Identify transfer punches

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Tiger

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Transfer punches have been spoken about a lot in this forum. Anyone know how they can be marked so you know what diameter they are? They are made of hardened steel and some form of marking would be very useful.
 
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You could use some white paint or even White-out to make a background area, then use a fine tipped permanent marker to write the size on it. Keep in mind the thickness of the paint might make the punch too thick to pass through a hole if it is very tight! I just leave mine in the cheap metal stand they came in and usually use the trial and error method of finding the right size.
 
you could always set yourself up using block of wood and drill holes in it to place your punches, number them 1 through however many you have on the wood, laminate a sheet of paper with corresponding size ( ex. #1 = 1/8, #2 = 1/4 ) and tack the page on the wall next to your transfers
 
mine are in a plastic block, that fits way too tight on the punches and has numbers so small they are almost unreadable. I mostly use the trial and error method, plus I use about 3 or 4 mostly and I remember about where they are in the block
 
I'm with wyone on this. Trial and error works well as does muscle memory. Organization is over rated.:biggrin:
Do a good turn daily!
Don
wyone said:
mine are in a plastic block, that fits way too tight on the punches and has numbers so small they are almost unreadable. I mostly use the trial and error method, plus I use about 3 or 4 mostly and I remember about where they are in the block
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I don't try to mark them so when I want to put them away or find one laying around I use a drill gauge to size them. It works for drill bits too. :wink: Your callipers will work too if you don't want to get a drill gauge.
 
Thanks for the replies. I have tried paint but found that it wears away over time, i have a Dremel with an engraving bit, will that be as good as a normal engraver?
 
I have mine engraved, then covered with white nail polish. Rub off the polish and it remains in the groove. I did this about a year ago and most are still in good shape and easy to read.
 
Cheap plastic case, small number, trial and error, that's what I use. Usually only use three sizes of so. 7mm never gets put away. Did I mention they rust in Florida. Steady rain for two weeks. The whole shop rusts. The ones with no rust are the ones I use.
 
I have several "paint markers" in the shop. I often find that grabbing the correct allen wrench is a pain so I mark the set screw and the corresponding wrench with the same color. I also mark the HF punches the same way. I mark those that I use frequently and try to remember which is which. Not perfect, but it works for me.
 
Mine are still in the case but I am with Wyone. Use the largest that fits and be done with it. I know I am an amateur among pros but I only rarely need to disassemble and never considered it necessary to worry about size. Just grab what fits. Am I missing something here. I always am looking to learn.
 
Sawdust1825 said:
Mine are still in the case but I am with Wyone. Use the largest that fits and be done with it. I know I am an amateur among pros but I only rarely need to disassemble and never considered it necessary to worry about size. Just grab what fits. Am I missing something here. I always am looking to learn.
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That's exactly what I do. I use the part that is about to be dissassembled to size the punch that I need. It works fine and is quick.

The truth is, I didn't realize that holes in the case had the punch sizes marked until I read this thread. It occurs to me that the size of the punch doesn't really help me as I don't have a clue what the interior dimensions of the tubes (and fittings in some cases) is.
 
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With all the punches residing in the stand, just slide the pen tube/assembly over the 'best guess' one (without removing any punch yet). One or two tries tells you you are there...grab and use the now identified punch.

Caution: if you are working with an already finished pen part, be careful to not scratch it during the try-and-identify phase. You could scratch your fine finish if not careful, as the punches are in close proximity to each other.:biggrin:
 
I engraved my punches or at least the bigger ones as it's difficult to do the smaller ones and it works great. I engraved the top of the punch so i instantly know where everything goes, saves a little time as i seem to be using the punches everytime i make a pen. I should make a nice wooden box to house them but that would be really anal.....
 
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