but if you haven't tried it the Festool Granat Net hold their shape really well.