Starrett Automatic Center Punch with Adjustable Stroke - 125mm Length, 14mm Diameter Tapered Point û 18A

Back in the day I was calibrator and used lots of Starrett gear and never realized they made auto punches. I went looking because I lost my Home Depot General punch. I think it cost about 1/8 the price of the this one but damn what a difference. This thing punches like a mule (or maybe it was the 18C)...Does not matter both are awesome! I was almost thought I had received a defective one when it came. For some reason I could not get it to punch on pressing it. Then I pressed harder and still could not get it to go so I took it apart. I think its only 4 parts or something but I found the issue. I figure this one was build on a Friday or just before a holiday because it still had some machining bits inside the mechanism causing it to jam. Shame, shame on QC. No worries though as a quick cleaning and a bit of new lube and it was as good as new...because it was new. I thought this was weird because I had just purchased an 18C and it worked right out of the box. These work so much better than the junk you buy at the Depot or Lowes. This is one of those lifetime tools you can give to your great, great grand kids.

I’ve used quite a few of these, and this one seems to be the best quality and most consistent. Easy to hold, durable, and simple. You’re paying for quality, after all it is a starrett. I use this multiple times a day at work and haven’t had any issues. The cheaper ones tend to break, so it’s worth spending a bit more to have a reliable tool Would recommend

Spot on punch

Works as described

A good tool brand, works as it should, great for homegamer or a professional.

Does what it should. Only thing would maybe be a little heavier spring. Gotta cycle it a few times on steel if you want a pilot bit to stay centered. Also this thing is the Achilles heel of tempered glass. I also work in the window and door industry and this is useful for breaking glass (especially tempered) in a controlled manner for disposal.

Some time ago, I bought a General Tools automatic center punch &I was always disappointed with it. It was always very hard to push to get it to trigger, no matter how I adjusted it. Also, the tip would always loosen with each punch. But the worse thing is no matter how I had it adjusted, & no matter how carefully I pushed down, When it triggered, the tip ALWAYS jumped off the cross scratch about a 64th of an inch. No good for any precision work. With this Starrett punch I dont have ANY of these problems. The mark is not quite as deep as my old one, but if the job requires a big deep mark, I just put a regular center punch in the little dimple & use a hammer to make it deeper. After putting up with my old General for too long, Im a happy camper now.

I end up snapping this thing 6-7 times on corrugated 24 gauge metal sheeting on my metal building. It does the job and feels well made, but just wish it had a bit more mass to leave a better impression in the metal.

I expected high quality from Starrett. I splurged and purchased the punch I knew I could rely on. My reliance was misplaced. After probably 20 punches it started slipping like a cheaply made counterpart . Save yourself the money and buy 5 cheap punches.

This is my second Starrett Automatic Center Punch. The first one I bought 6 years ago and it has been handed down to a journeyman on my team and he is using it daily. Guys on my team have used several different brand Auto Center Punches over the years. Starrett makes the best... hands down. With others the center point starts to dull over time or the mechanism starts to malfunction and it is worthless. I used broken off-brand with a hammer and it exploded into pieces.... so dont do that.