Lyle Peterson showed a prick punch he received in a video and I decided to make a copy. I guessed on dimensions and wound up with a punch that is 5 1/2" total length. The handle was designed to be made of 1/2" brass hex, the holder from 1/2" brass round, and the tip from 5/16" oil hardening drill rod (O1).
A 3" length of 1/2" brass hex was cut with a hacksaw. This was held in the lathe and faced on one end. This end was rotated about 20° and chamfered. This is the heel of the handle. The opposite end was faced, lightly chamfered, and drilled with a 9/32" drill to a depth of 2 3/4". The first 3/4" was then opened up with a 5/16" drill and tapped 3/8-16. The tap was started in the lathe and finished in a vise. The sides were sanded to 400 grit for a matte finish.
The holder was made next. The plan was to have two 3/4" ends that fit into the 9/32 hole in the handle. Between these two ends was a 3/4" length of threads. A hacksaw was used to cut off a 2 1/4" length of 1/2" brass round stock. One was faced and reduced for 3/4" to a diameter of 17/64". The end was then rounded with a file. The part was reversed in the 3-jaw chuck and the opposite end was faced and reduced as above. The end was center drilled. It was necessary to single point thread the 3/4" center section. This end was then drilled with a #13 drill (0.184). All surfaces were finished with 400 grit paper.
Threading was first attempted with a 3/8-16 die, but this bent the shaft so much as to be unusable. The single point threading utilized a 60° pointed bit, but the point was too heavily rounded. The threads produced were functional, but the crowns were too narrow.
The tip was made from a length of 5/16 O1 drill rod as that was the smallest on hand. The rod was faced and center drilled for a tailstock center and then reduced for 2" to a diameter of 0.183". The headstock was offset 12.5° and the point was cut. The tip was then heated to cherry red for about 15 seconds and quenched in oil. After oil removal the tip was reheated to a blue color. This shaft was soldered into the holder, washed in water, and placed back in the lathe for light sanding.
