With a hard hammer hit with a strong composite point, the hollow punch should go through the soft, thin skin and into the soft wooden base fairly easily. Not this hit. The end was sharpened but not properly sharpened. I had to use a utility knife with a long, thin blade to cut holes, which this punch didn't do. The end result was a lot more work to salvage the look of the holes. I worked on the punch tip, sharpened and sanded it, and now it cuts clean holes.