Make Your Own Transfer Punches
Learn how to make a transfer punch that can match any bolt clearance hole.
People often use transfer punches to mark hole locations, but they don’t work well on rough surfaces like concrete floors and concrete-block walls. For those situations, I use punches made from HSS drill blanks, which are available from industrial supply companies.
After creating the rough shape of the punch’s taper with a bench grinder, I chuck the blank in a drill. With both the drill and the grinder running, I place the blank on the grinder’s tool rest while grinding the final smooth taper and centered point. You can see this in the drawing shown below.
Drill blanks are available in all drill sizes. In fact, I’ve made several of these punches to match the clearance holes of the bolts I commonly use. Besides concrete, I have used these punches on wood and most metals and have found that they need only infrequent sharpening.
— Elliot Eisenberg; Conyngham, PA
From Fine Homebuilding #242
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