Center Punching Aide

[jjr2001]

I have 3 examples from today that are of varied design.
Starting with the brass one, (very Marv Klotz style) I modified the design to include
a hand stamp holding groove and magnet. The magnet hole was drilled to depth first and
then the slot was milled to the width of the hand stamps plus about .002".
Found that the stamps are a bit larger on the end with the stamp letter so I hit them a bit on
the disc sander with a fine disc. This stamping feature is for use on round stock so you can
put numbers/letters on the circumference of a round part. Adding the slot for the hand stamp
was an idea I picked up from Randy Richards (catfish on homemadetools.net). Randy has a lot
of great how to videos.

The two steel models are smaller to work in tight places. One with knurling and the other one is plain.
Now that these are finished I think I have enough center punching guides!

Even though I use the DRO on the mill for locating most points it is still useful, for me at least,
to layout the piece prior to milling. Makes for a double check on your readings. You know, measure twice cut once!


Here are the dimensions:


The largest is the brass one. It is made from 1.25" diameter brass stock and is 1.2" long. Center hole was made for a sliding fit with a .177" piece of drill blank.
Slot is a slide fit for my stamps which came to .242" wide and about .175" deep so the stamp is proud of the top of the brass.
Under that slot is a hole made with a 1/4" drill bit for the magnet. The two milling cuts were made to the center of the hole on both the x and y axis.

The knurled steel guide is 3/4" in diameter and 1.500 inches long.

The straight steel guide is 1.250" long and 3.4" in diameter.

Same punch is used in all of them.

Cheers, JR

Cheers, JR

[Peter Sanders]

Superb, I like the number stamp addition, very useful. The number stamps could still be very conveniently used on flat stock too, aligning those corners to a set up line

[DIYer]

Thanks jjr2001! We've added your Center Punching Aids to our Metalworking category,
as well as to your builder page: jjr2001's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Center Punching Aids by jjr2001

tags: punch, guide

[jjr2001]

Superb, I like the number stamp addition, very useful. The number stamps could still be very conveniently used on flat stock too, aligning those corners to a set up line

Thank you Peter Sanders; I had previously made one for stamping flat stock out of aluminum so I didn't really think of using the new one on flats.
However now that you mentioned using it on flat stock I can see an advantage over my aluminum version. The new brass one gives more visibility of the existing characters punched on a flat plate...

Thanks again, JR