Just had a punch break on me mid-project today

I was working on a leaf spring knife blank around 2 pm, getting ready to drift the hole for the tang, and my center punch just snapped in half. It was an old Craftsman punch I've had for maybe 8 years, nothing fancy, but it's never given me trouble. I had to stop and grind the broken end flat before I could keep going, which threw my whole flow off. Has anyone else had a tool just give up like that out of nowhere?

2 comments

2 Comments

seth_allen1mo agoTop Commenter

@sean119 yeah my punch probably snapped from too many years of me wailing on it like an angry gorilla.

sean1191mo ago

Whoa, that's rough. Did you notice any weird bending or micro-cracks on that punch before it let go, or was it just sudden like a complete surprise? I've had old tools fail like that and it always makes me wonder if there was something I missed in the heat treat or if it just wore out from all the hammering over time. Man, having to stop and grind it mid-project is a total buzzkill, especially when you're in the zone with a knife blank like that. Was the break right at the tip or somewhere along the shaft, because that changes what might have caused it?

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