Reading a 150 year old smithing book gave me a new trick for punching holes

I picked up a reprinted book from 1865 at a flea market last month, just out of curiosity. It had a section on punching holes in hot iron that I always do with a drift and hammer. The old method was to use a tapered punch and then flip the piece over and drive it back through from the other side. I tried it on some bracket blanks last Tuesday and the holes came out way cleaner with less time spent filing. It also saved me from making a separate drift for each size hole. Has anyone else dug through old trade manuals and found a tip that still works well?

2 comments

2 Comments

tessa_kim33d ago

Old tricks often beat new ones.

evan_morgan813d ago

My buddy tried an old carpentry manual trick and it warped his whole shelf.