Punching "Nylon" Wall Plates

I have some blank wall outlet cover plates, claiming to be "nylon".

Do you think I could punch a hole thru one of these with a chassis punch, or is it likely to shatter? ...Jim Thompson

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| James E.Thompson                                 |    mens     | 
| Analog Innovations                               |     et      | 
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Reply to
Jim Thompson
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I think "tear" and/or deform are more likely.

Note that you can find wall plates for damn near any sort of connector -- even things like DB25's!

OTOH, if you want it to be "pale chartreuse" you may be SOL.

They're cheap (nylon ones). Try it and see (if your punches are nice and sharp/clean). Just take it slow so the punch can *ease* through the "plastic" instead of having to force it aside.

Reply to
Don Y

"Jim Thompson" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

Can you heat it up till it softens?

Reply to
Tom Miller

I would be causes about that. If the nylon is fresh you'll be able to do that because it should be soft however, nylon gets brittle over time..

For the cleanest holes in town in a plate cover, use the two mounting hole screws to mount against a block of wood and use a hole saw, the size you need, preferably in a drill press.

applying pressure to the plate out of context will most likely crack it, because it is most likely kind of hard by now.

Jamie

Reply to
Maynard A. Philbrook Jr.

Second resort, soldering iron, exacto and a round/square file.

Mikek

Reply to
amdx

It is hard to beat a sharp drill. I suppose you want a larger hole than you have a drill for?

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Rick
Reply to
rickman

I have a nice hand reamer that can get me up to ~1/2", but I need 3/4" this time. I may just have to hand file my way :-( ...Jim Thompson

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| James E.Thompson                                 |    mens     | 
| Analog Innovations                               |     et      | 
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Reply to
Jim Thompson

Hole saws are pretty cheap if you are only doing wood or plastic.

Reply to
Rheilly Phoull

3/4" isn't a big hole but you're probably right, a hole saw is probably the easiest with the lowest probability of a problem. For wood, I'd use a Forstner bit.
Reply to
krw

A Step drill would be handy.

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Cheers

Reply to
Martin Riddle

Most nylons are flexible and are very amenable to being drilled or punched; slightly compressible.

Reply to
Robert Baer

I don't get it. 3/4 inch should be a flat bit. I've had one forever and it's not like I have tons of tools. They are what, $2? They cut pretty clean holes, especially when new and still sharp. They have a blade on the edges that cut like a hole saw. If the plastic is not too thick the bulk of the blade won't even be used. I'm not sure if it would be best to cut from the nice side down or the ugly side up... I suppose you could do a bit of both and meet in the middle to minimize the chance of splitting out. Certainly use a backing block no matter what.

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Rick
Reply to
rickman

The problem with most drills will be one of heating. The nylon/plastic wants to flow (or chip -- e.g., the pilot) instead of being cut cleanly.

I'd be tempted to try a brace with a 3/4 bit -- primarily because of the GREATLY reduced (:>) RPM's. If you're only doing one (or a dozen), there's very little time to be saved with a faster drill (esp if there is substantial rework/cleanup required).

I had to make some "recessed RJ45" wall plates (i.e., so I could plug an umbilicus into the wall plate and hide the service loop

*in* that recess). I chose a Dremel *expecting* to remove a lot of material (I married two different wall plates to get the result I wanted).

But, it was a real problem keeping the material from "being semi-liquid" (which would have been unsightly to clean up had my operations been on the exposed side of the plate)

Reply to
Don Y

That won't work in thin plastic, especially if it's soft. Once it breaks through at one point, it basically tears the rest apart.

Reply to
Clifford Heath

I think you are smoking dope with this one. I have drilled plastic plenty of times with no problem from heating. Usually I get very nice curlies coming up similar to drilling metal which *will* heat up.

You've never heard of a variable speed drill???

A Dremel abrasive tool is not a drill bit. Of course that will heat up.

BTW, I bought the Dremel drill press in spite of the fact that it has plastic parts. It is a piece of crap. When you pull the head down the drill bit moves all over the place.

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Rick
Reply to
rickman

That's called using finesse. That is why I suggested that it be drilled from both sides. The flat part of the blade will never touch the material. The edge blades will cut through the outer circle before that happens. I've ended up with a small disk in my hand nearly every time I've drilled through plywood with one of these.

Oh, and Nylon is seldom soft. It is a hard plastic and rather tough. I guess that is why they can make fine stockings out of it.

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Rick
Reply to
rickman

If you can flex the plate noticeably with two hands, it *might* work. If you can't, it'll probably shatter.

[in a later message]

If you can live with 7/8" and steel, they are an off-the-shelf item at the hardware store. (The 1/2" is a trade size for conduit; the actual hole is bigger.)

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Hubbell has some in plastic with an 0.625" hole, but you might have to go to the electrical supply: NP737AL, NP737, NP737I, NP737W in almond, brown, ivory, and white respectively. They also make some metal ones with a single 0.875" hole for a key switch: SS12RKL and SS12RKLM. In their custom line, 430 has a single 0.755" hole and 431 has two. All of this stuff is in:

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Standard disclaimers apply; I don't get money or other consideration from any companies mentioned.

Matt Roberds

Reply to
mroberds

Yes, you can get away with that sometimes. Not often on curved thin sheets though, like the front of a wall plate often is.

Reply to
Clifford Heath

I like the hole saw idea. A comment not related to nylon. But if you are machining plexiglass you'll discover that it comes in two "flavors" cast an d extruded. You can machine the cast stuff, while the extruded tends to cr ack and shatter... built in stresses or something.

George H.

Reply to
George Herold

That would be my approach as well, but with one addition: Keep the workpiece cool by flooding with water. The problem when drilling plastic is that the plastic melts, and gums things up. Water keeps things cool.

Joe Gwinn

Reply to
Joe Gwinn

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