Making holes in tags is something was a finishing job that I did frequently on the ancient drilling machine I operated in the print shop where I worked many years ago. I had never seen a punch for this task other than the familiar 3-hole desktop type for a few sheets of bond paper at a time. High capacity hole punches like the FP-1XLS are far different from those familiar wedge handled dinosaurs we have all seen.
These punches while very convenient and low cost, have one caveat when creating holes in tags and card stocks. Since the punch bit is not spinning, the paper undergoes some heavy stress as it is forced down through the sheets. Card stocks will buckle or bend from the stress and depending on the colors of your tags (and how much of a neat freak you are) this may not be desirable in some situations. Additionally, punched holes can sometimes look not as clean as drilled ones. The picture above shows white, 67 Lb. Bristol card stock punched on the FP-1B punch.
The difference between these a traditional powered graphic arts drill press is mainly in the rotation of the bit – the spinning of a paper drill bit allows for a clean hole with very little stress to the paper and no buckling.
So does this rule these hole punches out for use on tags and other card stocks? No, not at all. Saving money with a punch versus a drill will have some quality trade-offs: you just need to decide how clean you need your punched sheets to be.
Do you have any tips on punching holes in tags? Please share in the comments below.
