Punching "Nylon" Wall Plates

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.

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

Can you heat it up till it softens?

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

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

Mikek

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

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

Go ahead and put the drill in a drill press, but don't turn on the motor. Just rotate the spindle by hand, for a clean cut.

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

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.

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

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)

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.

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.

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.

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

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.)

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:

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

Matt Roberds

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

why not just try it? wall plates are like 50 cents to replace, who who cares either way.

That's what I already decided. ...Jim Thompson

I don't know what wall plates you have, but mine are not curved other than right at the edges. Flat as a board. I'm tempted to dig one up even if I have to pull it off a wall and give it a try. Not likely to be nylon though. I'm not sure what they make the real cheapies out of, but I don't think it is nylon as they are rather brittle and nylon isn't brittle, at least in its early life.

The normal wall plate isn't nylon but nylon plates are sold as "unbreakable".