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Step 2Selecting the steel for the punch.
For this project I've used an old carriage bolt (domed bolt). As I don't have a lathe to remove large amounts of material a piece of preshaped steel was important to reduce the need for labourious hand work ( this project is about saving money not losing time)
DON"T CONFUSE STEEL BOLTS WITH LEAD HEADED ROOFING NAILS!!!
lead is super soft and will conform to the shape of whatever it is hit against, meaning flat lead not domed metal.
when considering the steel you need to take into account the curve of the face. This bolt head is approx 28mm wide and 7mm deep. which is appropriate for the curve i want, you may need to look for a few different sizes before you get what you need. If you are going to use your finished tool in a commercially made dapping block CHECK that the dome will fit! also some carriage bolt aren't 100% round, if the aren't made round they can mar the side of the dapping block.
For a small punch a large nail or small bolt could be ground or filed to shape as less material needs to be removed.
It is also necessary to consider the condition of the face, you want it to be as smooth as possible, again to reduce the amount of work required to produce a quality tool.
Give the bolt a quick rub with 400 grit paper to help show any bumps or dings
- As you can see in the photos there are several marks in this bolt, there is the raise type along the top and a dent just to the left of the centre.
DON"T CONFUSE STEEL BOLTS WITH LEAD HEADED ROOFING NAILS!!!
lead is super soft and will conform to the shape of whatever it is hit against, meaning flat lead not domed metal.
when considering the steel you need to take into account the curve of the face. This bolt head is approx 28mm wide and 7mm deep. which is appropriate for the curve i want, you may need to look for a few different sizes before you get what you need. If you are going to use your finished tool in a commercially made dapping block CHECK that the dome will fit! also some carriage bolt aren't 100% round, if the aren't made round they can mar the side of the dapping block.
For a small punch a large nail or small bolt could be ground or filed to shape as less material needs to be removed.
It is also necessary to consider the condition of the face, you want it to be as smooth as possible, again to reduce the amount of work required to produce a quality tool.
Give the bolt a quick rub with 400 grit paper to help show any bumps or dings
- As you can see in the photos there are several marks in this bolt, there is the raise type along the top and a dent just to the left of the centre.
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