Board to punch leather stiching

[AussieTanker]

Hey Folks

I'm looking to buy one of those boards that go underneath the leather while you are using stitching punches. They "absorb" the teeth from the stitching punch so that the teeth don't get damaged.  I have seen some on AliExpress, that are a "polyurethane plate" and advertised for this exact purpose, but they seem very thin at 6mm - 10mm thick. I would have thought that they need to be thicker than that, so would appreciate some feedback.

 

Any thoughts on the best size and thickness? I'm mainly making wallets, key rings etc just as a hobby for myself and family.

 

Appreciate the help and advice

Edited August 13, 2023 by AussieTanker

[Wepster]

I purchased a poundo board (Tandy, Weaver, Amazon etc)

[chuck123wapati]

A regular poly cutting board like you might have in the kitchen.

[fredk]

Most times I use a kitchen cutting board from Ikea, Cost me £1.50. 

I also made a big wax block for use with small and/or delicate items. Melted candle wax into a big aluminium oven tray. After it gets a lot of marks the surface is re-melted and when hard its as good as new

When I do a lot of bigger hole punching I use a block of wood blocks glued together ends up

[AussieTanker]

Thank you for all the suggestions. They have all given me lots of ideas,  but I'm still trying to figure out how thick does the board need to be? Specifically for punching leather stitching chisels I mean. Is it a case of the thicker the better?

Edited August 13, 2023 by AussieTanker

[fredk]

Depends on the material of the board. A stiff kitchen cutting board, maybe 5mm. I have some kitchen cutting mats from Ikea (£1 for 2) they are about 2mm thick and they do the job as well as any thick board. You only need to get the tips of the chisels through the leather, not the whole tooth or even 5mm of it.  Even an A4 self healing cutting matt, about 3mm thick, will do the job

To help you pull your chisels out, use one of these;

I made this one out of a scrap piece of clear acrylic plastic. You van buy all different designs now, including plastic and metal ones with a wee handle on

[chuck123wapati]

7 minutes ago, AussieTanker said:

Thank you for all the suggestions. They have all given me lots of ideas,  but I'm still trying to figure out how thick does the board need to be? Specifically for punching leather stitching chisels I mean. Is it a case of the thicker the better?

your chisels only need to puncture the leather not the board so not very thick.

[ScottWolf]

3 hours ago, AussieTanker said:

Hey Folks

I'm looking to buy one of those boards that go underneath the leather while you are using stitching punches. They "absorb" the teeth from the stitching punch so that the teeth don't get damaged.  I have seen some on AliExpress, that are a "polyurethane plate" and advertised for this exact purpose, but they seem very thin at 6mm - 10mm thick. I would have thought that they need to be thicker than that, so would appreciate some feedback.

 

Any thoughts on the best size and thickness? I'm mainly making wallets, key rings etc just as a hobby for myself and family.

 

Appreciate the help and advice

I have a buddy who made one out of several layers of old newspapers, folded up into a square shape and fully covered it in duct tape. I'd guesstimate it's about 1"-2" thick and 12" x 12". He uses it for everything from chisels to a dremel to make holes. Once it gets ratty, he adds more duct tape or he rebuilds it. Not a typical solution, but one that works for him at least.

[bruce johnson]

 

Depends on how sharp your punches are, what you are hitting them with, and what kind of supporting surface. I sold two stitching punches to a guy who said he had trouble with his last punches getting through the leather. He was using an import poly mallet with soft plastic head, pounding on a self healing mat on a table. Not a real wonder why he was having trouble. He buys two punches from me. Buys a 2# maul from someplace because someone told him that's what he needed for 6 teeth. The LDPE I advised wasn't needed apparently, even though it cheap and available about everywhere. He moved his punching  to the table end to get some support from the legs. He writes to me the punches did great but then hard to pull out. Long story short - he was used to dull punches and bounce. He now was using too much maul and force for sharp punches, and they were punching through the mat and sticking in the kitchen table. Yeah, they are a little hard to pull of that. Pictures of the kitchen table were nice.

My song for everything goes like this - "Punch on low density poly, cut on high density poly..." Low density lets the punch edge penetrate slightly without damage.

[fredk]

Bruce doesn't say it directly but SHARP chisels. Sharpen them and polish the sides of the teeth. 1/2 hour maybe to do them, maybe longer, but sharp and polished teeth will go in and out of the leather much easier

[Doc Reaper]

I use a small log and a thick square of leather as a pounding post

[AussieTanker]

Thank you everyone.  It's been real interesting to see the wide variety of responses. I think I have it sorted now.  I'm going to use a combination of some of the above suggestions and will see how I go with that.  Thank you everyone for your impute and help.

[Cattleman]

I have a large black square of some type of low density poly... I got it out of a box of my dads old leather working stuff from the 80s... I believe its similar if not the same as poundo board... Probably about 3/8" thick. Its pretty flexible, when I found it it had been in a bucket for about 30 years... And was thus curved. I placed it under my tooling rock for 2 days and it flattened right out. I use it for all my punching needs from stitch chisels to hole punches to large end punches. Works great and doesnt damage the cutting edges.

Edited August 17, 2023 by Cattleman