homemade large ring punch

Joined Jan 2007
189 Posts | 0+
Seattle
I like punches. Neat clean easy way to open a cigar. But on larger ring sticks I feel I'm shorting myself because most punches cut a 24ish ring hole, no matter the size. I figure cigars are rolled large for a reason, so I want a draw that matches. Enter your standard guillotine. Which works. But, and maybe its because I don't have a Xikar, the cuts are never as neat, clean, or easy. So I thought, why not have a large ring guage punch.

For 40cents I bought a copper pipe coupler. Essentially just a short bit of copper pipe, smooth and cylindrical. A touch over an inch long and just shy of 5/8" across. I took a dremel to one end to give it an edge.

I just tried it out on a 50 ring stick and it worked alright. Actually came closer to the edge than I thought, but worked pretty well. It'd be perfect for anything over 50. I may try a slightly smaller coupler as I do buy a fair number of 50s :) For 40cents and about 15 minutes time, it was a worthwhile experiment.

It makes me wonder, why such a critter doesn't exist.
 
That's a good idea. I don't use punches as I have two Xikars though. 8)

Many people use spent bullet casings. Depending on caliber you could get a larger than normal hole fairly easily. If you don't have the ammunition though I guess it would make it more difficult. I wonder if you could pick them up at a gun range?
 
I just use a pocket knife on large ring cigars. I cut a circular hole in the cap with it, so the result is quite similar to using a punch aside from the hole being slightly out of round the vast majority of the time.
So far so good. I've had substantially fewer problems with cracks, etc. doing this than using my Xikar. Just don't try this with a torpedo.
 
Any shooter would be glad to give you some spent shells. I use .30 Carbine for most of my cigars. With any shell casing, you can use your Dremel and a cone-shaped stone to sharpen the inside of the case mouth, or put the stone in a vise and turn the casing by hand (doesn't take much sharpening). Drill out the primer pocket for pushing the plugs out the front with a toothpick. .30 Carbine is a very usable size hole (same as any .30 caliber) and the shell is long enough to get a good grip on. Another excellent .30 caliber shell is the 7.62x39. This is a short, bottle-necked rifle cartridge (AK-47) with a mild steel case, which holds an edge better than brass. The shoulder of the case serves as a stop so you don't split the cap. With these shells, you can drill a large hole in the side at the big end for cleaning. You can find these by the thousands any place they shoot rifles. Getting it sharp is key, because a sharp punch will cut the cap and penetrate the filler without twisting the cap off.
 
I like to V cut with my pocket knife/keychain, thats how a man cuts his cigar.
 
Banihex said:
I like to V cut with my pocket knife/keychain, thats how a man cuts his cigar.

A grown-up man doesn't have to anything a certain way to prove it.
 
DIY Plug Cutter

I also have been looking for multi sized cutters and tried a number of homemades.
Most lose their edge quickly.
I recently bought a cheap hollow punch set at Harbor Freight ($9). It includes 6 hollow punches from 1/8 " to 1/2 ". They are cheap and poorly sharpened, but are made of tool steel which will hold a good edge. Pick the sizes you want and touch up the edge and you will have the size you want with a long lasting edge.
One additional benefit is the punches have a drill chuck spindle that unscrews. I took two punch sizes, removed the spindles and used a 1/2 inch piece of a 10-32 bolt to screw into both punches to make a two ended punch having two different sizes.
Shrink Tube covers the joint between the punches where the screw holds them together. Rubber caps might work if you want to pocket the tool.
Sorry could not attache photo.