Waldron/Historex?Whatever Punch and Die users--Tips/Tricks?

What exactly is dished? Is it the actual little resulting disk that's dished? Or the punches?
And is this the problem you need tips for or something else?

I ordered a set from Micro Mark today and having never used anything of the like before I'll be interested to see what you hear here.

The punched out piece of plkastic appears dished on one side, they seem flat on the other.

I'm just looking for anyhitng in terms of a how to, cleaning, maintenance, etc. I plan to use a light oil on them, other than that, it's anyone's guess.

OK, well, I might as well start a thread that others can refer to later if they search.

The first thing I learned is that the punched out discs wil stack up under the punch as you go, they will start to squash each other and you will gets MUCH larger discs and wierd shapes.

ALthough there is a groove machined to let the discs accumulate, you need to move the pile out frequently.

I still havent received my set yet. Wonder what's taking so long.

I've had a Waldron set for about fifteen years.  I tend to punch the disc and remove it from the pin.  I've never allowed discs to pile up.  I have had great luck with this set.  I've been able to punch everything from decal material to 3mm discs.  I especially make use of it to punch out instrument panel gauges (I will drill out the panel itself) and various discs in the cockpit.  It has held up very well over the years and all punches still are very crisp and clean.  Rick

I recently got dished disc's by not sandwiching the material tightly ,I found this out by accident but got what I wanted as they were for adjustment  knobs on a carberator . I wouldnt recommend this however because it is best (with any punch/die combo) to have everything tight together.

I don't let the waste material build up on the business end of the punch, either.  One tap, punch out the disk, remove it, and set up for the next punch.

Well, "waste" is a misnomer, of course.

I have MicroMark's set, and it works pretty well.  The only drawback is that it came with no markings or calibrations, I've had to take measurements and mark the punches and the die myself.

Just a note on this old posting. If you live anywhere near the ocean store the metal parts completely immersed in oil, mineral oil woks best. I live on a tropical Island in the Philippines and put my set in motor oil in a baggie only to find the motor oil broke down over time and the parts became exposed and rusted. took me four hours to restore them and the three smallest punches had to be replaced which I did by turning out my own on a jewellers lathe. Lesson learned.