Thursday, August 30, 2012

A nifty tool to sharpen a punch cutter


Some say you cannot sharpen a cigar punch, it's a round blade. Well I beg to differ! If the manufacturer can put an edge on a cylindrical blade, then why is it not possible to sharpen one yourself? Enter my gun and mechanic background. I have always found it easier to make a special tool or find one that may not have been created for the task you're asking it to do. Sometime you have to think outside the box of cigars. A tool designed for chamfering and deburring spent bullet cases when reloading, does a good job of sharpening a punch. It can be used to sharpen outside, inside, or both. The pointed end is for the inside and the other is for the outside edge. I know you can mail your warranty equipped punch in for sharpening, but how long does it take to get back? With this simple tool, ranging from 14-20 bucks at midwayusa.com you can do it yourself in seconds. The key is applying very light pressure to ensure you don't take too much metal off while sharpening. These things are designed to shave edges and do a very good job at it. The fact that it is tapered allows it to sharpen a variety of sizes. You could even make a punch to take camping or fishing out of a spent shell case. if you're like me taking anything you are attached to camping or fishing usually means losing it. Just find the shell with the size mouth you want and use this tool to get it razor sharp. I would not recommend storing this "bullet" punch that you have made inside your herf  a dor with your cigars, the residue left behind by firing the shell will most likely taint your cigars. Carefully drilling a hole near the rim of the shell case would allow you to attach a keyring, chain, or a piece of paracord. I hope you found this useful and I recommend practicing on a cheapie before using this on a more expensive punch. Just like when sharpening a knife, it's all about the right angle and pressure. Slow and steady wins the race!
RCBS Chamfer and Deburring Tool 17 to 60 CaliberHornady Chamfer and Deburring Tool 17 to 45 Caliber

3 comments:

  1. I was looking for a way to sharpen my punch when I came across this article. Brilliant!! I've been a reloader for decades. I just used my RCBS case prep center (mechanised) to hone my punch cutter and it worked fantastically! Good call!

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  2. That's an awesome idea will check out some spent casing for cigar punch and will check with a buddy that reloads and try the burring tool

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