Punch & die set

[Gern]

Hi guys. Just a quickie.

I've recently bought a punch and die set. Having spent some time cleaning off the great gobs of vaseline that it was coated with, I've given it a light spray of WD 40.

Is it OK to leave the punches in the die holes or should I remove them and keep them separated with tissue or cloth? I don't want to find that the punches 'set' in the holes and maybe get damaged if I have to use force to remove them.

[SimonT]

Hi Dave,

I have quite a few punch and die sets and leave the punches loose so that they don't get bent by being pushed sideways

I don't do anything special - RP Toolz ones come in a card box so I just leave them in the box.
My other sets I keep loose in plastic clip seal bags - doesn't seem to have damaged them in any way

[Gern]

Hi Dave,

I have quite a few punch and die sets and leave the punches loose so that they don't get bent by being pushed sideways

I don't do anything special - RP Toolz ones come in a card box so I just leave them in the box.
My other sets I keep loose in plastic clip seal bags - doesn't seem to have damaged them in any way

So probably best to remove them from the die.

[Guest]

I’ve owned a Historex Agents punch and die set for twenty years or more, and have always kept the punches in a block of wood in which I’ve drilled some holes for them (and wrote the sizes next to them). Keeping them in the die sounds like not only asking for breakage of the smaller ones, but also making it very hard to use the tool as a whole.

[stillp]

Why would the punches be damaged by leaving them in the die? I'd have thought they'd be more likely to get damaged by unnecessary removing and reinserting.

Pete

[Gern]

Why would the punches be damaged by leaving them in the die? I'd have thought they'd be more likely to get damaged by unnecessary removing and reinserting.

Pete

I'm not so much worried about them getting damaged in the die, but what if they get stuck if I haven't put enough WD40 on? I might damage them getting them out.

[stillp]

What would make them stick Dave? As long as they're clean, and they're somewhere dry so they don't rust, they'll have no reason to stick. COuld always give them a wipe with a rag/tissue and WD40 or 3 in 1 before putting them away.

Pete

[Guest]

Why would the punches be damaged by leaving them in the die? I'd have thought they'd be more likely to get damaged by unnecessary removing and reinserting.

I suspect we’re talking about things that look rather different. The Historex Agents die I’m talking about is a small steel plate with holes in it, and a plexiglass plate with corresponding holes over it. The punches are steel rods maybe 5 cm long, and for most the ends are much narrower than the stems. Leaving these in the die means eight of them will not ony be in your way, but if you knock one too hard the narrow end might snap.