When I was a young tool maker, I got introduced to those. The old guys called it a "bomb sight" punch. Then again, some of those guys built airplane parts for WW2 and Korea.
@@abavariannormiepleb9470 actually a quick goggle says it's a "periorbital hematoma" **clears throat and does his best chubby emu impersonation** peri meaning around or about, orbital pertaining to the orbit which (in anatomy) refers to the bone cavity that contains the eyeball. Hematoma, hema meaning blood, toma meaning to basically bleed.
Put my money where my mouth is and made one! Used 15mm. Acrylic rod, turned and polished a lens on one end. Laser engraved crosshairs on the other end, (quite a challenge on a K40 had to make a centre jig) made the base out of home cast brass and the centre punch made from the hardened piston from a pressure washer pump! Thanks for the inspiration Adam.
Since I started watching Tested my tool chest has slowly filled itself up. And every time I watch one of these vids I end up with more tools on my wish list. I think this channel might be a bad influence on me...
My Mother and her father were my biggest influences on loving quality tools. To this day, we consider hardware stores 'toy shops' because of how much fun it is to think about buying all the cool, useful stuff.
@@nervosuss That sounds ridiculously complex and expensive. Think about the amount of space/tooling you need to just create a single tool type to sell. Recognizing that he's competing with a slew of already great brands for most things if you look beyond home depot. At best he could partner with a big brand and push the quality up slightly for an ultra-premium price, or a curated list of tools he loves, at which point he's throwing money out the window unless he has partnerships with those tool makers.
@@cetusipy wow you took this way further and way more serious than I intended it to be lol, you over complicated it, it was a joke! But it would have been cool if a company got together with him wouldn't it? Even just to add his name to approved stuff, I'd be happy with Savage approved and branded products, badge of approval by a real maker
I think that he could partner up with companies he likes and put out a TESTED edition/ collection. If Bear Grills can do it anyone can. I know I would buy from his collection.
Hey Adam! I just wanted to say thank you for this video on the optical center punch! My welding class was reviewing layout tools and that one came up and nobody knew what it was or how to use it. Glad I could wake up this morning to find out!!!
Again, I always hold my breath a little when you suggest something ‘isn’t cheap’. Thank God my builds aren’t mission critical. Around here, pretty close is a blessing!
It doesn't look like he's ever made a video specifically about this tool, but maybe he talked about it and/or used it in a one-day-build or other video?
When working to marked lines, traditional engineering practise relies tremendously on "touch and feel", the development of which was a key purpose of apprenticeship. A pair of dividers would be set by dropping them physically in the engrave markings of the scale, not just "looking" at the scale. Lines would be scribed into the workpiece, not just into a coloured coating. When marking for a drilled hole, the key tool for accuracy was the "marking punch" (as distinct from the "spotting punch"). A hole would always be made at the intersection of two marked lines (how else?), and the marking punch, which was hardened and ground to a much finer included angle than the spotting punch, would be dragged across one of the lines, until it was felt to have physically dropped into it. It would then be dragged along that line until it was felt to drop into the intersecting line. It was then known to be at the cross point, and would be gently tapped to make a mark. The blunter "spotting punch" was then placed in this mark, and struck as hard/often as needed to make the starting point for the drilling operation. This whole process is easy if all the scribed lines are deep (and hence a little less accurate). Following the process with fine, shallow, *accurate* lines is what "touch and feel" is all about. This whole approach was rendered irrelevant when the need to work to single thousands of an inch arrived; this is not done by working to marked lines, but by working to "numbers", either on a vernier gauge, micrometer, or the dials of the cross tables on the lathe carriage or milling table. Which is why optical punches are not a common device seen in engineering. They ARE fascinating though.
As a mechanical technician, this tool is a crucial part of my tool collection. An old timer showed me his, and I have loved using my own since. The guys in the shop may not like it, especially when I have a shitload of holes to lay out, but it easily produces more precise results than any spring punch could ever compete with. One thing I ended up doing with mine was I took it to the belt sander and sanded it almost all the way to one of the holes so that I could get it as close as possible to the radius of any piece of angle that I'm laying holes out on. Picture trying to lay out a hole on some 3/4" angle right in the center and you'll get what I mean. Now, most people would say 'Why not just lay out and punch the hole on the completely flat surface of the angle?' But doing so would make drilling the pilot hole at the drill press impossible without the use of a vise. Center punching on the inside surfaces of the angle is much more time efficient, especially when you have hundreds of holes to drill. Also, modifying the tool in this way does not effect the precision of the tool in any way and gives the tool more capability overall. Definitely a great tool to have in any man's toolbox.
