Sharpen Those Rotary Punches

[Marshal Will Wingam]

All of us want our tools to be as sharp as possible so we can do our best work. One of my pet peeves is punches, especially rotary ones, that won’t cut. Even the best tools will get dull over time with use. 40 years ago, we could get new tips or a new rotary punch and even the cheapest ones would cut well by today’s standards. About 25 or 30 years ago I bought a new super-duper high dollar professional quality one. Even back then, the tips were not sharp and wouldn’t cut leather right. I set that one aside and forgot about it. These days, it’s hard to find one at any price that cuts properly, even the replacement tip sets. In need of a sharp punch. I could buy a new one but if they were crap 30 years ago, they’re not going to be better now. I decided to sharpen the tips in the one I have.

I may have mentioned this in another thread but I’m putting this here so others will know how I sharpen them.

To use as a holder to sharpen the tips, the handle from my Tandy 3003-00 Mini Punch Set worked great. The thread size is the same as the rotary punch tips so I got to work.



To hold the tips, I chucked the handle in my hand drill.



While running the drill, I lightly touched the tips against my grey-green extra-fine grit CRATEX wheel at an oblique angle, being careful to not heat them. Also I didn’t want to take too much material off.



Then I did the same on the leather polishing wheel on my knife grinder using red jeweler’s rouge. Note that the polishing wheel rotates upward so the tip is not digging into it.



You can tell you have the tip sharp enough if it will not slip off your thumbnail when held at a very low angle.



I did this for all 6 tips and when done, they all cut effortlessly, as good as any punches I’ve ever used. When I first got the set of punches I found that the thread size on the tips for my Sargent & Co. parallel-jaw rotary punch were close enough to work in the Tandy handle so I sharpened those. Now, having sharpened both, I have two very sharp rotary punches and am pleased with the way they work.



If you don’t have a grinder with a CRATEX wheel and a low RPM knife grinder, get creative but don’t use a normal grinding wheel or you may wind up with tips that are too short or ground lopsided and still won’t cut right. You might be able to do the same thing by dragging the tip across a stone while turning in the drill. Then following that with a piece of leather with your polishing compound on it. I hope this gives some direction to others with the same dull rotary punches.

[leatherjunkie]

thanks for this Marshal.
I got so sick of the tandy punches i threw them out.
I bought the weaver pro punches(the red ones). expensive tools for shure but they were sharp out of the package.
do you also polish the inside of the cutting tip area on these punches?

[Mogorilla]

I have done a set inside and out of the inexpensive tandy punches.   Work well.  Definitely need to be touched up now and then though.

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[Marshal Will Wingam]

thanks for this Marshal.
I got so sick of the tandy punches i threw them out.
I bought the weaver pro punches(the red ones). expensive tools for shure but they were sharp out of the package.
do you also polish the inside of the cutting tip area on these punches?

Glad to help. It's nice to know that the Weaver pro punches are good to go. When I need replacements I may try those. Do you know if they are the same thread size as the Tandy ones? A lot of them are.

No, I don't polish the inside of the punches. Notice the angle I'm holding the tip to the Cratex wheel. Just above 90 degrees to the rotation of the wheel. That way it doesn't curl any metal into the center of the punch so there's no need to clean them out. It's really a polishing wheel anyway. For that matter, the final strop on the leather wheel doesn't take off enough matter to matter, either.

When I worked in the saddle shop, we had one of those XF Cratex wheels to sharpen our knives on.

[leatherjunkie]

the single pro punches from weaver, tips are not removeable

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Yeah, I have a couple rotary punches like that. When dull, they're landfill. I have one with 5 punch tips and a snap setter in the 6th position. It is now just a snap setter with 5 useless tips. For some reason it also has a dumb safety thing that locks it almost (not all the way, mind you) closed. That automatically locks when you use it. It has to be unlocked after every time it's squeezed. I keep it around out of morbid fascination, I guess. Over-engineering can be a serious detriment to function. Maybe I'll throw it away one of these days.

[Johnny McCrae]

Another excellent tutorial from Marshall Wiil. This one could save a person some money.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Another excellent tutorial from Marshall Wiil. This one could save a person some money.

Thanks, John. Cost is a factor, Weaver has those tips for $16.60 each. That puts a set of 6 at $99.60.

[PAMuzzleshooter]

Thanks for the instructions Will.  Thinking back the bought sharpener does not allow some of those screw on hole punches to fit inside for doing the outside edges. Now I have a way to do those also.  👍👍

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Glad that helps. I'm looking forward to hearing how that cone-shaped sharpener works, too.

[PAMuzzleshooter]

Actually it works well for plain round punches.  I have some from Harbor Freight and it is quick to use to get a sharp edge.  I’m happy with it and did not think about the screw on punches from Tandy would not fit.  Thanks again, Will, for your instructions.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Actually it works well for plain round punches.  I have some from Harbor Freight and it is quick to use to get a sharp edge.  I’m happy with it and did not think about the screw on punches from Tandy would not fit.  Thanks again, Will, for your instructions.

Thanks for that. What is the largest punch that will fit in it?

[PAMuzzleshooter]

I just tried a 1/2” and it barely fit.  Not sure if it reaches down far enough to sharpen. So maybe 3/8” or 7/16”

[Marshal Will Wingam]

I just tried a 1/2” and it barely fit.  Not sure if it reaches down far enough to sharpen. So maybe 3/8” or 7/16”

Thanks. That covers the most commonly used sizes. It sounds like it could be good for de-burring cases for reloading, too.

[PAMuzzleshooter]

Wouldn’t know.  The only reloading I have done is with my Black Powder muzzleloaders and Cap & Ball Revolvers 😂😂😂