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Waldron Punch and die alternatives
Topic Started: Aug 26 2017, 01:28 AM (336 Views)
Werwulf
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Newbie
[ * ]
Hello all,
New to the site and could use some help. I'm looking for a reasonable alternative to Waldron micro punch and die set. Anyone have any suggestions?

Dave
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dixieflyer
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Hero
[ * ]
Hi Dave, and welcome to the site. I've yet to ever acquire one, they *are* pricey, but as I understand it, there is an alternative. I probably had a link saved at one time to an alternative, but I've lost it. Hopefully, someone else will chime in here to help you out, but the original product is hard to beat.

Warren
"History is the lie we all agree upon."
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woody
Hero
[ * ]
Like Warren, I've seen others but can't remember where, maybe UMM-USA. I think Historex may have sold them too. I got my Waldron sets 20 years ago or so. I got the sub miniature set first because it had the smallest sizes. Got the standard set later. Here's the catch and why I don't remember the others, I haven't seen another set as small as the Waldron sub miniature set and I find that is the set I use most. If you find a smaller set please let me know.
Cheers,
Woody
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walrus
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Porco
[ * ]
Sorry this seller is in the UK but maybe the set is more widely available

RP Toolz 0.5mm-5mm Punch and Die Set

I have a different set to this bit it's much of a muchness.
HTH
Paul from Birmingham, UK
Now living in Barnsley.
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nsmekanik
Beast
[ * ]
Try here UMM Punch sets
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jvenables
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Hawk
[ * ]
I have often considered buying a set but have always decided they are much too expensive for the amount of use I would get from them.

I have my own alternative which works pretty well. I have a selection of different diameter brass tube, each about 5cm (2 inches) in length and with one end sharpened using fine wet/dry emery. These have served me well for many years.

I actually have two of each size, sharpened on the inside and outside surfaces respectively, which gives slightly different size discs. I only ever require circles punched from thin styrene sheet or masking tape, so brass is adequate for the task. They do require sharpening from time to time but this is dead easy - I usually just roll them between my forefinger & thumb with some emery held against the outside (or a small rolled up offcut of emery held agaist the inside).

When punching discs I just give the blunt end of the tube a light whack with a small offcut of hardwood that I keep specifically for that task. Then I insert a length of brass or aluminium rod to hold the disc down while I lift the tube off.

The steel punch & die sets are probably better for larger scale modelling and may even produce small diameter discs than I cannot achieve; my brass tube punches are limited to producing about 1/32 inch up to 1/4 inch discs. For anything smaller than that, I just carefully take a narrow slice off some thin Evergreen rod or stretched sprue and for anything larger, I run a sharp blade around the inside of a PE circle template.

To answer your question however, a few possibilities that spring to mind are:
1. UMM-USA as mentioned above. I considered buying a set from them a couple of years ago but as I recall, I thought the range of sizes (per set) was too limited and I would have to buy at least three sets to get all the sizes I would require. That said, my experience with UMM is that their tools are excellent quality.
2. Micro-Mark (www.micromark.com). I am sure they would have at least a few different punch & die sets.
3. Hobby Tools Australia (www.hobbytools.com.au). I am fairly sure I have seen punch/die sets here.
4. Red Roo Models (www.redroomodels.com). They sometimes have punch & die sets but if I recall correctly, they are the genuine Waldron article.
5. RB Productions (www.radubstore.com). They have some nifty tools but I cannot recall if they had punch & die sets in their catalogue. Possibly not, as most of their tools are PE style.
James from Brisbane, Australia
Now living in Laos

Nil illegitimi carborundum
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Danh4
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Beast
[ * ]
I bought this set http://tinyurl.com/y94aesmo from UMM and have been very happy with it.

Dan
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bernardi
Newbie
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Danh4,Aug 27 2017
01:13 PM
I bought this set http://tinyurl.com/y94aesmo from UMM and have been very happy with it.

Dan

me too, great tool ^_^
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Werwulf
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Newbie
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Thanks all for the suggestions. I've F decided to pick up a umm usa set. Looking forward to some cockpit scratch building.
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walrus
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Porco
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Cool! Don't forget to show some pics please ^_^
Paul from Birmingham, UK
Now living in Barnsley.
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