Greenlee punch issue

Hello,
I bought a greenlee punch from Amazon a while back to punch holes for valves. I finally got my pot today and went ahead to punch the hole. The punch started turning on the thread and then got stuck. I've tried everything I can think of to get it to keep threading, but I can't seem to clamp down on the tool hard enough to be able to get it to thread instead of turn. Any suggestions? Did I get a bum tool?

Thanks

Sounds like you maybe cross threaded it or have dirty or damaged threads.

Pretty sure it came like that. I'll contact Amazon for a replacement.

Same thing happened here
http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=25082

Did you buy it brand new? This reason I ask is the one in the below link looks like it's a used one.

snail said:

Same thing happened here
http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=25082

Click to expand...

I bought the 1/2 inch size at Lowe's to put some holes in a control panel for my brewery rebuild. It worked great until I got up to the 6th or 7th hole, then when I went to start on the next one it seized up on me. I checked the bolt and the die and couldn't see any issues with the threads. I ended up pulling out my tap and die set and ran it through several times to make sure the threads were clean. I also kept spraying them down with silicone lubricant. All the sudden it started working again and I used it to cut several more holes without any problems. I never did figure out exactly what the problem was but I think the threads must have been dirty (the tap and die set didn't really cut any new threads). So long story short, if it's a used set, you might have some metal bits in there that are causing it to seize up.

I have found that a good quality (lennox) hole saw works better than the greenlee punch, or a step bit. I recently cut 8 or so 1/2" holes with a lennox, and it looked like it was never used except for the missing paint. I also used a hole saw to cut the opening for my element. All of the holes were clean and accurate, so I could weld couplings in.

Bought it brand new from Amazon which is great as they overnighted me a new one. Got it today and am now all set. Thanks!

Any kind of tool that uses a threads to pull something against/through something (Greenlee punch, 3 jaw puller, etc), you should use a descent quality grease on the threads. Spray oil such as WD-40 will work for awhile, but not long term. The force pulling against the threads (in this case when the cutter hits the resistance of whatever your putting a hole in) will eventually start to pull the threads on the bolt closer together, hence the reason they lock up. If you use a good quality grease to lubricate those threads, the grease will stay on the threads better then an oil and is much better at dealing with the friction (heat) that is created when you are tghtening the punch.
tom

I started with 3-in-1, but that didn't seem to help... Anyways, it was definitely worse off from the new one I got. No amount of force with my channel lock could get it to stop budging as I tried to force it through the first time. .