Brass Slot Drift & Pick Set

Brass yields before the part you are working on does. That is the same reason gunsmiths use brass punches, and it is the reason these drifts are brass. You can seat a slot wedge, free a stuck coil leg, or persuade a varnished wire bundle without bruising the lamination stack underneath. The pick is hardened steel because you want a sharp point for digging old varnish out of a slot corner, and brass is too soft for that job.

What's in the set

• 1/8 in flat drift — brass, turned walnut handle, oiled
• 3/16 in flat drift — brass, turned walnut handle, oiled
• 1/4 in round drift — brass, turned walnut handle, oiled
• Curved pick — hardened steel, 5.5 in, turned walnut handle, oiled
• Roll-up case — waxed canvas, three pockets and a tie

Why brass for drifts, steel for the pick

Brass is softer than the steel laminations in a stator or rotor. Hit a brass drift with a mallet and the drift deforms slightly before the lamination does — which means you are not raising burrs or cracking varnish on surfaces you need to stay intact. Steel drifts are faster to make and cheaper to sell, but they mark work. These don't.

The pick is a different tool doing a different job. Scraping hardened varnish out of a slot corner requires a sharp edge that holds. Brass rounds off. Hardened steel doesn't.

The case

Waxed canvas roll-up with three pockets and a tie. Keeps the set together on the bench and rolls flat in a bag when you're working at someone else's shop.