I had one of these in my toolbox when i worked as a sheet metal fabricator for NASA Langley Research Center in the early 90's. used it all the time for our precision work needed to support wind tunnels and flight hardware. Miss those days
In one of Adam’s videos which I can’t find now, he mentions transfer punches. OMG so simple yet how did I live before these? I dabble in making diy audio equipment and the electronics I’m fine with, but metalwork I’m new to. The ability to find the centre of a circle soo is amazing and now my diy projects are constantly improving thanks to Adam’s videos, tool tips and seeing the methods in which he works 👍
"...I can use one of these to put a hole slightly off center..." Best saying ever! I can use an Automatic Center Punch to a hole waaaaay off center, every time, no matter how careful or careless I am. The guy who taught me had some logic to save the optical center punch: very light tap on the optical punch just enough to get the automatic punch started. Double check with the optical sight. Then a perfectly perpendicular prick with the automatic punch. If drilling a big hole (over 3/16"), use a center drill to properly start the hole.
For those who have spring punches if you miss your marks you can re-punch it at an angle to push the punch mark where you need, then a perpendicular hit once more to normalize it and voila accurate center punches!
Looking at the optics involved it appears to be what we used to call a Tollies-eyepiece but with a recital ground into the front element. Although the Tollies eyepiece design had a narrow field of view & had very short eye relief, it only had two air to glass surfaces to scatter light so its transmission fraction was the highest of any reasonable design.
100% agree. I use mine all the time. The holes printed to paper by my 2D CAD system have cross hairs. Stick the paper to the work piece with spray mount, optical punch. Accuracy guaranteed!
My school had about a dozen of these optical punches, it was the standard punch that we used during making/machining, but we had crosshairs rather than a circle/dot on the optical part
You can use the spring punch to move the punch mark, if you set it in the punch mark you made and at an angle, you can nudge the punch mark towards the X.
I always thought of the X of the scribe is deep enough the punch will want to sit in the cross section because that’s where the most material is removed. That’s being said, I want to try and optical to see if the process of that takes less time then being very careful with a center punch. I love all the alignment punch methods. Screw transfers, traditional transfers, etc. but usually I just use a drill guide block. For some applications, it feels wild but if I have to do a door frame it’s usually best to have the drill at full speed and kiss the mark as lightly as possible. Drills roll because of the amount of pressure. The twist of most cutting bits are like “paddles” that want to paddle away. But if you take literal paddle on a boat and barely touch the water. Just enough to where the very edge is barely wet - you boat won’t move. The “bite” force isn’t strong enough. So high speed, a very gentle touch, and a metal V block usually can get me there very accurately.
My optic punch is me getting my eye super close to the mark then placing the spring punch in the groove of the scribed lines.... Works great for me and I hope it helps someone, Also if you sharpen the point a little bit more it makes it a lot more accurate.
Well, an optical punch was actually on my list of things to get Adam Savage if I were ever able to send him a gift. Guess I'll have to take it off the list lol
"This one's a bit spendy, it starts about $50", meanwhile Adam says that slot punches for leather are cheap, you should buy a whole set! I have never seen a single slot punch for less than $30
I would think that slot punches would be used more often than a precision center punch. If I were doing a single or a couple precise holes and already had layout lines then I would use a optical punch if I had one. But if I need several holes, I would use a spotting bit or center drill in a mill to get my holes started then drill while it's still set up in the mill. Only exception might be very larger objects with very deep holes that need to be drilled on a radial press or larger drill press where there is not any precise way to start the holes. Slotting punches would be more often used if I were making a lot of things out of fabric and there is not as many alternatives to creating clean slots in fabric.
