Putting Holes in shim stock ?

[Ulma Doctor]

a hand held paper punch works too on thin materials

 

[T Bredehoft]

In my working life I cut a lot of shim washers with the plastic topped unit above, 1/4 ID 1/2 OD. You gotta be careful though, if you hit the punch off-center it will crack the plastic.

 

[Gauge12man]

Tin snips work fine. Just cut a u-shaped opening & slide it around the bolt & under the machine.

 

[jrkorman]

Granted Stefan goes the extra KM.

 

[Firestopper]

Gasket punch like Randy suggested works well using a hard wood backer or softer aluminum.
My retired tool and die maker neighbor gave me one he made back in the early 50's that works well.

 

[Tim9]

Depends on how many you want to make, but here is a video by Joe.

David

Yea David, Joe Pieczynski's YouTube Channel is one of my favorites. He is passing on some real great tips and methods in his videos.

 

[NortonDommi]

Depends on how thin and what size. Hand punches are great for small holes, larger holes small shears,(tin snips), like jewelers use are good and step drills give an accurate clean hole, easy to trim accurately to a specific width if mark out first.

 

[ultrapan]

I watched the Stephan video mentioned above .I made the pieces from cold rolled round and flat. My shims are made from .004 and .006 shim stock. the mandrel was held in the mill collet and the flat piece was held in the vise.They are for a vintage Harley transmission . I am quite happy with the results