To Punch or to Pop ?

[Charles Ward]

Hi, folks. First time here, just thought I would try out a random post to wet my feet.

Let’s talk punch boards. A joy, a chore, a stressful moment, a race to get the game set up? But as you get caught up in the smell of fresh cardboard, have you ever damaged a token or a tile when you punched it out? I have and I’m very sure I punched it out the wrong way. You see, the front of the board (where the steel die presses down on the board) has curved edges (A), while the back of the board has straight edges (B). Which side should I push on to pop the piece out? Do I push on the front side or the backside? I would love to hear your thoughts on this one.

[Chris Lockwood]

My instinct is always to push from the front (A), but there’s definitely a chance of tearing the back with boards that haven’t been punched well. Sometimes a little push from the Back just to free the paper then doing the actual punch out from the front will work, of course that takes longer.

[Charles Ward]

Hey, thanks Chris. This question turned out to be more divisive than I thought. Mainly because there is a punch-out within a punch-out. It turns out that the best solution is: Pop the coin out by pushing on the front A, and then pop out the square by pushing on the back B.