David Barak „back when I made TV money“ ;-) - but still, it seems to me that he tries to make bargains at yard sales, which is kind of nicely down to earth. I know people who are not worth that much and still pay crazy amounts of money on tools.
For checking flatness. Used a Helium Optical Flat system for a couple years before we purchased a TOPOS 100 laser interferometer flatness checker. No more wringing and counting fringes!
Thanks! Watching this video just cost me $50 or more! But really thanks for sharing so many great videos from which I have applied or just totally geeked out over!
As an ex Jeweller/goldsmith I can say the spring punch is well known for jumping/skipping on the surface. However it's the only way of creating the mark on a rounded surface such as a ring shank.
If the scribed lines come from say a height guage from a granite/steel surface table or with a scriber then you can locate the sharp punch into the groves of the scribe marks. If you get good at scribing you should only have to scribe in material that's going to be removed and use a delicate touch to plan things out everywhere else. Its an absolute art that i struggle to master as a machinist but this way I'm told you can get to 50 micron or less depending on the gear and they guy you pay. Viva la industrial revolution!
I got myself an optical center punch from chronos in the UK. This one you can rotate to switch between both optics and the punch. I found it difficult to see anything because light needs to come in from the same origin my head occupies. So I have to take my head away quite a way and use a flashlight. The bottom of the plexiglass floats a 3.5mm above the workpiece. This means that the markings at the bottom of the plexiglass shift but about +-0.5mm depending on the exact position of my head above the center punch.
I'm thinking of replacing the base with a translucent material to get light. Maybe embed magnets to hold it in place. But it would loose all that nice weight. :/
The trick to shifting seems to be to place your head in such a way, that the crosshairs are in the center of the image and not slightly offset to any side. Then you seem to look perfectly vertical.
Hey Adam, thanks for showing this. Glad I got to meet you at NOM in Santa Fe a while back. Hey, I think my wife would get me one of these as a birthday or Christmas gift, but she's not a maker, so I can only get her to watch "my" videos for maybe a minute or two at a time, and I really need her to hear you say what a great gift it would be for a family member who is a maker. So if you don't mind, please re-edit this, and mention that it would be a great gift for me at the beginning of the video. I think that would be enough to get her to watch the whole thing. Thanks in advance! - David I know, I know. Asking you to re-edit the entire video is too much to ask. Maybe just a new video where you say "This would be a great gift for your beloved husband..." would work just as well. Just send it out, and I'll edit it to manipulate my way into whatever tool I lust after at the moment. Maybe even roll it before a promo video for a Tesla (Plaid, please). Can't hurt, right? You rock, man.
As a lay person that starts their tool collection I got a question: Is there a “weighed” variant of this tool so it tends to stay in position and you don’t have to precisely hold it down until you actually do the punch?
@Aron Aimer That would be a topic I would find extremely interesting: How can you “properly” (and safely) work as a maker with certain physical limitations? Answers like: “Oh well, sorry to hear that - you just can’t do this and that so just get someone to help you!” I would consider highly disappointing.
You can move a punch that isn't on center, just angle the (non-spring) punch and tap again. It will shift the indent with each tap. The more you know 🌈⭐
Hi Adam, how about making one? I am sure you could find a way re-purpose a glass rod for the sight, perhaps laser etch the end with crosshairs and centre dot. Aluminium carrier, turned and milled holes etc. I have virtually made one in my head already! Great videos, keep up the good work.
as a Toolmaker before i took my engineering degree, i really never understod the value of the optical center punch.. i get it that it supports you in getting closer to the center, but you are basing this on that your lines made with a ruler, or some sort of measurement tool being within tolerances.. normally when drilling with precision you would use a mill or a fixed drill, then a center drill (hardened drill that is made for creating the guiding hole) (called pinol bor in danish sorry it might be called something else) and you will use reference measurements from your part, and then use the scale on your machine to align. (okay when talking about real precision, microns, then this is not a solution, but that is something completely else). for me the centerpunch has only one value, it is a LOW precision tool for ensuring that you can start a thread within the area of a "free hole" in another part.. so there you would have 0.25 ish mm you can move. dependent on thread size, and that might be good enough with a centerpunch.. normally only use it in woodworking.
