On Sat, 6 Oct 2018 00:09:52 -0400, Michael Black
wrote:

I guess one should be making their own hole punches, even though they
don't directly have anything to do with ham radio.

Those Greenlee punches were expensive in 1972, at least when you were a
kid with limited funds. But boy, I've seen people quote prices in recent
years, and what a great deal they were in 1972.

For round holes, using chassis punches is painful. I have a heavy box
full of them, and rarely use them. Much better is a Rotex punch:
https://www.google.com/search?q=rotex+punch&tbm=isch
I have access to several when I need one.

Another approach for round holes is an annual cutter or Rotabroach:
https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=annular+cutter
These are much better than drills, especially on big holes, because
they only remove a "ring" of metal and not convert the entire hold
area into chips. The holes are clean, there's very little deburring,
they don't wander, and they're fast.

When recycling use miniboxes, rack plates, and aluminum boxes, I
sometimes have to deal with plugging extra holes. I use a metal plate
(or coin) on the inside, and fill the hole with Bondo. I sand it flat
before it hardens. Then paint and labels. As long as you don't care
about the messy look on the inside, it works nicely.

We don't roll our own capacitors,

I've made some. Finding high voltage variable caps for magnetic loop
antennas isn't easy or cheap. I've only made one so far, so I'm far
from an expert on making these tuning caps. There are plenty of
magnetic loop antenna construction articles that use home made caps.
For example:
https://qrpbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/loop-antenna-110310.pdf


--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558