When it comes to any craft one of things you need is a good set of tools to use. If you’re new to a craft and looking to get started on a budget the most affordable tools can be found shipping out of China.
Recently due to my odd work hours, poor weather conditions that prevented me from going out to the shop, and my shop turning in a disaster, I turned to working on leather projects in the house. I know I’ve mentioned some of the project videos from DieselPunk.ro and it’s those videos that spurred me on to purchase and in many cases upgrade my existing leather working kit.
That is the subject of this weeks video. Cheap Chinese tools for leather working and are they even worth the money you pay for them? Here’s a list of links to the tools I’ll talk about in this video:
One of the main things that Tony uses in his video is a single hole punch and a rubber headed mallet that Professor Tony refers to as the “Ugly Wife”.
UPDATE 08-01-30: Here is the accompanying video now posted up on YouTube so please give it a like, share, and subscribe if you haven’t yet.
Here’s the set I purchased on Amazon:
Hands down, honest review… BUY THESE !!! They work great, do the job far better than any rotary or Tandy Leather punch I’ve ever owned. Use them with the rubber mallet and you can easily use these for a long time to come. In the video I demonstrate them and as I said, this is an absolute “HELL YES” when it comes to cost, value, and quality.
Up next are the Quarter Round or Arc cutters. These are…. eh, they do the job, especially the smaller ones but I find the bigger ones don’t work so well and require some good rocking and whacking with the mallet to cut through even the thinnest leather. The Half Rounds are the same, two different companies out of China, here they are:
Now the quality is nowhere near what the punches I listed above are. These care clearly welded together and not a lot of time was spent making them look good. As I mentioned, the smaller ones are awesome and do the job very well but the bigger ones, not so much.
And finally… the Diamond Hole Punches… these absolutely without a doubt suck much of the bunghole. The came to me dull, covered in some sort of oily slime, and won’t punch a hole in a wet paper bag. Still, I wanted to give them a try and even after sharpening them… well, they kinda work. What I can see using these for is marking placement for holes when I am not sure how I want to lay them out, I can make marks before committing to punching holes.
All of the tools mentioned above came with free 2-Day Prime shipping despite being made and imported from China. That alone was a bonus and made the iffy nature of some of these tools less bitter.
I’ve gotten more than my fair share of use from the punches and smaller rounds and quarter rounds. So in a nutshell, you get what you pay for so if you follow this route and purchase any of these tools, just don’t set your expectations too high. They’ll work to get you started but once you’ve made some money, save it and upgrade. Which will be the subject of another video…. upgrading my Chinese Leather Working kit.
Here’s some more of the tools I’ve purchased that come out of China and might get reviewed in the near future.
Most of the ones listed above, I highly recommend and would buy again. So watch the video this weekend to see me show off and demonstrate the tools I talked about in this post and perhaps some others as well.