Greenlee knockout punches: amzn.to/3PHhm4g Milwaukee Hole Saw Kit: amzn.to/4cDwaLe Irwin Unibit: amzn.to/3U0dlKM Disclaimer: Tested may earn a commission from purchases made via the links above.

@Rakanishu_Esq_Attorney_at_Law

Ай бұрын

I'm a huge fan of the channel, but feel obligated to protest its continued promotion of amazon (bad labor ethics, acceleration of late-stage capitalism, yada yada). Community > convenience. ✊

@makegrowlabrepeat

Ай бұрын

When we used to use greenlee hole punches in the manufacturing of air samplers for the nuclear power industry we used it with a greenlee hydraulic pump? Ram? Idk but there is a hydraulic part to that tool set you are missing

@pwartv3528

Ай бұрын

uni-bit? sorry Adam but thas called eh Christmas tree bit

@metern

15 күн бұрын

This was a sloooow process 🥱😴

Hi Adam. I'm so glad Dad's old tools have found a new home with you. It's nice to know they're getting a second life. Thanks again for everything you do.

@lpbaybee4942

Ай бұрын

What a kind gift! Sounds like Dad raised you right

@SomeRanDumbDude

Ай бұрын

Your username makes me happy

@derstrom8

Ай бұрын

@flatulentdragon 73 de W1FRE!

@ceptwrench3592

Ай бұрын

Cool

@thecajunvacationer3064

6 күн бұрын

Awesome gift! I’m an electrical contractor and we live on Greenlee KO punches, amazing to see an older set in the small boxes! I’ve never seen them like that as all of ours come in kits, incredible

I worked for Greenlee for 34 years. They made the punch and die sets so that electricians building custom panels could punch holes through the sheetmetal panels. These sets were manufactured at plants in Rockford and Genoa Illinois since the 50s. Besides round, we also made square and rectangles plus specific shapes such as RS232. More recently we made Slug Busters that cut the slug in half for easier removal from the die and punch and die sets for stainless steel.

@johnhicks692

Ай бұрын

Thank you, I have used the Greenlee punches for many years here in my electronics shop at Clemson U. The RS232 punch came in handy many times when building computer hardware.

@peterfox2565

Ай бұрын

As someone who built industrial controls for 17 years I use many of those punches including many non round sizes, some probably 50 years old or older. We tried several other brands but Greenlee was the standard to beat. Unfortunately if I am correct I believe they moved production from Rockford Illinois to somewhere down south a few years ago just to bust the union that had been involved in Rockford. Cost them a bit of business as they out of stock on many common components for almost a year.

@chrispy725

Ай бұрын

Slug busters are great. It's great to not have to spend an hour trying to remove a 4in round piece of steel from the knockout die

@TheNiteinjail

Ай бұрын

Knock-out punches .. makes sense if you stopped just short of cutting the plug out entirely... You'd be able to fold the plug flat and leave a "knock out"

@richardbrobeck2384

Ай бұрын

I use those punches all the time and I also have the greenlee wire crimping tool with dies !GreenLee makes some fine tools !

As a former electrician, we used Greenlee Knockout sets pretty much everyday. From 3/4” to 2”.

@Starkl3t

Ай бұрын

Same except it was battery operated

@Bonksticker

Ай бұрын

Greenlee is the brand to go,in inches,metric ,round and square.Manual ,hydrolic you name it.

@MikeB12800

Ай бұрын

@@Starkl3t we had the hydraulic press

@user-lf6vy3mw8f

Ай бұрын

Commerical solar electrician here. The milwaukee battery powered is the bees knees. 3" thru 1/8th" steel like butter. Used plenty of old hydraulic ones too

@unwired1281

Ай бұрын

Who agrees his pilot hole could have been a little bigger❓

Former locksmith here. The greatest thing about these knockout punches, you could get them in shapes other than round. We used Double D hole punches for making holes in sheet metal to install 3/4inch cam locks for metal cabinets. I've even seen oval and flat elongated oval hole punches.

