Posted by
Easy WoodCraft on
Jan 7, 2016
Although a center-punch is often thought of as a machinists tool, many woodworkers (including myself) find them useful in the shop. When I have a lot of holes to mark for drilling, I usually reach for a center-punch or for my automatic center-punch. Also, since I often incorporate metal into the jigs, fixtures, and projects I build, a center-punch is the best tool for marking hole locations. You'd quickly dull the point on a standard scratch awl if you were to use it, instead of a center-punch, on metal.
Automatic Center-Punch
An automatic center-punch has an internal spring that releases when the tool is depressed, forcing an internal plunger or anvil to strike the tip and leave a dimple on the work-piece. The springs on most automatic center-punches are adjustable so that you can vary the depth of the dimple.
Tip angle
Depending on what material you're drilling into, you may want to have a couple of center-punches, each with the tip ground to a different angle. If you're drilling into metal with twist bits, you'll want an angle somewhere around 60 degrees to match the angle of the twist bit. For marking in wood where you'll be drilling with a brad-point or Forstner bit, you'll find that an angle around 45 degrees works best.
Shop-Tip: If accuracy is critical when locating a hole in wood, your best bet is to make a small dimple in the wood with an awl, and then use this as a starting point for a center-punch.
Thanks for reading Center Punches. Please share...!