Hi Adam, Have you ever considered an Amazon store for some of these fabulous favorite tools? I must admit that I think to myself I could use that, and I make a mental note that I need to look for that. Then here I am watching a video the second time as I forgot the name when I start searching Amazon. With a link in the comments it would be so much easier.
I just found this channel and I am so happy, I cried when mythbusters ended, thank you Adam!
You're in for a treat. Pandemic Adam is best Adam.
I kind of envy you, you have many great videos ahead.
Welcome to the channel! These vids changed my life
@@johnmcho his Q&A videos going into mental health are great as well if you're struggling with all that 2020 is throwing at you.
Oh boy you've got quite the catalog to catch up on friend
When I was a young tool maker, I got introduced to those. The old guys called it a "bomb sight" punch. Then again, some of those guys built airplane parts for WW2 and Korea.
Thank you, Nick Mullen, for suggesting an optical center punch as a useful holiday gift on the recommendation of this video!
"Optical punch" sounds like the scientific name for a black-eye.
That would be an “unilateral para-optical punch” 🙃
@@abavariannormiepleb9470 actually a quick goggle says it's a "periorbital hematoma" **clears throat and does his best chubby emu impersonation** peri meaning around or about, orbital pertaining to the orbit which (in anatomy) refers to the bone cavity that contains the eyeball. Hematoma, hema meaning blood, toma meaning to basically bleed.
Yes, everyhing you said is correct - unfortunately nothing of the original poster’s joke or any connection to this video clip would be left, then 🧐
I've always told people I'm Visually Challenged - no one can stand the sight of me.
lol
Put my money where my mouth is and made one! Used 15mm. Acrylic rod, turned and polished a lens on one end. Laser engraved crosshairs on the other end, (quite a challenge on a K40 had to make a centre jig) made the base out of home cast brass and the centre punch made from the hardened piston from a pressure washer pump!
Thanks for the inspiration Adam.
Since I started watching Tested my tool chest has slowly filled itself up. And every time I watch one of these vids I end up with more tools on my wish list.
I think this channel might be a bad influence on me...
My Mother and her father were my biggest influences on loving quality tools. To this day, we consider hardware stores 'toy shops' because of how much fun it is to think about buying all the cool, useful stuff.
You may have a problem
more tools doesn't mean better work unfortunately. everyone is different but I beleive you can have too many tools and it makes you less efficient
Who else would like Adam to inventory the essential tools he would take to Mars? His space suit obviously
Adam should just start his own maker brand and start making the perfect tools for everyone, who cares about mars lol
Savage Tools Inc
@@nervosuss That sounds ridiculously complex and expensive. Think about the amount of space/tooling you need to just create a single tool type to sell. Recognizing that he's competing with a slew of already great brands for most things if you look beyond home depot.
At best he could partner with a big brand and push the quality up slightly for an ultra-premium price, or a curated list of tools he loves, at which point he's throwing money out the window unless he has partnerships with those tool makers.
@@cetusipy wow you took this way further and way more serious than I intended it to be lol, you over complicated it, it was a joke!
But it would have been cool if a company got together with him wouldn't it? Even just to add his name to approved stuff, I'd be happy with Savage approved and branded products, badge of approval by a real maker
He must watch out for the protomolecule!
I think that he could partner up with companies he likes and put out a TESTED edition/ collection. If Bear Grills can do it anyone can. I know I would buy from his collection.
Hey Adam! I just wanted to say thank you for this video on the optical center punch! My welding class was reviewing layout tools and that one came up and nobody knew what it was or how to use it. Glad I could wake up this morning to find out!!!
Never seen these before. I'm so happy to add this to my mental toolbox of tools that exist and I wish I had.
The spring punch is an excellent glass breaker as well. It's always good to keep one in your vehicle.
yes , all of my family's cars have one in the drivers door pocket .. i hope no-one ever needs it
I too watched the episode of myth busters with the underwater car
Again, I always hold my breath a little when you suggest something ‘isn’t cheap’. Thank God my builds aren’t mission critical. Around here, pretty close is a blessing!
didn't we see the optical centerpuch earlyier?
i bought one, because is saw it here :-)
Oh thank god I'm not crazy, I thought it was just som serious deja vu
It doesn't look like he's ever made a video specifically about this tool, but maybe he talked about it and/or used it in a one-day-build or other video?
