sonnyboone Report post Posted October 4, 2020 Hi There! I thought I'd share this little Sunday morning tool project. I made a test one of these before, but thought I'd try some adjustments. I see that some people are into making their own tools so I thought this might be interesting. Since the punches I bought are either too small or too big in needed this one. I used 3/16 diameter 01 precision ground tool steel. I have a little Unimat lathe. It's a bit long in the tooth but you can get a true hole... most of the time. This is the most important part because if the hole isn't true the edge will be lopsided when you sharpen it. My test punch was afflicted by this. The hole diameter is 1/16th. The bit is carbide but good quality HSS works fine. Some shaping. I have a little Sherline mill so I used that to cut the slot for the leather bits to clear. You could grind this out too with a dremel or foredom I imagine. More shaping... I just used a map gas torch to heat treat. You can test if it's hot enough to quench with a magnet. 01 isn't attracted by a magnet when it's ready to quench. You don't want to over heat though or you'll burn out the carbon and make a mess of the edge holding properties. If the metal is sparking it's way too hot. The edge is quite thin at this point so I heat just behind it. I don't use the magnet technique anymore because I can guestimate the color at which to quench. They call it "dull cherry" but I find that misleading. The magnet is a good learning tool if you're unsure. You could do this in a kiln like an Evenheat knife making kiln to get optimal results but sometimes "quick and dirty" will do the job. I quenched in a beer can with warm veg oil. Is it too early for a beer? I think not. You can test the hardness by running a file on the metal. If it skates on the surface and doesn't grab it's hard. O1 when oil quenched like this is around 60-62 ish HRC. The proper thing to do is temper the steel at this point which relieves the stress from the quench. For little things like this that are only hardened at the tip I don't bother. The tool seems tough enough for me and I haven't had any problems with my test piece. If I heat treated it all the way to the end of the rod, was striking this with a steel hammer, or maybe hammering this into a harder material like hardwood, I'd more inclined to temper to make sure that the shaft or tip wouldn't break. Lastly I sharpened with sand paper on the lathe starting at 150 up to 1000 grit, again making sure that the work piece was true in the lathe to avoid a lopsided cutting edge. If the punch is sharp it'll still go through easy but it's harder to keep a lopsided edge perpendicular to the leather surface. It also makes it annoying to sharpen when it gets dull. Personally I found that a domed, convex edge, rather than a straight angle works best on my punches for both the look of the hole and the longevity of the sharpness. And some test holes through 12 oz tooling and 2-3 oz veg I'm planning on making a groover and an edger next. Just waiting for some steel and handles (which this punch will get). If people find this interesting or useful I'll post up! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fredk Report post Posted October 4, 2020 Nicely made Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sonnyboone Report post Posted October 4, 2020 11 minutes ago, fredk said: Nicely made Thanks, I'll have to see how long the edge lasts. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chuck123wapati Report post Posted October 4, 2020 Awesome work, nothing quite like self-made tools! Its always beer thirty somewhere lol. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sonnyboone Report post Posted October 5, 2020 3 hours ago, chuck123wapati said: Awesome work, nothing quite like self-made tools! Its always beer thirty somewhere lol. It's beer 30 here right now. Although in this house we call it beer 0'clock as not to be constrained by the 30 minute intervals. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fredk Report post Posted October 5, 2020 12 hours ago, chuck123wapati said: . . . Its always beer thirty somewhere lol. 8 hours ago, sonnyboone said: It's beer 30 here right now. Although in this house we call it beer 0'clock as not to be constrained by the 30 minute intervals. you guys need a time to have a beer ?!? I just have one when I fancy one. Its simpler that way Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billybopp Report post Posted October 5, 2020 31 minutes ago, fredk said: you guys need a time to have a beer ?!? I just have one when I fancy one. Its simpler that way In normal times, it is prudent to wait for beer o'clock .. .and it's always beer o'clock somewhere. But in 2020, it's pretty much beer o'clock everywhere all the time! And thanks for posting the pics and info! I love seeing folks make their own tools!! - Bill Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chuck123wapati Report post Posted October 5, 2020 12 hours ago, sonnyboone said: It's beer 30 here right now. Although in this house we call it beer 0'clock as not to be constrained by the 30 minute intervals. 3 hours ago, fredk said: you guys need a time to have a beer ?!? I just have one when I fancy one. Its simpler that way 3 hours ago, billybopp said: In normal times, it is prudent to wait for beer o'clock .. .and it's always beer o'clock somewhere. But in 2020, it's pretty much beer o'clock everywhere all the time! And thanks for posting the pics and info! I love seeing folks make their own tools!! - Bill sorry it took so long to respond, I was havin a Beer lol. Now what was it again we were talkin about lol. Oh yea why have a punch and could use a beer when you can have a beer and use a punch. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
