Harbor Freight Punch Set for heating element

I stumbled on a 4 die punch set at Harbor Freight today for $19.95 and the 1" pipe punch is perfect for a electric heating element install. The item number is 91201.

Ive used the set.. Yes it works, and if you are only looking to punch one or two holes you will get by.

I tried using the 7/8" punch for a bunch of holes in the kettles, and ended up buying a whole green lee set used.. there is a huge quality diff between them.

the threaded rod ended up stripping and f'd up a hole

I figured it wasn't a quality set from looking at them but a lot of homebrewers only need to punh one 1-1/4" hole for a element and $19.95 is better than ~$80 for one use.

I think I tried that set and ended up returning it. I was doing weldless and none of the punches fit for me. I traded it for a step drill. Go slow and I didn't have any problem with that.

They are conduit size, which will work out for some. The 1/2" conduit is 7/8" so it works for ball valves. I have used that set and it will work great. Just sharpen the edge with a file after every time you make a hole. The punch gets a little deformed from the hard stainless. But with sharpening one seat lasted many holes. Also the threading on the bolt of the 1/2" punch is crappy. I had to run a die over it a couple times to clean the threads up when it got a bit deformed.

I agree with JRems I have this set and I have punched 12 holes in kegs so far. The trick is to lubricate everything, make sure the cutting blades are lined up, and go slow.