Originally Posted by
Toolmaker51
Cool results, and rather surprising as well. Removing the chamfer on sockets [die] will clean up results more than same effort on extensions [punch].
The hand punch copies the Roper-Whitney Jr.; in every HVAC and duct workers box. The reason 'shaped' dies aren't made for it is twofold.
One is that neither punch or die can be fit in a tool-free change over for critical alignment. Those gauges of material matching punch capabilities are down in range of .005" and less per side, which relate to second impasse.
You'll notice, screwing in the die can position itself any height allowed by it's thread length. At extremes that prevent enough travel or such a large gap of the handles no grip could span. Limits on round sets are far less.
And to RalphXYZ: Ratchet and regular sockets are close in hardness, quality impacts are far tougher by use of shock resistant steels. Both are through hardened, thin walls and case hardening will be a brittle combination, especially in the various corners.