large punches

[DG Leather]

Can any one help me where to buy a 2 inch round punch?

or perhaps an alternative for a punch...I cant stand cutting circles and need some

[dirtclod]

Looking on ebay is your best bet. I have seen some on there.

[Timd]

Try here Sizes up to 4", also metric

Edited December 24, 2009 by Timd

[DG Leather]

Try here Sizes up to 4", also metric

Although I am in Canada i do prefer standard...lol

Most canadians use metric yet I am stuck on inches and feet...the old man was a house framer and I learnt numbers on the tape measure my teachers told me i was wrong but my old man said bleep them....

Nonetheless...thank you muchly

[Luke Hatley]

IMHO.. CONTACT WEAVER AND GET THEM TO MAKE YOU A CIRCLE DIE.. IT WILL BE A LOTS CHEAPER THAN THOSE MC MASTERS PUNCHES.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT. FIND A PIECE OS SS STEEL PIPE AND GRIND A CUTTING EDGE ON IT.

I HAVE DID THAT A LOTS BEFORE.

[rickmoo]

you can try brettuns village.com........ they have leather , punches, rivets,etc.

[DaveT]

To make an inexpensive punch or die to cut circles, go find a hole saw of the proper size. Grind off the teeth and sharpen the edge. You can bolt on a handle, or use in a clicker. I have several of these I've made and they work great.

Dave T.

[DG Leather]

To make an inexpensive punch or die to cut circles, go find a hole saw of the proper size. Grind off the teeth and sharpen the edge. You can bolt on a handle, or use in a clicker. I have several of these I've made and they work great.

Dave T.

you know what!

I bought a hole saw to try it and it would not work and was going to return it but now that you say this....i will keep it and get ahold of a grinder and try this...good thinkin man!

thanx...now to figure out what to use to sharped it? evenly....remember I am not mechanically inclined

[Studio-N]

You can sharpen a pipe of the appropriate diameter.

[Dwight]

Ganonymous, . . . if you want to use the hole saw, . . . use a grinder first to take off the teeth, being careful to just take them off. Don't grind any farther once you have a cylinder with no teeth on it.

Put it in a drill press at a fairly fast speed, . . . use a file (wear gloves and safety glasses) against the outside edge, . . . and take your time. Once you have it down to a rough sharp edge, . . . staple a piece of plumbers cloth, 120 grit, to a board, . . . use it to finish making a really nice cutting edge.

When you use it, . . . rub the cutting edge first with beeswax, . . . makes life a bit easier. Slow the drill press down real slow, . . . it will then cut your circles for you, . . . quickie too.

A cheaper route is to use different sizes of electrical conduit, . . . they are good quality galvanized steel, . . . I make all my punches out of it (it doesn't cost me anything for the conduit ). It helps that I also have a 12" round sander to do my rough sharpening, . . . but I refuse to pay the high price when I can produce one myself that works every bit as well, . . . for about 20 minutes labor.

May God bless,

Dwight

Edited January 1, 2010 by Dwight

[barra]

I use one of these circle cutters. loaded into a drill press it has a 3 inch adjustment so you can cut 6 inch circles. You need to place something underneath the leather to cut into so that the blade does not hit the metal stand of the drill press. I just use sacrificial heavy cardboard from a packing box.. I lower the press very slowly. Once I see that a complete circle has formed I slowly raise the press to see if it has cut all the way thru. If not I slowly lower etc.

Barra

[jdwintx]

These are all some great ideas and I know you just made my circle cutting a whole lot easier. On a similar note though, what does everyone use to countersink a circle into leather without cutting out the entire circle, something along the lines of a forstner bit. I'm thinking of when I have to embed circular magnets and metal into a latch piece to. I like to get these as flush as possible to the surface so that they don't stick out.