@Shackman66

Ай бұрын

Same but not retired, how else can you justify more tools. Putting good locks in steel drawers was a pain until I sucked it up and bought a set. Now, mark, drill a pilot and punch. Clean, quiet, precise.

@iHamsterGears

Ай бұрын

Yes! They are super useful knocking out rectangular holes for industrial connectors. Get them the perfect size and its just easy mode, no cutting, no mess.

@ast3663

Ай бұрын

I wonder what metal thickness you cut through with these

To add some additional context to the punches you now have. Those are most specifically "Chassis punches" and were intended and used for making holes in old radio and electronics chassis back in the vacuum tube era. Greenlee made/makes several series of them the round ones are the 730 series with the 731 being mostly round shapes such as "D", "DD" and round with key way. The 732 are square and possibly rectangular. All of the chassis punches were intended for relatively thin material with 16 gauge (about .060") being the max in steel. as such the radial clearances are tighter (usually about 10% of material thickness) and the draw studs are smaller than their heavier duty knockout punch brothers. Knockout Punches are what are commonly used by electricians and are intended for up to 10 gauge (about 0.134") steel and have larger radial clearances and larger draw studs. And while you can use them on thinner materials there is a lower limit where they will not give a very clean result as they will tend to pull material through and leave a large burr. For larger punches in addition to using a wrench driven draw stud there are also manual, and battery powered hydraulic drivers that make the job much easier. where I worked building industrial control panels we had a couple of Greenlee LS-50 18 volt battery powered punch drivers and a larger Milwaukee one. I also set up tool holders to use them in my home-built hydraulic press/brake so I can punch holes in sheet metal without having to drill a pilot hole.

@richardbrobeck2384

Ай бұрын

that exactly what I still use them for !

Sitting on my lunch break after knocking holes out of steel electrical boxes all morning. Well timed sir!

@tested

Ай бұрын

!!!!!

As a resident of Rockford, IL - it's absolutely wonderful to see tools made here in my hometown show up on your channel. Inscribed on that wonderful piece is a forever link between my city and makers like you. You even mentioned several companies with names very familiar to Rockford residents - Ingersoll, Greenlee, Whitney - next time you make your way to our Coronado Theater for a traveling show, be sure to stay at the downtown Embassy Suites - converted from the old Amerock building, complete with documents, photos and artifacts of the makers who worked there. We're doing a lot in our town to reimagine these abandoned factories, creating new usable spaces, while honoring the people who made the tools that made Rockford famous. I hope you get to see all the projects as they get completed on your next trip to the midwest.

Why did I as a former electrician, who at work has used Greenlee Knockout sets, enjoy ever so much watching you demonstrate their use?

You have NO idea how warm my heart grows, to see a written letter responded to within this medium. We really should teach our kids classical correspondence. Thats a REAL dopamine hit!

The first time I got to see one was when I was in the Navy in the 80's. We were upgrading a photo film processor for aerial film, it required adding a gear drive and associated shafts. I was working beside a Kodak technician and he pulled out a set of same punches. I was so impressed with the punch set and the strength of them that I have a set till this day. I have used them for automotive work as well as modifying computer cases. You are right about the strength of them, while punching through a substantive metal sheet, we had to really crank on it and when it punched trough it made a big boom. It was enough that people from other departments came to see what happened. Little did they know that we had 8 more holes to do.

Also marked “Big balls” 😂😂

Thank you Adam, brought back some memories. I first saw and used one of these many years ago when they were included in warranty repair kits to install radiator overflow tanks in some cars. You'd drill a small hole in the radiator tank and use the punch to make the proper sized hole and then install the hose fitting. I think I still might have a couple in my junk tool drawer. Never knew what they were called and just figured some engineer at GM thought it up.

