I got one of those punches, very cheaply, and the same problem arose after a short time. It sat around until I started admitting that my eyes were no good and began using a magnifying loupe. Since that repair, it has worked as well as can be expected. Great vid, thanks and cheers mate!

Aw heck! Now I got to go out to Harbor Freight and buy a lathe, 6 months tutoring in community college, machine classes, to save my $7.00 punch. Seriously, I envy you machine shop types, at figuring out things to keep them working. My dad was that way. He asked me what I learned in the USAF. I was an Aircraft Weapons Specialist. I learned to load guns ammo, misses,rockets, and nuclear weapons. He just smiled. My mom thought that was too dangerous of a job for me. Ah, but the pleasure when an aircraft came back naked, used it all!

Thanks for the video, I have one sitting on my workbench all apart.

Nice one Rob 👍 I shall remember this when my one finally stops working. Cheers, Alan.

Cheers Rob , will try that with mine . Love that tool post grinder set up 👍....P.S when I got my first center punch ,and still have 40 years later, I had to convince the hardware store , that I was going to use it for its propper use , apparently they were restricting them at the time because messers were using them to smash and grab from cars,☺

Mine got intermittent on Friday. It’s like I need to bang it on the table, every once in a while. I’ll have to try this. Thank you so much! This was great timing!

I have an Eclipse type and have used it for 30 plus years, when I need to then I will perhaps have to see what what the issue is. John, Australia.

Very timely, I noticed mine playing up yesterday.

Very helpful Rob. Love the technique. Thanks. 🤠

Nice channel I’ll have back watch old stuff to catch up

G'day Rob. Keep your nose to the old grindstone.

Thanks Rob, I will go and do that to mine! Stay safe....

..i ran into the same problem...tried your fix...and it worked..thx a lot.

NOTE: DO NOT OIL the internals or it will never work. If the cheesy piston that I refaced in video was hardened or replaced with one turned from tool steel I expect the problem would go away for good. Cheers Rob

Thanks for sharing mate..got my auto centerpunch firing again

thanks for the video I enjoyed it

I happen to have the exact same automatic center punch. mine is working fine so far, but I will remember your fix, in case it starts getting a hiccup. sometimes I wonder if there is JUST ONE factory per item in China.

if you heat treat that piston it helps them to last . I had the same issue Rob ! ENJOYED..

Good video thank you for your efforts

Thanks for the tip, I have 3 of them and none work every time even my old Starrett.

Just bought one of these and I thought it was not working as when I pushed down there was no click. Got it working, but with mine it takes much more force to push down before it goes click and leaves a mark. Mine looks identical to yours, perhaps it works like this because its new and there's more force on the spring. Took it apart to see how it works and it seems like the the pin which goes in the spring is held off centre until the spring is compressed then the pin moves towards the centre and slips into the hole causing the click noise and marking the dent.I guess if someone takes off too much material off the cylinder its like reducing the spring pressure making a weaker punch. Thanks for the video man.

Got about half a dozen of those clicky things, if I ever use one enuf to piss me off this will be handy.

You've got a lathe so why don't you make a load of them then swap them out when they wear?

I've dumped a couple because I couldent figure what was wrong. Thank you.

Instead of dry newspaper to catch the grinding dust, spritz with WD40 and the dust sticks to the paper John

Apparantly another fix is to open up the tapered hole in the body just a bit. This allows the tapered lower pin to get further misaligned in the cocking phase.

*Pulls out industrial heavy lathe*

I gave up on this style center punch a few months ago because they inevitably stop working after just a few uses. Although it's interesting there is a possible fix, the design is still fatally flawed and will continue to let you down as long as you keep giving it a chance to do so. In frustration I bought a Neiko 02638A at random a few months ago for all of about $10US and it's still going strong after several dozen uses (impressive, when compared to the 2-3 uses I typically get out of these $2 ChiCom specials).

Wonder if you could case harden that little thing, then polish it up to a sharp edge. Would hold the edge for a long time then, even if it is made from the cheapest of cheap recycled mystery steel scrap.

Would it be worth making this out of a hardenable steel?

Yes that part needs to be flat but the pin also needs to be square faced

Hi Rob. I have the exact same one as does everyone else in the comments. I was wondering if it was worth the effort to try and heat treat the piston? I use it almost every day and it wears so easily the fix does not last long.

If the current piston is soft, why didn't you just turn the edge? Grinding soft materials doesn't make sense to me.

OMG....little piece of 300 grit wouldn't do the trick?... I feel like I took my cheap toro lawn mower into an authorized Range Rover frame straightening and specialty collision Center.....I'm sorry My bad. Wrong shop. I must not have been paying attention..~~~~ Was just looking for a cheap center punch repair shop around here somewheres. Oh...nice tools by the way 👍👍❗☮️

Got one of them in me shed haha behave yourself DIY it

Dont see how your grinding arrangement could make the face flatter.

To do it easy? Much quicker and easier to hit it w some wet dry on a flat block. I think what you meant was just another way to show of me Dremel doohickey

Not hard enough. Heat treat it and then polish it.