Hi, I am new here.
After reading some of the pioneers' post. There are lots of good experiences.
Here I want to share some of my experience.
1, for making punches, go to flea market my some used Allen wrenches, they are good steel, shape them on a grinder/sander as long as do not over heat them. Especially the little bends use it to make off center punches. The hexagon body is better to control when you hold it.
2, When grinding, grind the tip first, if grind the body first; you will push the heat toward the tip to get over heat fast.
3, for hardening, not everyone has a temperature control kiln, my experience is to heat the steel to orange, complete orange, make sure it is orange thought-out, with no black shadow. Then quench. To anneal, use a soft flame to heat the body, watch the color that moves toward tip to get a desire color, then through it to cool oil/water.
O1 stands for oil hardening; W1 stands for water hardening, A1 stands for air hardening.
I wish these can help somebody.
Best regards.
yloh