As a ham operator myself. I cant tell you what a gift you were just given, as you obviously appear to know. Those things are invaluable to knocking a hole in a panel for making all sorts of things, from window pass through to chassis mounts. Those are a serious gift to be proud of. 73 de KF6NFW

I've had those punchers for years after i received a Polish made copper sink to install in a client's home and it came with the whole accouterments of an installation including a custom made punch out kit for the copper sink (which was made to sit on top of a wood base. This punchout tool was ratcheted and would advance its extremely sharp cutting blade one half rotation for each turn of the bolt up top. A perfect slice through 4 cm thick oak. I was so impressed i went and bought a whole set of metal and wood punchers and i've been using them since then.

I used Greenlee knock out punches in the Air Force when we were installing communication systems. We had the manual setup that you have and we also had a hydraulic setup for thicker material. It was a very cool and rewarding tool to use.

I used to build industrial control panels. We used these all the time for knocking out the hole for switches and such on the door. Adam always knows what he's talking about. Some of those control panels were dang thick and with enough elbow grease they would always cut a perfect hole.

@jeffescortlx

Ай бұрын

Former control panel technician. Can confirm, we had a nice collection of greenlee punches.

Watching you have your Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor, grunt moments is priceless. "Oooh, Ooooh!" 😂

@mm9773

Ай бұрын

The Binford logo is available as a vector file - must find a friend with a laser cutter and make some machine labels and stuff.

As an IT administrator I geeked out when you mentioned you had a tool used on UNIVAC

It is crazy to see how easy that was. Really shows how much force you can apply with a simple fine pitch screw

I used these to punch holes in Land Rover sheet metal for wiring looms when I was mechanic 35 yrs ago 😊

Awesome gift! I had to use these for making holes in metal cable trunking at college. Soon as I went back on a job site it was back to hole saws!

@jeromethiel4323

Ай бұрын

You'll wear out a LOT of hole saws before you wear out a through hole punch set. As someone who has used both, you just know when a hole saw is at end of life, and you get terrible holes, and it takes forever to cut one. Even if you use cutting fluid to extend the life (which is messy) hole saws are going to wear out just due to how they work. Through hole punches shear through, rather than cutting, so they tend to wear a LOT slower. Although you can wear out a punch set, or ruin one by trying to cut something too hard for the punch to cut.

@unwired1281

Ай бұрын

Using hole saws instead of punches is like using a hammer made out of a rock and a stick.

@leemarsh3569

Ай бұрын

When you are on a job site as a contractor speed is important. And the company I worked for supplied the hole saws!

I worked for a few years in the maintenance department of a hard wood flooring factory. As a general maintenance man I spent much of my time setting stuff us for the guys with the certifications to come and finish up. If I was working with a electrician I'd use these punches to make holes for conduit and pull all the wire so all he had to do was make the final connections. They are very handy but a impact driver makes them much faster.

I've had these Greenlee punches for years. They are fantastic and by far my favorite hole punch for making a large hole in metal. Easy to use, easy to clean.

I used to do industrial electrical, built and installed huge PLC cabinets that controlled whole factory production lines. I’ve had a set of those Greenlee punches in size 3/4 to 4” in my toolset for over 20 years. They don’t get used much anymore but when applicable, you can’t beat them.

As a former Electrician I enjoyed this short video. You'll DEFINITELY want to use the BEARING on any kind of larger hole or thicker material.

Chassis punches have been around for ages ! Great tool !

greenlee knockout punches are an absolute game changer. I love them so much.

We need this for every tool type and building material, love this stuff.

What a “knock out” gift of those Knock Out punches. Very generous indeed. 👏👏👍😀

Yeah I love those things. I see that the instruction sheet actually called them chassis punches which is what I always called them. In the ham radio world they were used to punch holes in radio chassis to installed tube sockets, grommets, and things like that. I even used them to install radio antennas on car fenders. Talk about a scary processes that was definitely one scary process. Thanks for bringing back those memories.

I just want to say it’s still so cool to me to continue to see you getting so excited and making cool things. I loved mythbusters growing up largely because of your energy and passion for just making cool and weird things. Thank you for being you Adam.

Picked up a hydraulic hole punch from Harbor Freight (not sure if they are out in the Bay Area yet). Can't be beat for clean, round holes in sheet metal.

