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Showerthought: a 1/4 inch punch drifting in the hardy hole taught me more than any clean forge weld demo
Last Tuesday at my shop here in Tulsa I tried holding a punch by hand on a bent rail bracket and it skated into my knuckles on the third hit. I stopped right there and cut a piece of 1 inch square stock into a holder that drops in the hardy hole, took 20 minutes and scrap I already had. Now the punch stays dead straight and I can hit it as hard as I want. Everyone says just learn to hold it steady, but why fight that when a drop in holder does it for you?
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drew_jones311mo ago
Man I felt that in my bones when I read it. I did the same dumb thing with a hot cut chisel, held it by hand and it rolled on me and clipped my off hand pretty good. After that I welded a chunk of square tube to a plate that sits in my hardy hole so the chisel just stands there on its own. Total game changer, no more white knuckle grip and I can actually watch the metal instead of my fingers. Guys will say you gotta feel the tool to control it but a loose holder does the same job without the blood. You already had the scrap, took 20 minutes, why not.
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