Forged a drift punch from an old coil spring last week

Took an old leaf spring from a Ford F-150 I had lying around and forged it into a drift punch for my tooling holes. Heat treated it in my forge at home and it's been holding up perfect through ten uses so far. Anyone else repurpose spring steel for punches?

3 comments

3 Comments

reesel5024d ago

Hell yeah, I've done something real similar. I took a busted leaf spring off an old Dodge Ram and ground it down into a center punch, then hardened it in my homemade forge too. That thing has held its edge way better than any store-bought punch I've used, and it's been through a good 20-30 whacks on thick steel plate so far without chipping. Just make sure you quench it right and don't skip the tempering step or it'll crack on you.

dianahayes24d ago

20-30 whacks on thick steel plate and it's still going strong? Man, my last store-bought punch gave out after like, two.

julia_anderson24d ago

Leaf springs aren't really great for center punches though. That steel is way too springy and soft even after heat treat, so it'll mush out faster than a tool steel punch. A busted drill bit or an old file would hold a sharper point way better and last longer.