@tested

Ай бұрын

Harbor Freight's here in the Bay Area! Adam talks about them a lot.

@Mike80528

Ай бұрын

@@tested Nice. I moved out of the SF Bay Area a couple of decades ago and they didn't yet have a presence then. I thought Adam had mentioned them but couldn't specifically recall. Sure they have a lot of crap, but also a ton of great, cheap items. Love the channel!

I love those old instructions!

What a wonderful gift!

I have the same set, inherited from my Grandfather. He was big into hobby electronics way back in the 1930s.

When I was a kid my grandfather was a radio operator. It was amazing to see the equipment he had. He was able to talk to people all over the world. 🍻👍

Now you’ll need to rabbit hole the matching dimples for your beautiful punch and die set. What a great gift!

you can never have enough ways to punch holes. my grandfather had those in his shop. He was an old diesel mechanic. those were the first things i learned to punch holes with in his shop. even a little kid like i was could punch holes in sheet metal and "help" with various projects.

Great timing! I’m in the middle of remodeling my companie’s production specs for our knockout product family

Greenlee punches are available up to 6" in diameter & include odd shapes like "D" & electrical outlet "double D". Once one gets past 1.25 or 1.5 inch sizes (1" or 1.25" conduit knockouts), especially in steel, it's best to get the hydraulic ram operated punches. The ram is actuated manually as in "Porta Power" or with a gas/electric "Jaws of Life" pump.

Did you notice on the instructions that it listed "Square Radio Chassis Punches"?! You can make a SQUARE hole! How cool is that?!

Brilliant video , Fantastic tool's and a piece of history , what a gift .

i worked with my dad, we were installing a kitchen for a customer of his (between 2009 to 2016), they had bought a sink that had no predrilled holes in it for the tap, so we had to buy and use one of those to make the hole in the stainless steel sink. it was kinda fun to know that tool where as usually i dont know the tools on these show and tells lol

Hi Adam, you brought back memories again. I also have my Grandfather's hole punch set, during the second world War he used to build his own receivers and transmitters, making everything except the tubes I'm told. I also have 3 of his Morse keys, 2, single keys and a double key.. Have to do something with them soon again.

I used one of these to install an NMO antenna mount on my car so I could use my 2m ham radio while mobile. One of my all time favorite tools. They are expensive, but well worth the cost!

As an electrician you use these quite often, at least depending on the type of electrical work you do. The odd sizes come from the fact that they’re used to cut holes as/for knock outs, which come in standard sizes, and aren’t used in every demential size for cutting sheet metal, though you can find sets for sheet metal work in more sizes than for electrical. You can also find hydronic versions that can cut thicker stock easier. In the old days you’d operate them with a ratchet or breaker bar but with impact drivers today I find these easier than hydro lids, at least through 2 inches (2-1/2”). I’d suggest getting the easy cut versions which split the plug making its removal effortless; the non-easy versions can be a real pain when it comes to plug removal. One trick of the trade is that you don’t need a big hole as you only have to clear the 1/2” cutter shaft as once you have that hole simply use the 1/2” cutter to make a hole for which the shaft for the larger cutters will fit.

always fun always something nice to learn from Adam

Very nice!! I have my grandfather's sets of Greenlee slugbusters. Both with original boxes, manuals and leather carrying cases. Awesome video.

Ah tested, The only place you can get motion sickness without going anyplace. :P Being with Adam Soloing in his shop is like riding an amusement park ride.

@benjurqunov

Ай бұрын

How does Adam justify his motion sickness when homosexual special rights are under Trump's attack ?

A Knockout Punch! What a cool name for a cool set of tools. The worst thing about this channel is seeing all the tools in Adams cave that I just *know* would have that one specific use case in my projects, and I'll be cursing myself when I need it and don't have it. For example this looks great at making large yet precise holes in places it's difficult to fit a drill.

Nice Gift I have been using those for years and they are great when I am building a chassis for ampifier !

