Made a pricking iron from a bit of copper bus bar I had. I ordered a bunch of 250/27LP sewing machine needles.
2.5mm holes drilled and it’s a perfect fit for the needles. Started off nicely but got caught by drilling copper too fast. Just bound up and broke a drill in the hole. Ffs. Dropped the drill press RPM down to 580 and that worked well.
I will now make a single awl using one of these needles, and a double and quad pricking iron.
Brilliant! How are the needles secured to the holes in the copper?
Very snug fit and then soldered in place.
Just made a 4 needle one today. Everything was great until I discovered that the copper block shifted very slightly while drilling hole number 3. I guess I will try again at some point. Grr. Hehe. Good things take time I guess 🤣