Regad Creasers?

[Cumberland Highpower]

I've been looking at Regad Creasers/finishers a little.

Never used one before and know very little about them. 

Id say I'm drawn to that model, mainly because it looks like a quality unit and is made in France.

Or...is it?   Are they really French made or are they just a repurposed China soldering iron with the tips made in France?

I've seen some Chinese alternatives, but I'd prefer a quality unit that is consistent and can be used 8hrs a day when need be.

Looking to put a hot crease in chrome tans including horse and calf at times.

 

Are there any "other" non Chinese alternatives to the Regad units? Maybe something made in Japan?

[Digit]

We use the the Regad machines in school. They seem sturdy enough, with large massive brass heads heated by an external coil that glows red-hot. The driver units are sturdy steel boxes, but pretty basic in function: just an on/off switch and a knob to select power on a scale to 10; no feedback on the actually produced temperature. We use them on chrome tan and select power based on leather thickness (mostly around 1-2 mm ~ 2.5-5 oz) and creasing speed.

For home use I bought a Chinese unit at a fraction of the price. It's heads are only a third to a quarter of the size the the Regad heads and seem to be nickle-plated something. The few times I used it, it did its job. The unit I have has a display with feedback on temperature and duty cycle (if temperature is reached but duty cycle is still 50% or higher, you know that the head hasn't fully reached temperature yet). It goes into sleep mode (lower temp, but not off) after a few minutes idling.
The Chinese units all seem to have a threaded bolt to fix the head to, so switching out a hot head can be done easily with welding gloves. I have no idea how the Regad heads are switched (we have about 8 machines at school, all with a different head, so we never need to switch).

I didn't find any Chinese units that look like a Regad, so I think Regad effectively builds these machines themselves.

[Cumberland Highpower]

Was it the cost that led you to purchase a Chinese creaser?  If you had to do it over again, would you have bought a Regad? Just curious.

We've not used heated creasers before.  I'm guessing we'd use then a couple times a year, likely  8hrs continuous for a week or 2.

 

 

[Scoutmom103]

Hope the links are allowed.

 

Link to Rocky Mountain Leather's    Machines      They have Regard, but also their own Summitt (When they have it in stock)

LInk to Artisian Leather Supply   Machines ARTISAN Electric Creaser – artisan leather supply

 

I have a cheap Chinese model.  I have used the Handle from Rocky Mtn and the following from both Rocky Mtn and Artisan, (summit universal tip, and some of the tips)_

 

[TomE]

I use a variety of creasers and like the simplicity of heating the tool in an alcohol flame and pressing firmly with the crease held in the palm of my hand.  Takes a bit of practice to learn how much heat to apply, but the hand tools are simple/portable/quick to use.  The electric creases look awkward to me but I have no experience using them.

[Cumberland Highpower]

They might be a bit awkward Tom, I guess I'll find out? 

I know when I use corded thread cutters it's always a bit so.

I thought about the alcohol creaser setup, but I think it's too slow for production work.  We'd be looking at making a few hundred creases in a day on small pieces.

Watched some Japanese Youtube videos with that type of setup and was impressed though.

[Digit]

16 hours ago, Cumberland Highpower said:

Was it the cost that led you to purchase a Chinese creaser?

Yes it was the cost. I'm just a hobbyist and I only use it occasionally for edge finishing; I can't tax-write off such investments :-)

A single-outlet machine costs around 380, a handle 170, tips between 160 and 180 depending on type. My Chinese model cost around 100 (machine, handle, three tips) and around 12 per extra tip. All prices Euro including tax, but you get the idea.

Maybe when I start using it more often I could invest in a Regad in the future, but for now I'm still learning and building experience (both with leather working and with this machine). For edge burning it's definitely an improvement over the lighter gas soldering iron I used before :-)

[Digit]

About durability: I believe the Regad machines at school were bought 4 or 5 years ago when the course started up and they're running pretty much 6-8 hours per day, 5 days per week. It looks like they simply contain a transformer and some circuit to control the temperature (probably PWM).

The Chinese unit I have does have electronics to power the display and provide a simple one-button menu system. It would likely fail earlier than a Regad, but at these prices I can consume a lot of Chinese units before reacing the cost of a Regad and that will talke some years I guess.

[Digit]

11 hours ago, Scoutmom103 said:

LInk to Artisian Leather Supply   Machines ARTISAN Electric Creaser – artisan leather supply

That's exactly the Chinese creaser I have. I guess the brand name in the display can be OEM'd. The detail photo of the creasing tip shows a horrible MIG spot weld btw; at least my tips have been grinded down and nickle-coated _after_ any welding was done :-)

If you do want to save money, buy it straight from AliExpress I'd say instead of having it dropshipped by someone adding a margin.

This is mine: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001298911899.html