How to Put Together a Center-Punch Tool

Make center-punch tools from old screwdrivers.

Woodworkers use center-punch tools to create divots in wood. The divots can then be used as a pilot hole for proper positioning of a drill bit. Woodworkers usually have a variety of these handy tools available with different tip sizes. Homemade versions are typically created from cast-off screwdrivers, nail sets or any other small, hand-held tool that has a broken end. You can create a center punch with a block of wood and any sharpened piece of metal. Center-punch tools take an incredible beating so it's best to make your first one from a broken screwdriver with a handle that is intact.

Things You'll Need

• Safety glasses
• Used screwdriver, preferably Phillips
• Bench grinder

Instructions

1. Put on safety glasses. Face the bench grinder and turn it on. Hold the screwdriver horizontally, pointing at the wheel of the grinder.

2. Push the tip of the screwdriver into the wheel until orange sparks shower from the bottom of the wheel. Twist the handle of the screwdriver until the end is flat.

3. Push the tip into the wheel. Grind it away until it is completely blunt.

4. Walk around to the side of the grinder. Hold the screwdriver so that the tip is now at a 90-degree angle to the wheel. Hold the blunt end of the screwdriver against the wheel until it showers sparks.

5. Spin the screwdriver in your fingers slowly, rounding and tapering the tip from the front backward, about 1/2-inch. Focus on rounding the tip of the screwdriver into a cylinder. Stop grinding when the circumference on the end of the screwdriver is 1/16-inch.

Tips & Warnings

• Make several sizes of center-punch tools by grinding the tips into larger or smaller circumferences.

• Phillips screwdrivers are easier to grind than flathead screwdrivers.

• Do not let sparks fly into combustible materials when grinding center-punch tools.