New Tekton USA-Made Punches

Earlier today, when seeing if there any new Tekton tools hitting the market, I learned two things. First, there’s a new “limited time” 25% “coupon” that you can use on (1) Tekton pliers product – I reposted about this deal here a little earlier. I also learned that Tekton is coming out with new punches.

There are 3 new sets, and maybe more to follow. There’s a 7-piece pin punch set, a 7-piece roll pin punch set, and an 18-piece gunsmith punch set. All three sets come with a labeled solid walnut bench block, which organizes the punches and keeps them at the ready.

All of the punches feature reverse-tapered (slightly narrower wider) tips, hexagonal shafts, and what looks to be laser-etched markings. As Jerry pointed out in a comment, a tapered tip would be slightly narrower than the shaft, while a reverse tapered tip would be slightly wider than the shaft. This way, there’s less potential for a punch’s shaft to be frictionally stuck inside a like-sized hole when punching out a part.

Pin punches are great problem-solvers, and if you’ve never used them before I encourage you to keep this information in the back of your mind. In general, pin punches are used to remove internal cylindrical components from their assemblies, typically with a hammer (ball pein or similar) used to provide the driving force.

Pin Punch Set

The 7-piece pin punch set (66533) comes with sizes 1/16″ through 1/4″:

• 1/16″
• 3/32″
• 1/8″
• 5/32″
• 3/16″
• 7/32″
• 1/4″

Price: $30

Buy Now(via Amazon)

Roll Pin Punch Set

The 7-piece roll punch set (66536) comes with sizes 1/16″ to 7/32″:

• 1/16″
• 5/64″
• 3/32″
• 1/8″
• 5/32″
• 3/16″
• 7/32″

Instead of 1/4″ size as with the pin punch set, it comes with a 5/64″ punch size.

What’s the difference between a pin punch and a roll pin punch? More on that in a bit.

Price: $30

Buy Now(via Amazon)

Gunsmith Punch Set

The 18-piece gunsmith punch set (66564) comes with the same punches as included in the 7-piece pin punch set, plus the same pinches as included in the 7-piece roll pin punch set, plus a 1/4″ roll pin punch, 1/16″ and 3/32″ solid punches, and a 5/16″ center punch.

Price: $50

Buy Now(via Amazon)

Pin Punch vs. Roll Pin Punch

You could sometimes use a regular pin punch on roll pins, which are hollow-centered cylindrical spring pins with a split down one side, but not without damaging them. If you want to reuse a roll pin, you’ve got to use a roll pin punch, and even then there’s no guarantee that you won’t damage them.

Pin punches are used for pushing out solid pins, metal dowels, and other such materials. Roll pin punches are the better choice for pushing out roll pins.

You should not use a roll pin punch on solid pins. They have a small protrusion at the center of the tip, for supporting the hollow walls of roll pins from the inside. Using them on solid pins can damage the pin, the roll pin punch, or both.

Tekton also includes 2 “solid” punches and a center punch in their gunsmith punch set. The center punch is for setting the starting point for a drill bit, so that it doesn’t wander, and the solid punch looks like a drift, or alignment punch.

Is a solid punch different from a drift/alignment punch?

Who Makes These?

It looks like these punch sets are made by Wilde for Tekton. Wilde offers many more punches and set options, although it looks like Tekton’s pricing is very competitive. These Tekton sets also come with walnut bases instead of Wilde’s simpler vinyl pouches.

Buy Now(Wilde punches via Amazon)
Buy Now(Wilde punches via Home Depot)