CNC Punching
CNC punching drives a punch through sheet metal into a die, the block below the sheet with a matching opening, at programmed positions, cutting holes and slots and forming raised or recessed details. K-Display punches equipment panels, chassis parts, and enclosure panels from your drawing or model.
What CNC punching does to a sheet
Each stroke leaves one hole, slot, or formed detail at a programmed location, so a panel of identical vents, slots, and mounting holes comes from the same few punches. A knockout is a punched section held by small tabs so it can be removed later. Punched panels in carbon steel, stainless steel, aluminum, galvanized steel, and galvanneal leave bare, or formed, powder coated, and fitted with hardware.
Laser cutting follows any contour with no punch change, so an outline that would take many strokes on the punch comes off the laser in one pass.
The slug the punch shears out drops through the die, and the hole it leaves has the punch's shape. Every stroke with that punch leaves the same hole, anywhere on the panel.
Parts we punch
Punching suits a panel with many openings of the same size, or knockouts and raised details, in quantity and without a dedicated die. Choose laser cutting for intricate outlines and low quantities.
- Equipment panels with a field of round vent holes
- Chassis parts with mounting holes and adjustment slots punched to the component pattern
- Cabinet panels with retained knockouts for cable and conduit entry
- Rack-mount enclosure bodies with ear holes, vents, and slide holes punched in the flat
- Materials
- Carbon steel, Galvanized steel, Galvanneal, Stainless steel, Aluminum
Punching holes to the hardware size
Each hole that takes a self-clinching nut or stud, the kind pressed into the sheet so the metal grips it, is punched at the diameter that part number needs, and the panel goes from the punch straight to the hardware press.
Position the sheet
The machine locates the sheet under the punch at the first programmed position, in the material and thickness the drawing names.
Strike the openings
The punch drops through the sheet into the die at each location, and the cut-out slug falls clear through the die.
Form the details
Tools that shape instead of cut form the knockouts and the raised or recessed details in the same sheet.
Ship the punched panel
Panels leave flat and bare, or go on to forming, powder coating, hardware installation, and assembly.
Design for CNC punching
A knockout stays in the panel on small tabs of uncut metal, so a knockout drawn across a bend line or out to the panel edge loses a tab and drops out before the installer wants it. Draw each knockout with its full outline on the flat face, and we punch it to stay in place until it is knocked out.
A bend pulls on the metal beside it, and a row of holes there stretches into ovals. End a punched field short of the flange, the bent-up edge of the panel, with a solid band, and we fold the bend through solid metal.
The central holes pass air and the corner slots locate the cover, so the two patterns follow different requirements. The vent field stops at the tinted band, which runs the full width of the panel along the bend line, so no hole sits in the fold.
What to send for a CNC punching quote
- Flat drawing
- Current revision as a DXF, model, or drawing.
- Material
- Grade, thickness, and any surface requirement.
- Openings
- Hole and slot sizes, knockouts, and formed details, with tolerances on the mounting features.
- Hardware
- Part numbers of the fasteners that seat in punched holes.
- Quantity
- Order quantity, repeat schedule, and delivery target.