Building an acme hole punch

[andrew sharp]

Hello everyone my dad and I are planning on making a acme hole punch in his machine shop this winter.Has anyone else built one? If so can you give a little insight into the process? Any suggestions would be great thank you. I am going to post up pictures of the work in progress, In my opinion hole punches cost an arm and a leg not to mention the cost of pre punched papper. This is hopefully one way of cutting the costs.

[Rodney]

I'll be very interested in what you come up with.

I've variously toyed with that idea but don't have access to a machine shop so the closest I've come is trying to use a standard hole punch (Hey, they used that and even more primitive approaches back in the day!)

Here's where I am in my current way of thinking with regard to building my own hole punch which I still think would be a fun endeavor: While I think the education alone will be worth the effort I think for many it'd save them money/time just to save up the pennies and purchase a commercial hole punch. Those who manufacture them presumably already know what they are making.

[lavallelee]

I hope you guys do this and post how online. I agree that they are expensive, it would be a lot cheaper to have a hole puncher. Good luck!

[OwenWelsh]

I'm interested in the progress of this hole puncher. I too wanted to make my own a few years ago, but I finally broke down a few years ago and bought a used one. It's worth having!

[DNethery]

Good luck on the project . Keep notes and document the process with photos. I'd love to see how it turns out .

Whenever this topic comes up we all bemoan the fact that a professional Acme hole punch is so expensive (and they are) but it always makes me wonder WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL STUDIO HOLE PUNCHERS (including the Oxberry ones on the east coast) ? There must be hundreds sitting around gathering dust in some storage closet or maybe hauled off to the scrap yard (I hope not). There's no good reason that you couldn't use Oxberry pegs , if you're just working on your own projects . I'd bet if someone could find old Oxberry discs, peg bars, and hole punches they'd be cheap , because what little hand-drawn on paper animation still exists is done on the world industry standard Acme peg system . But Oxberry was a good peg system, maybe better in a way (because the more rounded pegs don't nick your wrists the way the oblong Acme pegs can do sometimes) . We had Oxberry pegs at Sheridan College when I was there, but Sheridan switched over to Acme pegs because that's what most of the industry uses.

It used to be that during the hand-drawn era any studio , large or small , had their own hole punchers . Even local TV stations that had to do occasional animated graphics would have their own hole punches, along with an animation camera stand. And schools that had an animation program had hole punchers, too. Now with a lot of studios and schools having shifted to CG or to paperless production methods for hand-drawn I'm surprised that more of these punches haven't surfaced . Or maybe they did surface about 10 - 12 years ago during the time when it was generally perceived that hand-drawn animation was dying , and maybe some people picked them up real cheap back then , along with discs , layout tables, pencil test stands, etc. But I still suspect there must be a lot of that type of animation equipment equipment still out there, just sitting on a shelf or in some storage space. I hate to think they were thrown out for scrap metal.

[andrew sharp]

Thankyou for the encouragement. I know there will be a lot of trial and error but it is the challenge that keeps things interesting. :) I will post up some pictures this weekend of the shop and tools we will be using:)

[arif]

we made peg bar here in BD..we used these peg bar in the production also....no problem at all......we made light box..all local :D

[andrew sharp]

Right on Arif ,can you maybe show me some photos it might give me some ideas :)

[andrew sharp]

Some photos of some of the machines we will use to build the punch
My Dads homemade forge, metal lathe, and drill press.Let us not forget the cartoon anvil hopefully it doesnt end up on my head
http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc396/andrew_sharp1/IMG_0892.jpg
http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc396/andrew_sharp1/IMG_0891.jpg
http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc396/andrew_sharp1/IMG_0890.jpg

[andrew sharp]

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc396/andrew_sharp1/IMG_0888.jpg
http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc396/andrew_sharp1/IMG_0889.jpg

[arif]

wow...thats is huge arrangement Andrew!!...

ahhah..i don't have any idea how we made it. I mean, we have original per bar and we call a local carpenter and asked if he would make same like this....so he made for us with local technology...it is not precise looking and its have weight to use...but, it works at least.:)

[Joe]

Andrew,

I think it can be done as my punch was hand made a few years ago. It does work quite well still. Here are some photos that may help. Feel free to ask for info at the company that built it if you want.

