Learned a two-blow trick from a old timer at the Oregon Shop meetup

This guy named Dale showed me how to set a drifted hole with just two solid strikes instead of ten little taps, and he did it on a 1-inch thick mild steel bar in under 30 seconds. Has anyone else picked up a weirdly specific technique like that from someone they met at a guild gathering?

2 comments

2 Comments

alexc9319d ago

I was just reading about drift pins the other day and how a lot of the old school guys swear by that two-hit method. Seems like it saves a ton of frustration compared to the modern way of just tapping away forever.

thompson.nathan19d ago

Yeah @alexc93, that "two-hit method" is legit. You give it that first solid whack to seat the pin, then one more to actually pop whatever's stuck. It's like the pin knows what's coming and doesn't fight you as much. I tried it on a seized clevis pin last month and was amazed at how clean it came out compared to my usual 50 light taps. Old school guys definitely figured out that you're not trying to hammer it out, you're trying to SHOCK it out with those two hits.