They also offer a ball bearing bolt drive screw that makes it easier to turn them through thicker metal like 1/8" aluminium. I punched a lot of connector holes using those in years gone by.

Ohhh I love these knockout punches. I've recently been making a control panel that required a *whole bunch* of 22.5mm holes, so i bought a 22.5mm punch, and it's been awesome fun to use.

Maybe it's Monday morning kicking in but I had a funny hunch he was getting to Greenlee punches. I learned about them from the greybeards at work and we have many "sets" floating around. Great tools!

I love my Greenlee Knockouts!

My dad, who was a ham, had one of those punches, in exactly that box! I still have it, but it's badly rusted. I believe these punches were popular with hams of his era for making mounting holes for vacuum tube sockets.

In our shop in Redwood City, we use those to punch 2" holes in dash boards to install Stuart gauges.

As a ham and audio enthusiast, Greenlees were used all the time for antenna connectors and mic xlr plugs. Had these in the 70’s!

Fantastic tool! Not seen those before

I've been wanting to get a hydraulic punch set for a while now. Amazing tool.

This was a sloooow process 🥱😴

@metern

15 күн бұрын

I would use a motorized thing instead of that wrench 😉

These are awesome. I use a set weekly. They are perfect for Mil circular connectors on prototype boxes.

I just wanted to say that i love how Adam doesn't automatically assume a gender when subscribers ask him questions or send letters. Even with names that most likely would be typically male or female he pretty much always talks about 'they' because Adam doesn't know what gender that person identifies with. Heartwarming.

I could see this being useful for making precision holes in the centre of large sheets of metal.

When cutting heavier stock, use a bit of cutting oil on the threads to prevent galling under torque. Mos of those heads can be turned with a 16-point socket and a ratchet to speed things up a bit. I'm a service tech on locks, etc - we use a similar but very purpose-built punch called a "double-D" that is used to mount key lock shells in steel cabinet doors, drawers, etc... You can also expand your collection - there are portable hydraulic 'porta-power' style punches like those as well that can blast holes in sheet metal even faster than the hand-tightened ones... almost essential when you need to make several dozen holes in a big Hoffman box or other blank enclosure to connect conduit to it or add round control devices through it.

Adding a thin thrust bearing between the die and the screw head will make it even easier to punch your holes.

I worked in a custom stainless shop we had the hydraulic version of these. It's just an incredible tool.

All of those I used here in Sweden in the 60's-70's and the Greenle type we also had as squares. I worked in a metal shop.

This end shot was somehow poetic.

I love using knockout punches for electrical panels.

This gave me a flashback to helping my father install a 6 foot long stainless steel sink in the darkroom he built in the garage. We had to make holes in the backsplash for the existing plumbing to stick through, we tried using one of those punches and the steel was too thick and it rounded the points on the punch. We ended up have to get a hole saw to finish it off.

There are square versions of these things. Would be great to get one that fits some IEC plugs.

Excellent tools for electrical cabinets - saves getting conductive metal chips everywhere (apart from the small pilot hole)

I have a mix-match set of about 20 knockout punches that I got from my grandfather when I was in high school. A few are Greenlee, but there are other brands as well. Also included were a pile of tap and die cutters as well. I'm pretty sure that all of them pre-date wwii. I use them once in a great while. They still work great!

I used these to make bigger holes in computer cases that still had all electronics in as well. Since we were just enlarging existing holes these were really nice since there's no dust and shavings created.

I do lots of gussets in sheet metal that require 3/4” hole and after blowing through many hole saws just discovered these punches! Life is good 😂💪🏻

🎉🎉🎉I’ve had one of these for years now had no idea what it was….. cheers

I have a set of those punches, 3/4" to 2½". We called them chassis punches. Used them many times when building short track race cars many years ago. The first set was the first purchase I ever made from Harbor Freight when they were strictly a mail order outfit. Used and abused those, later bought a set from Northern Tool that I still have. They sold the punches and a few other items at a discount when I put their name on the quarter panels of my race car.

