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Roll pin punch holder?

Bmxkelowna

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I saw something the other week and now I can't find it again to buy it.
They were little half inch or so long rubber things you could slide halfway onto your punch and then slide the roll pin you were trying to start into the other half to hold it while you get it started.
I can't remember if I saw them on here or on YouTube, any help would be awesome!
Starting a roll pin under a vehicle drives me nuts some times.
 
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Bmxkelowna

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That's one of those things I want and would use, but just can't bring myself to spend that much on.
Yeah I get that for sure. I work on only Subarus 90% of the time and the shift linkage is held on with a double roll pin (one inside the other) and putting them back on drives me insane in that small transmission tunnel
 
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Bmxkelowna

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Huh, I never knew such a thing existed.

I don't think I need this set, but next time I encounter such a situation, I'll have a good rummage through my big bin of tubing.

You learn something every day.
That's not a terrible idea I'll have to try some vacuum line before ordering a set!
 

Ingram306

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Google “roll pin starter punch”. They come in different sizes and makes. Roll pin sits inside the punch, you drive it in a little, slide the starter off then use a regular roll pin punch. I have the wheeler set and have no complaints.
 

Buckgnarly

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Yeah I get that for sure. I work on only Subarus 90% of the time and the shift linkage is held on with a double roll pin (one inside the other) and putting them back on drives me insane in that small transmission tunnel

I got mine for the stupid CV shaft roll pin Subaru used to use.
 

bigfunwmu

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Brownells has a set of roll pin starter punches that have that feature machined into the steel tip. They work nice for gun-smite projects, might work for this as well. Mostly for smaller sizes though.

 
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Iridium rand

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As someone who deals with roll pins constantly, which are regularly sheared off, seized or in impossible locations to get a good whack with a hammer, air hammer is by far the superior method to go after these. Use the klutch set of roll pin punch bits for larger sizes, use the kit from usatco for anything smaller, even use a flat hammer bit to hit standard hand punches.

Even a cheap little short barrel is superior in every way to the manual option if you don’t already have one and you’ll find use after use for it in the automotive world
 

joel63

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Huh, I never knew such a thing existed.

I don't think I need this set, but next time I encounter such a situation, I'll have a good rummage through my big bin of tubing.

You learn something every day.
Yes, everyday on GJ is a typical learn something new (and useful) day.:thumbup:
 

rlitman

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Yeah I get that for sure. I work on only Subarus 90% of the time and the shift linkage is held on with a double roll pin (one inside the other) and putting them back on drives me insane in that small transmission tunnel
BTDT, feel your pain. But those pins are metric, and nothing linked above this has the actual correct sizes (the Grace set has a 3.5mm metric and everything else is SAE). Having the correct metric roll pin punches makes the job a LOT easier. I wonder if these things come in metric as well. Might be something not available in the US (metric roll pin tools are hard to come by here).
 

bwringer

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BTDT, feel your pain. But those pins are metric, and nothing linked above this has the actual correct sizes (the Grace set has a 3.5mm metric and everything else is SAE). Having the correct metric roll pin punches makes the job a LOT easier. I wonder if these things come in metric as well. Might be something not available in the US (metric roll pin tools are hard to come by here).
Kind of a side rant...

Every so often I still run across some damfool thing like this that's nearly impossible to find in a metric version in the US of damn A, and I marvel at the decades of primitive barleycorn pigheadedness afflicting an entire nation of tool-using primates.

It's 2022, cars have been almost all metric for 40 years, and yet here we still are... Best we can do is 3/16" or 1/4" instead of 5mm or 6mm. At least 5/32" and 5/16" tools are often close enough to do the trick for most 4mm and 8mm applications.

And at least we have Amazon and other online tool sellers now. Back in the '80s, I had to work on Suzukis, Datsuns, and Toyotas with whatever I could find and grind down at Sears or Kmart, and metric fasteners were exotic items nearly impossible to source except from a scrap yard.
 

dacan23

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I posted the grace set, but should of mentioned that many people with access to a nice drill press just make their own, I would of done that if I had one, just get some steel rod stock from HD and make any size and depth you need.
 
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Bmxkelowna

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BTDT, feel your pain. But those pins are metric, and nothing linked above this has the actual correct sizes (the Grace set has a 3.5mm metric and everything else is SAE). Having the correct metric roll pin punches makes the job a LOT easier. I wonder if these things come in metric as well. Might be something not available in the US (metric roll pin tools are hard to come by here).


this is the punch set that ive recently gotten after getting standard punches stuck in the hole when they are slightly too large haha
 

bwringer

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Nice find! I didn't even know Mayhew made metric punches. Menard's stocks a very nice assortment of Mayhew stuff, but no metric products.

The following is Mayhew's set specifically for metric roll pins; there's a little dome on the end to keep it aligned with the roll pin, which is hugely helpful when installing roll pins.

This is just one example, but this set is weirdly hard to get for something so commonly needed. Poking around for Mayhew 66250 only turns up "out of stock" and extended fulfillment times. Maybe it's just a sign of the times, maybe it's a sign of our inexplicable lack of metricality. Or both.
 
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rlitman

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... Poking around for Mayhew 66250 only turns up "out of stock" and extended fulfillment times. Maybe it's just a sign of the times, maybe it's a sign of our inexplicable lack of metricality. Or both.
I see one 3rd party one for sale on Amazon for $60 right now, but camelcamelcamel shows that if I stick around, I'll probably get it for $40, so I'm waiting, since I don't use these too often.
 

Steve_P

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Mayhew was the only metric roll pin punches I could find readily available in the US ~10 years ago. At about the same time I ended up buying PB Swiss metric pin punches as that was all I could get without sourcing from overseas. Oh, this is not counting tool trucks. I love my Starrett pin punches; no idea why they can't adjust their grinders a few hours a week to make some metric pin punches.
 
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