OT Maybe - Need very small drift punches

Use drill blanks which are available from most good machinists' supply houses.

Bob

When I need very small drift punches I cut off a piece of allen wrench and force it into the drilled end of a softer 1/4" rod. Sometimes I do this using needles from a junk needle bearing, works great but tiny allen wrenches are easier to find.

Good idea, Nick. Also an idea might be a set of number size transfer punches.

Brownell's has just what you need, but maybe at a price you don't want to pay. I bought mine back when they were quite a bit cheaper. They have a set of three very small punches that use headed die ejection pins. Once you see one, it wouldn't be that hard to make up the punch body and pin holder and just get the pins. The advantage with them is that when you inevitably break one, you can stick in a replacement pin, pronto. You can also cut the pins shorter for starting purposes. They also carry very small roll-pin punches, if you need some of those, too. 1/16" is about the smallest I've seen for the conventional sort of punches in the hardware store, anything smaller made in one piece tends to be pretty fragile.

Stan

Brownells sells a set with .039", .060", and .091" pins that come in two lengths and have replaceable tips. The replacement pins (two lengths) are available in packages of six. Search their site for replaceable pin punches

You might look at using those small, hand held, drill chucks (like a small 4 jaw collet) that are normally twirled between your fingers and making your own punches out of drill rod. If you set the drill rod against the bottom of the chuck it will work for lighter driving forces.

They have some other nice punches (starter punches, roll pin punches, cup tip punches, etc.) but not much in the size you are looking for.