All About Pocket Knives

What brand of punches have you had best luck with? I have tried proto, craftsman, dasco, starrett etc. The higher end ones snap the lower end ones bend. Craftsman replaces them when they break but the nearest store is 45 min away and I cannot afford to be without punches until my next run into town. I bought a $60 set of starrett punches and the 1/16" and 3/32" punches both snapped within a month. I tried to warranty them through starrett but they said I have to go through the distributor which means money out of pocket for return shipping. The 1/16" punches are the ones I have the most trouble out of because they are so thin. Even the ones that bend end up snapping after so many straightenings.

I have a Sears across town from me, about a 20 minute drive one way, so I use Craftsman pin punches.
I probably have a half dozen 1/16" pin punches and when I get down to only having 1 or 2 unbroken ones, I stick the broken ones in my truck for the next time I am on that side of town.

That is the best way I have figured out how to deal with broken 1/16" pin punches.

This reminded me to check my pin punches; I have more than I thought.
I have eight 1/16" pin punches of which 7 are Craftsman. Five of them are broken so I guess it is time to stick the broken ones in the truck so I have them with me next time I am across town.

Thanks for the reminder Kaleb.

I too have had the same problem. Tried a scriber with tungsten tip, and it works great for
those scale to cover pins, as well as starting those 1/16" pins. The only thing you have to do
is lose the magnet on the opposite end. Once the pin is started you can use a punch with much
less stress to the shaft. Hope it helps!
Phin

Question.. are pin punches the tool you use to set or mark the place where the pins will be installed or placed on the handles? And are there automatic (spring loaded punches} that when a small amount of pressure is applied will mark the spot or scribe the place the pins will be placed?

no, pin punches are what you use to punch the pins out of the knife with. what you speak of is a center punch and yes there are "automatic" varieties of those but I have never used them

My small diameter pin punches are all shop-made. Handles are either re-purposed nail sets or whatever scrap came to hand when I couldn't find the punch I needed. After any needed annealing (nailsets are hardened, so need to be annealed--I throw them in the wood stove overnight), the handle stock gets centered under the drill press. A bit to match the intended size of the punch is used to drill a hole about 3/4" deep, then the hole is lightly countersunk (just enough to break the edge).

The "punch" is made from drill rod. A 36" piece of 1/16" O-1 drill rod, for example, can be purchased via Amazon for about $10. Using a cutoff wheel in the Dremel, I cut a few pieces about 1 1/2" long (3/4" goes into the handle, with 3/4" protruding). Square one end of the piece, and round the other.

In a dimly-lit room, slowly heat the pieces of drill rod through red, to cherry red. Just hotter than cherry red, the color will suddenly jump to a bright orange. This is the point where you want to quench the drill rod in oil--plunge it STRAIGHT DOWN into the oil. After you do a batch, strain them out of the oil and blast them off with brake cleaner to remove the oil. At this point, those little pins are glass-hard; if you drop them on a concrete floor they will usually shatter.

The next step is to anneal them. I use a cheap toaster oven from Goodwill, and use a thermometer to get a temp of 450 degrees. Once the oven is up to temp, wrap the pins together in aluminum foil and set it on the oven rack for 10 minutes or so. Take the package out and lay it on a concrete floor until cool. Polish the pins with a scotchbrite pad followed by coarse polishing compound on a Dremel buffing wheel.

After lightly oiling the pins, tap the rounded end into the handle. All done.
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I prefer O-1 for this because other basic steels (W-1, for example) tend to be a bit more-prone to cracking during rough-and-ready heat treatment like this. O-1 has worked well for me over the years.

Punches often bend or break when the tip is too long. I like to have them just long enough for a working range of about 1/4"-3/8". If I need to move a pin 3/4", I start with a short punch and move to a longer one.

If the punches break, they are usually too hard. Try annealing them a bit further, to maybe 500 degrees (you can do this with an assembled punch). On the other hand, if they bend, they are too soft--pull the drill-rod component from the handle and make a new one, but anneal it to 400 degrees. Eventually, you will get figured out the temps that work for you, with your equipment.

Great answer, Coffeecup! I'm gonna try it. I've broken or bent way too many punches, gittin' tired of buying 'em.