So I went to Lowe's. I found a sheet of aluminum there the same thickness as the steel plate from an alps board for $10. Pretty expensive for a raw sheet of metal. Now all I have to do is to figure out how to punch holes in it, and round the edges. The steel plates were either too thick, or too thin. I think the aluminum sheet should be super relatively easy to punch holes in than steel.
The custom plate would be so expensive because they probably need a tool to punch all the holes at once. Which would be kind of complex.
For a DIY solution using a spindle press it could look like this for ex.:
Show Image
Has to be made from a steel that can be hardened.
So basically you're saying I need two square hardened steel cubes, that I can't get in the first place. lol I actually have a lot of chisels from stone sculpting that could probably be diamond sharpened into the square shape, but no idea where I'd get the part with the hole in it.
So assuming I do each hole by hand, and can actually line them up precisely, it's 63 or 64 holes. That means if each one takes me a minute to line up and punch it'll take me an hour to do each metal plate, that's pretty sucky.
What acid eats aluminum? lol
http://www.scifun.org/CHEMWEEK/Aluminum/ALUMINUM.html"Therefore, aluminum will dissolve in hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide solutions."
roflol That might be a way, but the holes might not be precise enough....
Hydrocloric acid is fairly common isn't it?
Oh right it's in our stomachs.
"With major production starting in the Industrial Revolution, hydrochloric acid is used in the chemical industry as a chemical reagent in the large-scale production of vinyl chloride for PVC plastic, and MDI/TDI for polyurethane. It has numerous smaller-scale applications, including household cleaning, production of gelatin and other food additives, descaling, and leather processing. About 20 million metric tons of hydrochloric acid are produced annually."
Oh darn it's a controlled substance since people use it to produce Meth and junk...darnit.
Durham, NC is 3 hours away from me, that actually might be an option. Do they have day memberships? lol
http://www.icctool.com/webdoc20.htmlhttp://cgi.ebay.com/SQUARE-STAR-DECORATIVE-JEWELRY-STAMP-PRESS-DIE-SET-TOOL-/360258218813?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53e1102b3d