Star punch rack

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
I am looking at making a rack to hold the punches for my Star. Thinking of a 1/4 x 1-1/2 hunk of 6061. Drill and tap holes 1/2-27 for punches. Leave room to mark the size on the rack.
If I want to make a mount to put on the wall what do you guys suggest? I was thinking of a couple chunks of the same Al stock and mounting the rack with a few screws. I could easily countsink for the heads or use a pan head screw and leave them exposed.

Comments?
 

Rick

Moderator
Staff member
Altoid's. :D

I take the lid off an Altoid's tin, put both punches and dies in them and store them in a felt lined wood machinist tool box. The tin's keep the felt from getting gooked up with lube, inside the box has done a good job of keeping them from rusting.

Also keeps your breath fresh cause ya gotta empty the tin's first. :D
.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
I haven't had Altoids in years.

Rick, that doesn't let me use my new drill press. It isn't as much about the end product as it is the challenge of making it.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
It would work well.
I need to come up with something. Current situation isn't cutting it.
Luckily I don't have to deal with the little lock nut for the punch. Only own one and it sits on the lathe headstock as a test nut for making a new punch.
 

Rick

Moderator
Staff member
I never use the lock nut either but I think I do have one. Better off to leave the punch free float and self center on the bullet base.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
It takes so little time to adjust the depth too. After a few years of use I can get it close the first time. 3-5 bullets and I have it right.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
if you use a bullet feeder you need the locking nut to hold the bolt in place to operate the rod.
I described the peg board I use in the PM exchange we had earlier.
before that I just used a fishing lure box, I think it still has 1-2 top punches I have left over from when I tried a lyman sizer that one time.
[literally one time] as in one bullet and I was on the phone to magma ordering a star.

depending on the space you have behind your sizer or how close to the wall it is will dictate what you build.
if your gonna hangi it on the wall then some angled pegs would be in order.
if you can lean it back against the wall and use the bench surface as a base then drilling everything 90* out and adding the lean into the holder mount itself would work best.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
Yes, 1/2-27 is an oddball size. For some reason that is what Star sizers use for threads on the punches. No idea why.
 

Winelover

North Central Arkansas
Come on Brad......you work in a Pharmacy. You have access to a whole host of pill bottles. That's what I use. Store top punch in one size and the sizer in another. Keep the punches separate because of dual usage. Use a grease pencil to mark the top of the cap. Store standing upright in drawer of bench.
 

Ian

Notorious member
Brad, MAKE a tap. All you need is some tool steel, your lathe, and a Dremel. It doesn't have to be four-flute, and the holes don't have to be minimum minor diameter, maybe only halfway between major and minor, so you can cut half-depth threads with an improvised tap to make the cutting more easy.
 
F

freebullet

Guest
It's rare, but winelover & i are on the exact same page on this one.
 

KeithB

Resident Half Fast Machinist
Do you have a 1/2-27 tap? MSCDirect doesn't carry them. I'm sure other places do, but if MSC doesn't that tells me that the item is not common and likely fairly expensive.

External thread dimensions, Class 2
Major dia: .4922 to .4988
Pitch dia: .4678 to .4717
Min dia: .4492

Internal
Major dia: .5000
Pitch dia: .4729 to .4780
Min dia: .4550 to .4650

Tap drill would most likely be 15/32" for cut threads.

Could you just drill a 1/2" hole and roll an O-ring on the threaded stem that sticks thru the rack? Maybe I am not understanding what you are trying to do, but cutting oddball threads has long since ceased to be fun in my world.
 

smokeywolf

Well-Known Member
If you have your mind set on tapping a 1/2-27 thread in your rack, I'd do what Ian says and make a tap. 1/2-27 is a UNS thread, but good luck finding a tap or at least one that you can justify the price on.
Otherwise, I think I'd toy with the idea of seeing if I could fudge it with a 1/2-28 thread. If I understand this correctly, you're just looking to keep the punch from falling out of the rack, so all you really need is engagement of say, 1 to 2 threads.