In metalworking, a drift pin, drift pin punch, or simply drift, is the name for a tool used for enlarging holes, or aligning holes prior to bolting or riveting metal parts together. A drift pin is not used as a punch in the traditional sense of the term. A drift pin is used as an aid in aligning bolt or rivet holes prior to inserting a fastener. A drift punch is constructed as a tapered rod, with the hammer acting on the large end of the taper. The tapered end of a drift punch is placed into the semi-aligned bolt holes of two separate components, and then driven into the hole. As it is driven in, the taper forces the two components into alignment, allowing for easy insertion of the fastener. Unlike most punches, force should never be applied to the tip of drift pin.
Drift pins are especially useful for aligning fastener holes in structural steel members. Spud wrenches used for assembling trusses and steel beams have tapered handles to use as drift pins.
Famous quotes containing the words drift and/or pin:
“But now they drift on the still water,
Mysterious, beautiful;”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“A man is a beggar who only lives to the useful, and, however he may serve as a pin or rivet in the social machine, cannot be said to have arrived at self-possession.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)