I believe you, but I thought I've watched every one day build... And don't remember seeing it. So which video haven't I watched?!
I seem to remember seeing this before, as well.
It was in one of the videos with Laura Kampf.
When working to marked lines, traditional engineering practise relies tremendously on "touch and feel", the development of which was a key purpose of apprenticeship.
A pair of dividers would be set by dropping them physically in the engrave markings of the scale, not just "looking" at the scale. Lines would be scribed into the workpiece, not just into a coloured coating. When marking for a drilled hole, the key tool for accuracy was the "marking punch" (as distinct from the "spotting punch"). A hole would always be made at the intersection of two marked lines (how else?), and the marking punch, which was hardened and ground to a much finer included angle than the spotting punch, would be dragged across one of the lines, until it was felt to have physically dropped into it. It would then be dragged along that line until it was felt to drop into the intersecting line. It was then known to be at the cross point, and would be gently tapped to make a mark. The blunter "spotting punch" was then placed in this mark, and struck as hard/often as needed to make the starting point for the drilling operation. This whole process is easy if all the scribed lines are deep (and hence a little less accurate). Following the process with fine, shallow, *accurate* lines is what "touch and feel" is all about.
This whole approach was rendered irrelevant when the need to work to single thousands of an inch arrived; this is not done by working to marked lines, but by working to "numbers", either on a vernier gauge, micrometer, or the dials of the cross tables on the lathe carriage or milling table.
Which is why optical punches are not a common device seen in engineering. They ARE fascinating though.
I love my optical punch. Definitely a piece of kit to have when precision is paramount! Cheers my Friend! Zip~
As a mechanical technician, this tool is a crucial part of my tool collection. An old timer showed me his, and I have loved using my own since. The guys in the shop may not like it, especially when I have a shitload of holes to lay out, but it easily produces more precise results than any spring punch could ever compete with.
One thing I ended up doing with mine was I took it to the belt sander and sanded it almost all the way to one of the holes so that I could get it as close as possible to the radius of any piece of angle that I'm laying holes out on. Picture trying to lay out a hole on some 3/4" angle right in the center and you'll get what I mean. Now, most people would say 'Why not just lay out and punch the hole on the completely flat surface of the angle?' But doing so would make drilling the pilot hole at the drill press impossible without the use of a vise. Center punching on the inside surfaces of the angle is much more time efficient, especially when you have hundreds of holes to drill. Also, modifying the tool in this way does not effect the precision of the tool in any way and gives the tool more capability overall.
Definitely a great tool to have in any man's toolbox.
I agree...however carefully I approach the scribed mark...the punch is slightly off...good tool tip.
Your enthusiasm and love for what you do makes watching any of your videos a pleasure and its refreshing.
I had one of these in my toolbox when i worked as a sheet metal fabricator for NASA Langley Research Center in the early 90's. used it all the time for our precision work needed to support wind tunnels and flight hardware. Miss those days
I carry a spring punch in my turn out gear (Firefighter gear) to easily shatter glass at motor vehicle accidents. Love those things.
My coworker once had me imagine using one of those spring punches on your tooth. Man I can never forget that
Oh man I didn’t need to hear that lol
Why did your coworker have to share that thought?
Optical punch: precision dental torture
Now you have scarred us all just the same. Shame on you.
NOOOOOOOOO oh dear whyyy How do I delete an idea?
The Favorite Tools is some of the most satisfying content!
In one of Adam’s videos which I can’t find now, he mentions transfer punches.
OMG so simple yet how did I live before these?
I dabble in making diy audio equipment and the electronics I’m fine with, but metalwork I’m new to.
The ability to find the centre of a circle soo is amazing and now my diy projects are constantly improving thanks to Adam’s videos, tool tips and seeing the methods in which he works 👍
"...I can use one of these to put a hole slightly off center..." Best saying ever! I can use an Automatic Center Punch to a hole waaaaay off center, every time, no matter how careful or careless I am.