Not sure if the pictures went up, I am sure they are too big, will try later and resize or would be happy to email them.

Sun, 7.28PM, I tried to upload resized jpegs but seem to have exceeded my quota from the earlier attempt. All jpegs are now less than 19k. Per email though or some other way I could send the full size ones.

Joe Root

[andrew sharp]

Thanks Arif , Thanks Joe it takes a while for photos to upload unless you use an image hosting site like photobucket. Looking forward to seeing them thanks alot:)

[OwenWelsh]

Thanks for posting those photos Andrew. It's exciting that you are working on this!:)

[Joe]

Andrew

I tried again to upload just one jpeg but again I get an error that I have exceeded my upload limit. I'm OK with email for you or others but all the same it would be nice top get the pictures on the forum.

It will help take some of the mystery of these things away. They do cost a lot but it is a good option to have. I do like real animation paper but for the moment need the freedom to use simple copy paper from staples 92 bright, 20 lb even at 8/12 by 11.

Joe Root
jranim@aol.com

[OwenWelsh]

Andrew

I tried again to upload just one jpeg but again I get an error that I have exceeded my upload limit. I'm OK with email for you or others but all the same it would be nice top get the pictures on the forum.

It will help take some of the mystery of these things away. They do cost a lot but it is a good option to have. I do like real animation paper but for the moment need the freedom to use simple copy paper from staples 92 bright, 20 lb even at 8/12 by 11.

Joe Root
jranim@aol.com

Joe have you tried uploading your photos to photobucket? That's how most of us add our photos to the forum. Once they are uploaded, just copy the IMG codes and paste them in your next post.

[Joe]

Owen,

I may give that a try tomorrow. I have to do some other things now. I do want Andrew to see them as my punch was machined by hand. Maybe this quota thing will reset after the end of the month this evening. I will do photobucket then or maybe one other place by then and get the pictures or links up.

Thanks,
Joe Root

[andrew sharp]

Hi Joe thanks I will message you with my email.

[andrew sharp]

First off I would like to thank Joe for sending me the photos of his punch This will help a ton.
We got in the high density steel we ordered and the cutting blades for the punch. http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc396/andrew_sharp1/a.jpg
My dad and I spent a bit of time sanding them down so they are not so dirty which could be a problem with clean paper.
http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc396/andrew_sharp1/c.jpg
http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc396/andrew_sharp1/b.jpg
We might put a bit of varnish on it to keep a clean surface.
http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc396/andrew_sharp1/e.jpg

[andrew sharp]

Hello these are the images of Joes punch. These photos will be a great help in understanding the mechanisms and ideas on how to build a working punch. I talked with Joe and asked him if it would be ok to post these images. He said he was happy to share them with everyone in hopes that it will help others who wish to build a punch, Thankyou Joe.
http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc396/andrew_sharp1/10-30-20117-22-09PM.jpg
http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc396/andrew_sharp1/115_0240.jpg
http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc396/andrew_sharp1/115_0246.jpg
http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc396/andrew_sharp1/115_0247.jpg

[andrew sharp]

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc396/andrew_sharp1/115_0248.jpg
http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc396/andrew_sharp1/115_0249.jpg
http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc396/andrew_sharp1/115_0251.jpg

[andrew sharp]

I will write up more about the process tonight when i get home these are photos of the progress from my dad's shop.
http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc396/andrew_sharp1/IMG_0924.jpg
http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc396/andrew_sharp1/IMG_0927.jpg
http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc396/andrew_sharp1/IMG_0928.jpg
http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc396/andrew_sharp1/IMG_0933.jpg

[andrew sharp]

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc396/andrew_sharp1/IMG_0934.jpg
http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc396/andrew_sharp1/IMG_0936.jpg
http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc396/andrew_sharp1/IMG_0939.jpg
http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc396/andrew_sharp1/IMG_0940.jpg

[OwenWelsh]

Looks like great progress!

[Tanya]

Wow Andrew, that looks like it's coming along well. It's so cool that you're actually making one yourself. Can't wait to see more progress!

[andrew sharp]

Thankyouy Owen and Tanya its slow going but its getting there thanks in big part to my dad we visit him on the weekends so it is going to be a long project :)