Starrett Steel Automatic Center Punch with Adjustable Stroke - 5" Length, 9/16" Punch Diameter, Lightweight, Knurled Steel Handle - 18A

This is the Rolls Royce of punches. The standard. Buy once, cry once. A Starrett is a tool you keep your eyes on, because your buddy will try to steal it.

High quality. Nice weight to it. Plenty sharp. Perfect size. I think that checks all the boxes. It also comes in a nice box that I use to store it in

So let me tell you a story. I work in the automation industry for warehouses and mailing. I had to assemble 79 pulleys with flanges on both sides that needed to be pressed down and swaged. Unfortunately the tool they had does not work well at all and I had to resort to manually punching 8 points around the flange both sides to ensure it stayed properly and securely in place. That's 16 points per pulley x 79 = 1,264 hits x 3-4 hits per initial hit to ensure the material went over the flange to hold it in place. Thats a whopping total of roughly 5,056 total hits in a 8 hour shift. NOT ONCE did the punch seize up or give me any trouble. the tip still retains its sharp point and the punch still works smoothly and effortlessly compared to the junk one at my job they gave me originally that at every 3-4 presses it would seize up and not want to follow through. If this doesn't scream quality and durability then I don't know what does. Starrett know what they are doing and do it well. Fantastic tool, it won't let you down.

Great center punch. You Cant beat Starrett quality. I had an older one for years and it grew legs and waked off.

I've used this hundreds of times and have yet to dull the tip.

Great punch for wood or light metal. For hardened steel you would need 18C. My only complaint is these things must sit for a long time before they are shipped. My 18C was full of rust and had surface rust. It also has many metal shavings inside. No metal in the 18A but full of rust as well. 5-10 minutes is needed to disassemble clean, and oil and these punches are flawless. The 2 I bought I wouldn’t even use them until they are detailed and cleaned up. If it wasn’t for this, 5 stars!

Startet never let you down.Perfect.

You get what you pay for. You can tell it's well made just from opening the box. Works great.