It's important to keep your tool cool if you want to punch all the way through hot tool steel and not deform your punch or get stuck. After each hit, simply dip the tool in beeswax to keep it cool. Melt beeswax and graphite powder to lubricate the tool as you're punching it. By doing that, it makes a very noticeable difference in the quality of the punching.
If you need to maintain the sharp facets on the Hammer Eye Punch, pop the handle off the tool, and dress the edges with a sharpening stone or with sand paper.
