Ball Lock Pilot Punches - Tapered Tip, Light Duty, Inch

Ball lock pilot punches with a tapered tip are used in injection and die tooling where repeatable die-to-die alignment is critical, especially at start-up. The tapered nose helps guide the mating bushing during initial closure, reducing misalignment risk in light-duty operations.

• Progressive dies for consumer and electronics housings: The tapered entry supports stable positioning through successive stations, improving locating consistency when part-to-part loads vary slightly.
• Transfer die components and small brackets: Use these punches in pilot stations to maintain stable die registration over multiple press cycles, helping prevent cumulative drift.
• Multi-cavity tooling requiring quick setup: The inch locating body sizes allow repeatable installs in standard pilot layouts, supporting faster changeovers with consistent alignment behavior.

Choose the light-duty tapered variant when you want guided insertion and reduced start-up force while retaining hardened wear resistance appropriate for tooling duty.

This series is offered in M2 and PS4 variants for hardened tooling performance. M2 steel (a high-speed steel, commonly referenced as AISI M2) is selected for its strong wear resistance and balanced toughness, supporting reliable pilot performance under repeated sliding/impact contact.

• M2: Typically used in a quenched & tempered hardened state for a favorable wear–toughness trade-off. Higher hardness improves abrasion resistance at the tapered tip.
• PS4: A tool steel grade option intended for hardened wear resistance with robust durability for punch applications.

Hardness is selected to resist surface wear at the point while maintaining enough toughness to avoid chipping during press start-up. Exact HRC, temper parameters, and coating are not provided in the supplied data, so confirm final heat treatment and hardness at quotation for your cycle load and wear targets.

Selection starts by matching the shank diameter D to your pilot station requirements. This series is available in inch sizes: 0.3750" (37), 0.5000" (50), 0.6250" (62), 0.7500" (75), 0.8750" (87), and 1.0000" (100).

• Choose point length via the coded L range: Standard point length & L are available in 250–600 and 250–700 (coded inch), depending on configuration.
• Verify B/C options: Point length B & L can be 250–600 or 250–700, with an additional 275–700 option for the C-coded configuration.
• Fixed constraint: One variant lists fixed D point length B & L as 275–700, so confirm the configuration code before ordering.

Use the taper to coordinate with the mating pilot bushing geometry; keep the D diameter consistent with the bushing bore and ensure your die insert tolerances allow smooth, guided entry without binding. The P dimension range 0.083–0.749 indicates a configurable geometric parameter—confirm it matches your cavity/core and interference requirements.