Is there a tool maker that makes a tool similar to a punch that would cut the square holes in the gratings contained in kits. I don't want to create a new way of doing things but it would be nice to take the grating in the kits and be able to punch out the holes in the gratings rather than using a pin vise and swiss file to square the round hole. Thanks.
Kurt Konrath
Kurt Konrath
Are you talking about premade plastic grating? None that I know of, and for wood most are made from assembled strips of notched wood so the squares are there!
Kurt. My Bad....I'm talking about a wood kit. On my Billing Boats Golden Hind, there are a number of gratings laser printed on a wood sheet that's 3/16 inch thick. Pretty typical for Billing Boats. To keep the gratings to scale I use the kit supplied grating, use my pin vise to hand drill out each hole and then lightly swiss file each hole square. It's not that bad but very time consuming. And the grating kits come with wood that's too narrow and won't match the scale which on my Golden Hind is 1:50 scale. I suppose I could run to Hobby Lobby (we don't have any model shops near us) and purchase some wood sticks the correct diameter and hand make them to fit. Thanks for the response.
I don't think there is such a tool as it would take a considerable amount of pressure to press the "die". Then another option is to purchase already made gratings from Model Expo, then lastly another way is to scratch make your own gratings of which there have been several ways of doing this - but in this case you would have to have either a Mill or a Table Saw to accomplish.
see this link
https://modelexpo-online.com/search.asp?keyword=gratings
see this link
https://modelexpo-online.com/search.asp?keyword=gratings
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I fear, no matter what approach you take, this aspect of ship modelmaking is a time sink. Tedium and repetition are endemic to the hobby. 
Do you have any music, audio books or podcasts you're partial too?
Pete
Do you have any music, audio books or podcasts you're partial too?Pete
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Perhaps you could drill holes that have a diameter equal to the width of the desired square. Then you could use a small, straight-blade chisel to cut the straight lined from corner to corner. If you can't find a chisel of the right width, you can make one out of an old fashioned "Cut Nail." I made one for the rabbit in the keel of my model lobster boat, with a width of 5/64".
You can make them using the same techniques used to cut finger joints in wood working. Use a sled with a pin to set the spacing. Then rip the notched stock into thin strips.
Some pictures to illustrate a method to making your own gratings. As I mentioned, build a sled. This can be from scrap. You need a runner on the bottom to go into the miter slot. Then determine the stock sizes based on the scale you want to achieve. the thickness of the grating pieces, the spacing of the notches and of course, the wood you want to use. The depth of cut of the notches should be 1/2 of the total grating thickness. I am including these here for your perusal and to offer an idea as to how you might want to proceed. Also keep in mind the notch widths is equal to the stock widths and the kerf width is managed by the saw blade width. You may even go to a bigger, thicker blade for the notches. I guess you may even use a dado setup to achieve the results you might be looking for.
Phil, thanks for the detail and photos on making gratings. Very helpful! Magic Mike