My father in law was an electrician (who i worked with for many years). We used these all the time to knock holes in panels for pipe. Since he passed, I've received the task of going through all of his stuff... and deciding what to do with it all. I'm a sign painter, and pinstriper, who also builds custom cars. Yesterday I was making a mount for some under dash guages, and needed 2 2inch holes. I remembered his piles of hole punches, and thought they would be perfect. And they probably WOULD have been,.... if they were in better shape, and... I wasn't trying to go through semi thick stainless steel. I went and bought a 2 Milwaukee hole dozer. But these punches ARE rad

Those are great when doing electrical we also have a hydraulic set for doing thinker plate of pinching holes up to 3 inches. They are a great tool for knocking out holes very quickly.

In my workplace we used these things to knockout holes for glands and pushbutton locations. Doing 50 or so at a time was a complete pain to do, even with a socket head, but they did make a very nice and accurate hole if presentation is a key factor. I live in England and we call them Qmax cutters, though I believe thats just the brand name. In recent years we upgraded to a modern hydraulic punch setup and it has been a godsend on time efficiency. Don't get as much of a workout doing it though haha!

Great tool. Thank you. J

Step drills are my favorite, but the greenlees are great for larger holes when you need a lot of control.

Great video sir

Way back in the early 70's, I used the Greenlee punch to make the holes for vacumm tube sockets. And yes, it was for my ham radio transmitter. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that they are still available.

Adam thank you for the word of the day "modality/modalities" covers size, shape, color, texture ect, modality! Awesome sauce. You doing okay? Really doing okay? Little to no distortion, all takes place on the plug, that's cool.

The crown is very convenient to use in a machine or in a hand drill for wood. Steel requires a stable, stationary fastening If the crown has interceded with the teeth, you can sharpen the teeth with a file for the saw by hand, the main thing is to maintain the exact angle of inclination so that the teeth turn out smooth) of the sheet or part.

Way back in the mists of time (40+ years ago) when I started out as an apprentice mechanic in a Vauxhall(GM) workshop, back when cars needed actual mechanical radio aerials (even electric ones for the rich!) we used a punch like this to make the 3/4" hole in the front wing (fender). I had never seen one before then, used it a hundred times while I was there, but have almost never seen one since, till now!

@tested

Ай бұрын

Wow!

Ive had a set of knockout punches for years , they were passed down from my dad. Mine go 3\4 - 2 Inch. Just used them the other day when i built a tool holder rack for my 5C collects . They work so well on sheet metal there is no clean up around the edge. No ragged cuts.

On my hole punches there are marks on it every 90 degrees so you can align it and get your hole exactly where you want it. Those things are in every electricans tool kit. I highly suggest getting the hydro unit for it. It is night and day compared to doing it with a ratchet.

As an electrician I've used these for years and square ones for panel building in the UK

More tools please and thank you

made my day!

Had to laugh so hard when I watched 0,14. Holes and big balls in the same drawer. 😂 a dirty mind is a joy forever. 🤭

We use these to cut holes for parking sensors into car bumpers, they create a perfect neat hole that nothing else can do.

As a 50 year plus tinkerer and ham radio operator I immediately recognized those distinctive boxes.

I have an amazing Greenlee punch kit that goes up to 2 inch. I used to use it to install electric heaters in stainless steel water tanks. I do not use it much these days but I will never part with it....just in case.

I bought an electrician set for 1/2", 3/4", and 1" conduit back in 1973 in a leather tube for $12. Still have them after cutting hundreds of holes while running conduit. Salesman made the mistake of telling a group of us he would sell them for the $12 and we all took him up on it. I think they went for over $20 at the time so he didn't make any money. Greenlee made top grade tools back then.

Those are wonderful punches, and an awesome gift! Way back the '80s when I was first doing computer modding on my C=64 and other machines of the era, I had one to punch holes for the D-sub 9 connectors used for serial ports and Atari joysticks, and they also made them for the larger D-sub 25 serial and Centronics printer ports. There really wasn't any other _good_ way to make those holes cleanly....