The guy who taught me had some logic to save the optical center punch: very light tap on the optical punch just enough to get the automatic punch started. Double check with the optical sight. Then a perfectly perpendicular prick with the automatic punch. If drilling a big hole (over 3/16"), use a center drill to properly start the hole.
Well if we are gonna start talking about punching way off centre - i got that whole arena covered.
For those who have spring punches if you miss your marks you can re-punch it at an angle to push the punch mark where you need, then a perpendicular hit once more to normalize it and voila accurate center punches!
Looking at the optics involved it appears to be what we used to call a Tollies-eyepiece but with a recital ground into the front element. Although the Tollies eyepiece design had a narrow field of view & had very short eye relief, it only had two air to glass surfaces to scatter light so its transmission fraction was the highest of any reasonable design.
100% agree. I use mine all the time. The holes printed to paper by my 2D CAD system have cross hairs. Stick the paper to the work piece with spray mount, optical punch. Accuracy guaranteed!
Depending on the accuracy and resolution of your printer, and the rigidity and lack of stretch/shrink in your paper, yes.
Thank you Adam. I can't tell you how much I have learned from you watching Mythbusters and this channel. I'm now going to get myself an optical punch.
And every leather crafter and handbag maker needs one. Thanks Adam, it's on my Christmas list.
You are a gifted teacher mate.
My school had about a dozen of these optical punches, it was the standard punch that we used during making/machining, but we had crosshairs rather than a circle/dot on the optical part
You can use the spring punch to move the punch mark, if you set it in the punch mark you made and at an angle, you can nudge the punch mark towards the X.
I remember using one when I was at engineering and doing "Fine Limit" holes.
I always thought of the X of the scribe is deep enough the punch will want to sit in the cross section because that’s where the most material is removed. That’s being said, I want to try and optical to see if the process of that takes less time then being very careful with a center punch. I love all the alignment punch methods. Screw transfers, traditional transfers, etc. but usually I just use a drill guide block. For some applications, it feels wild but if I have to do a door frame it’s usually best to have the drill at full speed and kiss the mark as lightly as possible. Drills roll because of the amount of pressure. The twist of most cutting bits are like “paddles” that want to paddle away. But if you take literal paddle on a boat and barely touch the water. Just enough to where the very edge is barely wet - you boat won’t move. The “bite” force isn’t strong enough. So high speed, a very gentle touch, and a metal V block usually can get me there very accurately.
I find that I can feel the centre of the X with the tip of the punch. Just slide it along one score and you will feel where it intersects the other.
That’s a great tool for us precision people!
Great gift idea and great review Adam!
Thank you!
Adam's favourites tools: 9 out of 10 times it's for making holes...
My optic punch is me getting my eye super close to the mark then placing the spring punch in the groove of the scribed lines.... Works great for me and I hope it helps someone, Also if you sharpen the point a little bit more it makes it a lot more accurate.
This is totally something I didn't know existed, but absolutely need! Thanks!
Yup going to get me one of those, been needing something, as my eyesight isn't getting any better, thanks Adam.
I have never heard of it!! Might be a bit big for my scale modelling use, but thanks for introducing this marvelous tool to me Adam!! Love you!!
Well, an optical punch was actually on my list of things to get Adam Savage if I were ever able to send him a gift. Guess I'll have to take it off the list lol
That milling machine with the DRO on it would probably be my go-to.
Same, with an edge finder
Adam is the human form of the McMaster-Carr catalogue
(Also something I learned about from him)
Just bought one for my 83 year old maker brother-in-law. I find it odd he didn’t already own one since he used to make rocket engines.
Did all his rockets veer off center by about 2-3 feet per thousand of travel? ;P
I was really wanting you to check the result using the eyepiece again.
Holy crap, this is awesome. I'm happy you made this video! I'ma look for one...
Super cool I’ve wondered how to get tighter punch tolerances
"This one's a bit spendy, it starts about $50", meanwhile Adam says that slot punches for leather are cheap, you should buy a whole set! I have never seen a single slot punch for less than $30
I would think that slot punches would be used more often than a precision center punch. If I were doing a single or a couple precise holes and already had layout lines then I would use a optical punch if I had one. But if I need several holes, I would use a spotting bit or center drill in a mill to get my holes started then drill while it's still set up in the mill. Only exception might be very larger objects with very deep holes that need to be drilled on a radial press or larger drill press where there is not any precise way to start the holes. Slotting punches would be more often used if I were making a lot of things out of fabric and there is not as many alternatives to creating clean slots in fabric.
