I found my copies of the Bob Essex MIDster Punch plans and software.
I will not circulate the construction information.  As I remembered,
the punch is driven by a PC running DOS.  Some "programming" is
required.  One of the original files carries a 1999 date.

One of the reasons I gave up construction before finishing was that
I found that I could punch faster with my foot-pedal machine than the
computerized punch could.  The MIDster was a great project, but hardly
a mainstream tool.

I put the software and scans of the Operating Instructions in a .ZIP
file on my website at

http://www.wallace-venable.name/mechanical-music/Misc_Resources/Running_the_MIDster_Punch.zip 

Wallace Venable