Punches
Punches are small tools driven with a hammer, e.g. in order to leave a mark or a hole.
Center Punches
| ToolInfoBox Center Punch | |
|---|---|
| |
| Synonyms: | DE: Körner |
| Type: | hand tool |
| Material: | metal, wood, plastic |
| Used with: | hammers |
| Location: | above drilling table |
| Access Requirements: | read this section |
If you want to mark something harder than the listed materials (such as stone or concrete), just use a cheap nail instead of this tool!
Can be re-sharpened on a bench grinder.
To precisely mark round stock, we could think about making a centering bell which would automatically align the center punch. [1]
Hole Punches
| ToolInfoBox Hole Punches | |
|---|---|
| |
| Synonyms: | leather punches, round punches, drive punches; DE: Locheisen, Ausschlageisen, Stanzeisen |
| Type: | hand tool |
| Material: | fabric, leather, paper, foam rubber |
| Used with: | non-metal hammers or mallets; some kind of soft support under the workpiece |
| Location: | wood workshop (hand tool area) |
| Access Requirements: | read this section |
| Similar (More or Less): | punch pliers |
For smaller holes, see punch pliers. For the common office tool, see two-hole punch.
As seen towards the end of a very interesting lamp build on YouTube, chucking a hole punch into a drill may actually work pretty well to cut wooden plugs (verification needed)!
Available sizes:
- 2.5 mm
- 3 mm
- 4 mm
- 5 mm
- 6 mm
- 7 mm
- 8 mm
- 9 mm
- 10 mm
Drift Punches
| ToolInfoBox Drift Punch | |
|---|---|
| |
| Synonyms: | DE: Durchtreiber, Nageltreiber, Durchschlag |
| Type: | hand tool |
| Material: | nails |
| Used with: | hammers |
| Location: | above drilling table |
| Access Requirements: | read this section |
| Similar (More or Less): | pin punch |
Use this punch to align drilled pieces, e.g. for riveting, or to drive nails in a little deeper without leaving ugly hammer marks. There are also varieties with a cupped end for the nail head to disappear into, but we just have a simple straight one.
Also useful for removing nail fragments from scrap wood!
Number & Letter Punches
| ToolInfoBox Number & Letter Punches | |
|---|---|
| |
| Synonyms: | number & letter punch engravers, alphabet punches; DE: Schlagstempel, Schlagzahlen & Schlagbuchstaben, Schlagziffern & Schlaglettern |
| Type: | hand tool |
| Material: | metals, leather, perhaps others |
| Used with: | hammers |
| Location: | metal workshop |
| Access Requirements: | read this section |
| Similar (More or Less): | number & letter stamps |
If you are unsure whether your material is malleable enough, please try a center punch before the numbers and letters - the center punch is easily re-sharpened in case the material is too hard, but these punches could be ruined!
After punching, the pushed out metal should be removed with a file or sandpaper. [2]
Besides the set that is already shared, Lukas has a 36-piece set of number & letter punches includes each letter from A-Z, the "&" symbol and the numbers 0-8 ("6" is the same as "9"). The characters are 4 mm high.
Alignment Jig
It can be difficult to put all symbols on a straight line and keep an even distance - so if you're going to stamp something important, it may be worth making a more or less sophisticated jig in advance!