He's worth something like $8 million the last I saw. At those lofty heights...
David Barak „back when I made TV money“ ;-) - but still, it seems to me that he tries to make bargains at yard sales, which is kind of nicely down to earth. I know people who are not worth that much and still pay crazy amounts of money on tools.
I got one of these last x-mas from my brother, and it's fantastic! Like Adam, I have trouble getting good results from other punches.
These are great. I have been using one for a couple of years. I usually use a starret automatic center punch afterwards.
I've been wanting an optical punch for ages!
I had one, and it's one of the few tools I sold off without a backup (besides spring and solid punches). I found I just never used it.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Ask Adam to do a video on his notebooks! id love to know how we organises his thoughts and evolves an idea into a creation!
Check out his book, good stuff :).
www.amazon.com/Every-Tools-Hammer-Life-What/dp/1982113472
Wow I really need this Optical Center Punch Thanks! Cheer!
I have no use for an optical center punch, but I want one. I'm adding this to my "Things I learned today" list.
Beautiful piece of craftmanship. Thanks for this tool tip, Adam. Regards from Belfast, N.Ireland.
I got to play with one of these in trade school, I fell in love immediately.
Something sort of in the same category as this is an Optical Flat. They're really neat tools.
For checking flatness. Used a Helium Optical Flat system for a couple years before we purchased a TOPOS 100 laser interferometer flatness checker. No more wringing and counting fringes!
Wow, I need one of those BADLY! Such a cool idea that I never knew existed. Well worth the money if you ask me.
I remember you quasi covering this on a previous one day build with (I think) Laura Kampf. Love these videos!
that's a beatiful tool ! I discovered it thanks to a buddy that is a knifemaker.
Thanks! Watching this video just cost me $50 or more! But really thanks for sharing so many great videos from which I have applied or just totally geeked out over!
I have two of these, one has a modified base so I can work much closer to obstructions.
Thank you Adam.
Edge finder deserves more attention
As an ex Jeweller/goldsmith I can say the spring punch is well known for jumping/skipping on the surface. However it's the only way of creating the mark on a rounded surface such as a ring shank.
Lee Valley Tools in Canada sell an optical centre punch for about $65 (Canadian) if anyone is interested. I have one and have been very happy with it.
sounds like a good one day build
If the scribed lines come from say a height guage from a granite/steel surface table or with a scriber then you can locate the sharp punch into the groves of the scribe marks. If you get good at scribing you should only have to scribe in material that's going to be removed and use a delicate touch to plan things out everywhere else. Its an absolute art that i struggle to master as a machinist but this way I'm told you can get to 50 micron or less depending on the gear and they guy you pay. Viva la industrial revolution!
Looks like a great DIY project to me!
I like your enthusiasm!
I have one and it's just that! Awesome precision! 😎👍👊🇺🇸
Bought one after seeing this. Only noticed after that it has a 120 degree tip. Hoping that works fine.
Great stuff. I just saw someone use one on another channel and wondered what it was. I've had the same lack of success with other methods.
Yet another tool I did not know I desperatly need!
Uri Tuchman made an optical punch a while back, it may not have been the best punch but it was carved to look like Sargent Pepper.
I love this tool. The first time I saw one, I was gobsmacked.
I got myself an optical center punch from chronos in the UK.
This one you can rotate to switch between both optics and the punch.
I found it difficult to see anything because light needs to come in from the same origin my head occupies. So I have to take my head away quite a way and use a flashlight.
The bottom of the plexiglass floats a 3.5mm above the workpiece.
This means that the markings at the bottom of the plexiglass shift but about +-0.5mm depending on the exact position of my head above the center punch.
I'm thinking of replacing the base with a translucent material to get light. Maybe embed magnets to hold it in place. But it would loose all that nice weight. :/
The trick to shifting seems to be to place your head in such a way, that the crosshairs are in the center of the image and not slightly offset to any side. Then you seem to look perfectly vertical.
