I recently bought a new set of gasket punches because the range of my existing set was rather limited.
One of the problems with these punches is how to orient them on the work so the hole is centered about some desired point. To solve this problem, I took the handle from the old set and drilled a 5/32" hole into the end. I made a pointed 5/32" indicator to be a sliding fit in this hole and reclaimed a spring from a ball point pen that is a loose fit in the hole. The spring is inserted into the hole followed by the indicator and thus the indicator can retract into the hole when pressure is applied to the tip.
In use, the indicator point is placed on the desired center point and the punch is lowered onto the work thus centering the punch around the desired center point. When the punch is struck, the indicator retracts into the hole against the spring.
Despite the fact that the idea for this sprang fully-formed into my mind while showering, I'm reluctant to claim it as original. I suspect I saw a version of it somewhere in the dim past which my eidetic visual memory retained despite the fact that all traces of the event have evaporated from my evermore sieve-like memory.
