Small Optical Centre Punch

[Nigel Taylor]

I have an optical centre punch made by Soba, it is superb and I use it a lot. However, just recently I hit the issue that the base is too big.

So, I made a much smaller optical centre punch:

 

[Spectric]

Been looking at these with the view to get my centre marks back to where they were before my eyes started to let me down, you say superb and you use it a lot, so would you recomend one and does it give precise marks?

 

[marcros]

I have the soba version from Axminster and it is brilliant. I made one for a secret Santa present too, and it was fairly straightforward to make. the hardest part for me was polishing the acrylic and putting a dome on it of the right focal length.

 

[Nigel Taylor]

Been looking at these with the view to get my centre marks back to where they were before my eyes started to let me down, you say superb and you use it a lot, so would you recomend one and does it give precise marks?

The optical punch transformed my accuracy with a centre punch. Also, the punch is machined and held at 90° hence the indentation is symmetric. This should mean the drill bit will find the centre of the indentation, especially true of a small drill bit.

When you first drop the optical part into the holder it is amazing how clear it makes the workpiece.

 

[Nigel Taylor]

Not easy to photograph, but here I'm using a larger commercial optical centre to align on a scribed line. You can rotate the optical part and ensure it is perfectly aligned and covers the scribe lines.