Hey I have been busy and haven't gotten back to check on this one since I posted it! Scott, I will say this most I have found are made to work entirely on mild steel. Problem is sometimes I weld some mild steel and the heat will harden not enough to make anything quality out of mind you but hard enough that when I need to put a hole in and hit the center punch.
Wham, I just basically wrecked the point, it is now mushroomed and after a few more uses it is now totaled as a center punch!
Ed as for Sears, I hate to say but the old Sears and Roebuck is not what she used to be. They are on there way out. How the heck does a bankrupt company like Kmart buy out a major retailer like Sears to begin with if they are not in trouble!! The only thing that may survive out of that is the Craftsman brand and it is separate from the Kmart buy out, even though they got the right to sell the Craftsman brand in the Kmart stores! And even the Craftsman brand is no good anymore, as it all comes from China! I started buying Craftsman tools while in service. I would put so much of my paycheck into Craftsman tools every time Uncle Sam paid me. Those are still going! But some as for the ones I bought in the last 20 yrs. I can't count the number of times I had to replace the ratchets. By the sound of what you are saying Ed, that ain't gonna happen anymore! :what!:
As for an actual center punch for hardened material,............................Goggle it and no one advertises one for hardened steel!! I have a scribe with a carbide center and I have used it a time or two. I don't know why someone don't make a center punch with a replaceable carbide center!:les:
I have seen Starrett center punches, they are high but if they held up they might be worth the cost!!!! Does anyone know anything about the Starrett center punches???