Thread: Largest-size Nail Punch?..

I think the one youve got is the largest I've seen, commonly referred to as a floor punch I think.

Cheers
Michael

I just use a pin punch with a size a bit smaller than the nail head

What about a flooring punch?

Thanks for confirmation Mick. Thought it might be the case because I had done a bit of Googling on the subject.
Good idea in theory Ross; Sore-fingers for me in practice... (Me bad aim...)
Acme - I think the Flooring Punches are just 5mm anyway. They're just a little longer and thicker through the body than the standard Nail-Punch.

Many Thanks,
Batpig.

Here's another option - a punch is a pretty simple tool - ask one of the folk in the metalwork forums to make you one. Basically a turned piece of steel rod tapering at one end. (doen't have to have any knurling, but could do - just adds a little bit of time) Specify tip diameter & the fact you want tip concave. A few minutes work on a lathe to do this so far. Then it needs to be heat treated.. Many metalworkers will have a small electric furnace, as they make their own lathe tools & heat trreat these.

Dear Ross,

Truth be known, making my own was about the first thing I attempted to do on the day, right there and then. In the particular toolbox I had with me at the time, I had a couple of extra-long-series masonry drill-bit shafts that were the remnants of a really, really bad cheap set from Supercheap that just let me down totally a couple of years ago when I thought they might get me out of trouble on a particularly awkward bit of drilling through bricks that I had to do at time. The tungsten-carbide tips on them just wore away like they weren't even tungsten-carbide () so the only useful thing I could salvage from them was their long, blank shafts, which I've been using ever since as pin-type punches. So, thinking that they were so hopeless that they'd surely be easy to drill an indentation into the end of, I picked one up and gave it a try with my drill, but it was pretty hard going. Maybe I gave it a heat and a dipping back when I first cut it up a couple of years ago? - I just can't quite remember... But if I did seriously want something like a proper 6.5mm Nail Punch, I know just the right little Retired-Ex-Engineering-Workshop-Owner-Who-Brought-Home-All-Of-His-Machinery-And-Moved-It-Into-His-Shed-And-The-Lower-Level-Of-His-House. And he's very reasonably priced too. And not too far away from me...

Thanks again Ross,
Batpig.

Perhaps someone could correct me if I'm wrong but I thought the purpose of the cupping on the hardened end of a nail punch was merely to provide grip on the softer metal of the nail, not to hold the head of the nail within that cup. Otherwise you would end up with a larger hole in the wood than necessary together with bruised wood, especially if working with oval nails and cut-clasp.
Cheers,
Jim

Dear Jim,

Yes, I know what you mean about the "oversize entry hole" problem. I'll be interested to see what others have to say regarding that myself, but for my own part I've found that when I try to sit the rim of a smaller Punch on top of the nail-heads, rather than cupping them with a larger Punch, I end up with a gradual "mushrooming" of the smaller Punch's tip (besides timber bruises from when the thing pops off the side of the nail when I mishit it...) The heads on Bullet-Heads appear to be ever so slightly tapered at their very tops, and I've always figured that to be a feature aimed at enabling the use of a Punch without incurring the penalty of an oversized hole (provided the Punch is a nice tight fit). A 5mm concave-style Punch is certainly a very sweet fit on a 3.15mm Bullet-Head. I might test-fit my smaller Punches on a variety of nail-sizes to see what some other good combinations are...

Best Wishes,
MPF.

I've only ever had my floor punch to use on the biggest of nails and like jimbur I thought the cup prevented slipping - not designed to surround the nail. I've ground a few smaller chipped punches to a flat end and invariably they bounce off and make a big scar next to the nail. The extra size and heft of the floor punch makes it easier to hold.

Cheers
Michael

I have never bothered to attempt to cup a nail head with the punch & usually select a punch a bit smaller than the nail being driven - as mentioned earler, for very large nail heads I use a pin punch & just roughen the end on sandpaper a bit to discourage slipping. I've also used a pin punch with a diameter a bit larger than the nail head when driving nail heads through fibro to get the sheets off without them cracking.

If the punch tip is mushrooming, then I respectully suggest it is CR&P quality & you need a better one . All mine used to belong to my grandfather, made when things were largely made properly. Some have the cuped tip & some are ground flat. All work fine, with no sign of distortion on the tip despite being used in building quite a few houses, lots of renovations, landscaping & furniture.

Just had a look at one of the larger punches with a cupped tip. This is hollowed in the centre & beveled around the edge, making a sharp rim for point of contact for the nail head. Usually after punching nails you see a partial circle on the head where the rim of punch has bitten into the head.