M2 Steel Ball Lock Pilot Punches - Round Tip, Heavy Duty, Me

Ball lock pilot punches are used to establish repeatable registration between the upper and lower tooling sets in progressive dies and multi-station stamping lines. The round-tip geometry is well-suited for starting the punch into the partner bushing smoothly, improving alignment during high-cycle operations.

• Automotive connector and terminal stamping: consistent pilot engagement helps maintain part-to-part orientation across repeated blanking and forming steps, reducing cumulative positional error.
• Industrial appliance brackets and housings: the heavy-duty inch tooling setup benefits from the hard, wear-resistant M2 construction for stable pilot positioning over long runs.
• General blanking and die set tryout: ball lock function helps preserve the locating state during repeated punch actuation, supporting reliable progression through multiple cavities.

This variant’s M2 steel choice supports tooling life where friction and wear at the pilot interface are dominant, while the available diameter and length ranges let you match common inch die-bushing relationships.

This series offers M2 (tool steel) and PS4 as material options, selected to balance wear resistance and toughness for pilot locating components. M2 is an established high-speed steel family grade (commonly used where hardness and abrasion resistance are critical in die elements).

• M2: typically supplied as a hardened, wear-focused tool steel; suitable when repeated metal contact at the pilot interface demands high hardness and abrasion resistance.
• PS4: provided as an alternative alloy option for customers who need a different property balance while keeping the same application intent.

Heat treatment for hardened pilot components generally involves quenching and tempering (or equivalent hardening routes) to achieve stable hardness for cutting/impact-adjacent tooling environments. The key trade-off is that pushing hardness improves wear resistance but can reduce toughness; select the material and size combination that matches your press load and cycle rate.

Hardness (HRC) is not specified in the provided data, so hardness verification should be confirmed against the part’s supplied CoC/test report for your chosen option.

Selection starts by matching the shank diameter D (in) to your press/die interface bore and guide system requirements. This product lists D in the range 37 ~ 125 (in code/value as provided), so choose the diameter that fits the mating pilot hole/bushing with the intended clearance.

• Choose the correct standard point length & L from coded inch ranges: 250–600, 250–700, 275–700, or 300–700.
• Select the corresponding point length B & L / point length C ranges (same coded options) based on your drawing’s dimension callouts for point reach.
• If your design uses the reduced options, the list also specifies D point length B & L = 275–700 and 300–700.

The location behavior is also governed by P dimension (in) = 0.061 ~ 0.999, which should align with your registration depth and engagement length. Because specific tolerances are not provided in the data, engineers should apply standard pilot fit practices for inch tooling—verify clearance/interference using your bushing and hole tolerances before final ordering.