Transfer Punch

[Joncooey]

Any one have advice on how to resharpen/repoint/reharden these cheap Chinese transfer punches?

 

[mmcmdl]

Surface grinder and a whirley jig . Put that whirley jig ( spin indexer or whatever you may call it ) perpendicular to your wheel , dress appropriate angle on your wheel with a norbide stick , then throw those Chinese punches in the scrap pile and make something cool . Then buy a good set of transfer punches .

 

[mikey]

Then buy a good set of transfer punches .

If you take Dave's advice, Spellman makes good punches.

If you want to try and sharpen those Chinese ones, chuck it in a lathe and put a grinding stone to it. There is no specific angle required for that; just a sharp point. The problem with these tools is that they can be hard, soft or just right for the job and there is no way to tell until you whack on it. And this can be within the same set of punches. I suppose we can't be fussy about a set of punches that cost so little but, well, I long ago decided that Spellman punches is a better way to go.

 

[Norseman C.B.]

If yer a cheap A$$ like me you can chuck them up and re point them
on the lathe, then you bust out a torch or the forge, heat the working end to critical temp.
quench in warm canola oil and then stick em in the shop toaster oven at 375 deg. fer an hour or two then quench in water.
If the steel is descent they will be good fer a long time, if steel is sub standard not so long a time,
rinse and repeat as needed.......................My $.02

 

[mikey]

If yer a cheap A$$ like me you can chuck them up and re point them
on the lathe, then you bust out a torch or the forge, heat the working end to critical temp.
quench in warm canola oil and then stick em in the shop toaster oven at 375 deg. fer an hour or two then quench in water.
If the steel is descent they will be good fer a long time, if steel is sub standard not so long a time,
rinse and repeat as needed.......................My $.02

Just gotta' hope the steel doesn't curl like a weiner!

 

[Norseman C.B.]

Just heat the last 1/2" or less, shouldn't have curl issues

 

[Tozguy]

On the question of how to sharpen a punch (regardless of quality), this is one way to do it;
The punch is first chucked up in a small drill chuck which is then chucked up in a four jaw. After zeroing the punch for runout it is ground using a tool post grinder.

 

[benmychree]

Generally speaking, one can repoint a transfer punch with a carbide tool in the lathe.

 

[P. Waller]

Generally speaking one may buy a set of 28 transfer punches for $10.99 including a molded plastic stand.
This makes sharpening existing tools rather expensive.
If each of the the 28 tools is used only once it is just $0.40 per use, I suspect that a home user can afford this (-:

Transfer Punch Set, 28 Piece

Amazing deals on this 28Pc Transfer Punch Set at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

 

[benmychree]

I guess the question is: how much is our time worth, also we are too much of a throwaway society.