Hey Adam, thanks for showing this. Glad I got to meet you at NOM in Santa Fe a while back. Hey, I think my wife would get me one of these as a birthday or Christmas gift, but she's not a maker, so I can only get her to watch "my" videos for maybe a minute or two at a time, and I really need her to hear you say what a great gift it would be for a family member who is a maker. So if you don't mind, please re-edit this, and mention that it would be a great gift for me at the beginning of the video. I think that would be enough to get her to watch the whole thing. Thanks in advance! - David
I know, I know. Asking you to re-edit the entire video is too much to ask. Maybe just a new video where you say "This would be a great gift for your beloved husband..." would work just as well. Just send it out, and I'll edit it to manipulate my way into whatever tool I lust after at the moment. Maybe even roll it before a promo video for a Tesla (Plaid, please). Can't hurt, right? You rock, man.
I bought a set of starrett center punches that are my go to when I have to be on center
Now that’s something I needed years ago.
As a lay person that starts their tool collection I got a question: Is there a “weighed” variant of this tool so it tends to stay in position and you don’t have to precisely hold it down until you actually do the punch?
I had the same feeling, that my hand holding it down wouldn't be enough... Maybe if the project allowed it, a clamp could help?
Ive always done this in a drill bar and a clamp. Use the bomb site to locate it and then pull it out and use a drill bushing to drill it
This is the same question I had, I’m a right hand amputee and it being weighted would be of a paramount help.
@Aron Aimer
That would be a topic I would find extremely interesting:
How can you “properly” (and safely) work as a maker with certain physical limitations?
Answers like: “Oh well, sorry to hear that - you just can’t do this and that so just get someone to help you!” I would consider highly disappointing.
OOOOHHHH!!!! BIG UNIVERSE!!!! NOW I EXTREMELY NEED THE OPTICAL PUNCH!!!! --- (thanks good tip)
Another great tip, this is new to me. Thanks Adam
You just made a whole lot of peoples Christmases better.
What a cute tool.
I’m no machinist but I want one just so I can ask my friends if they ever herd of one then pull it out as if it was the holy grail of precision tools
You can move a punch that isn't on center, just angle the (non-spring) punch and tap again. It will shift the indent with each tap.
The more you know 🌈⭐
Adam, to bring your Apollo spacesuit to the next level spray it down with Eau de Space.
Im a precision junkie so i need one of these
Awe dude I got to get one of those!
Hi Adam, how about making one? I am sure you could find a way re-purpose a glass rod for the sight, perhaps laser etch the end with crosshairs and centre dot. Aluminium carrier, turned and milled holes etc. I have virtually made one in my head already!
Great videos, keep up the good work.
you have no idea how long ive been wondering if something like this existed.
Can you make some beautiful Savage brand tools. Tools both very functional and nice pieces to hold/display
as a Toolmaker before i took my engineering degree, i really never understod the value of the optical center punch.. i get it that it supports you in getting closer to the center, but you are basing this on that your lines made with a ruler, or some sort of measurement tool being within tolerances.. normally when drilling with precision you would use a mill or a fixed drill, then a center drill (hardened drill that is made for creating the guiding hole) (called pinol bor in danish sorry it might be called something else) and you will use reference measurements from your part, and then use the scale on your machine to align. (okay when talking about real precision, microns, then this is not a solution, but that is something completely else). for me the centerpunch has only one value, it is a LOW precision tool for ensuring that you can start a thread within the area of a "free hole" in another part.. so there you would have 0.25 ish mm you can move. dependent on thread size, and that might be good enough with a centerpunch.. normally only use it in woodworking.
Even if it is a bit pricey, it’s the *Hole-y Grail* of precision.
Ave made a great video on center punching and how to correct them(?).
I have always used a punch and a hammer, it has never failed me.
When I were a lad, we used to DREAM of having a punch and hammer....
Hi Adam, Have you ever considered an Amazon store for some of these fabulous favorite tools? I must admit that I think to myself I could use that, and I make a mental note that I need to look for that. Then here I am watching a video the second time as I forgot the name when I start searching Amazon. With a link in the comments it would be so much easier.
Ooooh. I want it.