1/16" pin punch

I am having a very hard time finding a pin punch with any lasting power.
I've tried some cast ones and brass with no luck. They bend within 6-10 taps and eventually snap within weeks.
Are you using anything that you are happy with or is this just the norm and I have to buy them by the dozen?!
Cheers!

Buy a hardened one from a gun supply store...

Question: What are u using pin punches for on razor blades?

@Heespharm
Driving old pins out of old/broken scales.
I've been filing the peen off and punching them out.
I'd be interested in learning another method, if it exists, for removing scales.
Good tip on sourcing a suitable tool. Thanks.

proto professional makes the best I have used, I own two sets one home and one for work. proto makes two different brands proto and proto professional, McMaster carr was carrying them suppose they still do. the short ones don't bend as much and work great for razor work.

Chaloney said:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/404578-Unpin-a-Razor

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I use a similar method when trying to salvage scales, but a quick and dirty pin punch out serves me fine when I'm just going to keep the blade and throw the rest out.

kn4wd said:

proto professional makes the best I have used, I own two sets one home and one for work. proto makes two different brands proto and proto professional, McMaster carr was carrying them suppose they still do. the short ones don't bend as much and work great for razor work.

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Sweet! Ackland-Grainger carries them in Canada. I'll get a set on order.

If you have no intention of keeping the scales just grind the pins off.
And if you plan on keeping them then a punch is the last tool I'd use.

flush cutters. Takes 3 seconds to take a blade out. Maybe less. 99% of the time, I'm usually able to save the scales too.
They are NOT the cleanest, smoothest or slickest or most 'pro' option but they are fast, easy, cheap, etc.
If you're not looking to save the scales - they'd be perfect. Snip, pop, done.

When I first started restorations I used a punch after filing the pin head down. This resulted in several broken scales that would have otherwise been salvageable.

Grindhousehfx said:

I am having a very hard time finding a pin punch with any lasting power.
I've tried some cast ones and brass with no luck. They bend within 6-10 taps and eventually snap within weeks.
Are you using anything that you are happy with or is this just the norm and I have to buy them by the dozen?!
Cheers!

Click to expand...

How about cutting the tip off a common nail and using it as a temporary (and replaceable) punch?

Yeah the pin punch is pretty much no longer part of my restoration tool box

I have a set from Grace that I really like. A good set of punches is a joy and a bad set is a curse that keeps on giving.

Brianskeet said:

I have a set from Grace that I really like. A good set of punches is a joy and a bad set is a curse that keeps on giving.

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Most of my punches are only used on my guns.. As I'm sure u can relate

Heespharm said:

Most of my punches are only used on my guns.. As I'm sure u can relate

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Yes, they usually live in my shotgun travel box. I have a tool box that always travels to competitions with me. If it needs done to a shotgun it lives in that box. All my shootin buddies know about the box and rarely does a match go by that someone doesn't turn up asking for help.

I just use my 1/16th drill bit after I've either ground them down to a hair above flush with the scale, or have used a pin vise and said drill bit to hand-drill the pin 'out' down past the first scale. I can't imagine having to hit a punch with enough force to bend it -- I'd be far to concerned the scale would crack or break...

Unless of course you have no need/intention of reusing the scale. And if that's the case, why not just grind the little bugger down well into the scales on both sides so that the little nub that's left inside the pivot hole of the razor itself just drops/taps right out...

Any decent punch from a hardware store should work just fine. I have one that I used on a lot of scales that I bought from Menards and no mushrooming or bending to speak of. If you are bending them then you are having to hit them wayyyy to hard. If you file all the head off the pin a few light taps is all it should take to get the pin out.

A decent punch should be way way way harder than pretty much anything used to pin scales.