New Oblong Punch Not Punching

[ELeBlanc]

Hi,

I spent approx $50 on a new Crafttool 1 1/2" Oblong punch recently. I tried to use it on 4-5oz leather and it wasn't punching through at all. I was using a rubber mallet and I had some sole leather underneath and nothing.

I switched to a small 3/8 hole punch and hit that (hard) with the same rubber mallet and it seemed to punch consistently. Oh - I did remember to remove the protective rubber coating from the oblong punch before using it.

So should I just have hit the punch and leather harder? Is 4-5oz leather too thin for the punch? Help?

E

[evandailey]

I recently bought a CS Osbourne strap end punch and found it to initially be the same way. The problem in my case was that as received it was not even approaching sharp. Those things are not fun to sharpen either. But now it performs as it should.

[Northmount]

Hi,

I spent approx $50 on a new Crafttool 1 1/2" Oblong punch recently. I tried to use it on 4-5oz leather and it wasn't punching through at all. I was using a rubber mallet and I had some sole leather underneath and nothing.

I switched to a small 3/8 hole punch and hit that (hard) with the same rubber mallet and it seemed to punch consistently. Oh - I did remember to remove the protective rubber coating from the oblong punch before using it.

So should I just have hit the punch and leather harder? Is 4-5oz leather too thin for the punch? Help?

E

There is a lot more leather to cut with the oblong punch than a 3/8" round. Work out the circumference of each and you will see the difference. So that is how much harder you will have to hit the punch. A rubber mallet (at least most of them) are too soft, so you are using up a lot of the impact in the mallet face before it even gets to the leather. You need a lot harder faced mallet to get through the leather. A heavy head would help too.

[ELeBlanc]

Ok.. Thanks for the reply. So I checked the rubber mallet and its a hard rubber but its also a light weight mallet - probably less than a pound.

So I think what I should do is a) in the interim hit much harder and for the longer term purchase something heavier and harder.

Sound right?

[Northmount]

Ok.. Thanks for the reply. So I checked the rubber mallet and its a hard rubber but its also a light weight mallet - probably less than a pound.

So I think what I should do is a) in the interim hit much harder and for the longer term purchase something heavier and harder.

Sound right?

Hitting much harder could be dangerous ... hurt your elbow, or miss, break the handle or something like that. Hurts like the dickens when you smash your thumb!

If you are not concerned about leaving some marks on the top of the tool, you could go with a good ball-peen hammer or even a claw hammer. As you have already been doing some practice swings, do the same with the hammer and work up to the force needed.

Just did a test with a 1" oblong punch on old 8 oz leather. 8 swats with a small rawhide mallet (maybe 4 oz), 8 swats with a 2 lb deadblow hammer with hard rubber face, 4 swats with an 8 oz ball-peen, and 6 swats with about a 6 oz poly mallet. All tests with a poly cutting board on top of a piece of granite. Definitely need the hard face and some weight behind it.

Edited January 2, 2012 by northmount

[electrathon]

Those punches ARE NOT designed to be hit with a steel hammer! Not sure why you are using a rubber hammer for any leather, but a poly mallet or a dead blow is a far better choice. http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?keyword=dead+blow These work well for driving punches.

Aaron

[rickybobby]

Hi,

I spent approx $50 on a new Crafttool 1 1/2" Oblong punch recently. I tried to use it on 4-5oz leather and it wasn't punching through at all. I was using a rubber mallet and I had some sole leather underneath and nothing.

I switched to a small 3/8 hole punch and hit that (hard) with the same rubber mallet and it seemed to punch consistently. Oh - I did remember to remove the protective rubber coating from the oblong punch before using it.

So should I just have hit the punch and leather harder? Is 4-5oz leather too thin for the punch? Help?

E

To use that punch correctly it needs 2 things...

#1 The proper weight maul to strike it with

#2 The proper "stop" behind it

The 1 1/2 in. punch will works best (for me) using my 5 lb rawhide maul. Deadblow hammers, rubber mallets, ballpeen hammers (hammers with any kind of metal face) are not designed for leather punches.

What I mean as a "stop" behind the leather you are punching through is something that does not move at all. You may think your workbench top made of 4 X 4's with 1 in. plywood on top does not move but, it does, defecting the impact (the wood absorbs it) that helps the cutting process. The bench you use for punching larger size holes needs to be heavy duty. In my shop and in the saddle shops I work in, the bench for punching holes is separate from others because of the construction of it. Here are the examples I have seen that work well...

• A hardwood tree section about 20 inches round and about 4 feet tall. This worked well but after a couple years the top was chipped up (even from using a rubber top) and it appeared to loose some weight from drying out. The heavy maul hung from a strap nailed on it as well as a couple of the larger, most used punches.
• A solid cement post about 18 inches and about 3 feet tall. This was topped with cutting board material and did work well it was located next to a bench and the punches hung there too.
• A 4 x 4 wood frame built into a bench side to hold a 3 ft piece of railroad tie upside down so the largest flat side is useable. This has been used in the saddle shop in Wickenburg Az. for 40 years (maybe more, the shop has been there for over 60!). A cutting board is used over it to protect the tools. All punches are hung on this side of the bench so they are accessible and you are less likely to use them anywhere else.

Once you have used the right tool (heavy rawhide maul) with the proper backing you will see how much easier it is to punch these large openings and how much cleaner they look.

FWIW, my own observations... I find the rawhide mauls in the heavier weights work better then the heavy mauls with poly heads. I have had both and prefer the rawhide for the heavy work. I do use the poly head for my tooling work and they work great but for the heavy duty work I prefer the rawhide.

Hope this helps some of you that may be upping your leather skills, buying the right tools and learning the tricks to make them work correctly.

Rick

Edited January 2, 2012 by rickybobby

[bruce johnson]

I am with Evan and you will solve most all of your problem with sharpening it first. They do not come close to sharp enough and that means new Tandy, Osborne, and at least the Weaver concho punches I have gotten in. I used to think my strap end punches were sharp enough until I got some wood handled ones. They are meant to push through by hand. Now all my using punches are sharpened that fine. I sharpen them to an edge and then take the burr off the inside edge and back bevel a bit with a round ceramic stick I got someplace. After that, it has already been stated - use something with a little heft behind, but you will find you don't need to bash a sharp punch. My punching surface is LDPE cutting board. It is soft enough to not dull an edge. End grain wood works too. You will find if you are not hitting very hard, that the punch won't bury in your backer much if at all. It cuts through not pops through.

Thinner leather should punch easier. Most of the punches have some degree of coning down to the edge. That makes a bit of a bind on the thicker leather, especally hard thick leather/

[Sylvia]

Hi,

I spent approx $50 on a new Crafttool 1 1/2" Oblong punch recently. I tried to use it on 4-5oz leather and it wasn't punching through at all. I was using a rubber mallet and I had some sole leather underneath and nothing.

I switched to a small 3/8 hole punch and hit that (hard) with the same rubber mallet and it seemed to punch consistently. Oh - I did remember to remove the protective rubber coating from the oblong punch before using it.

So should I just have hit the punch and leather harder? Is 4-5oz leather too thin for the punch? Help?

E

I found this video on Youtube a while back . It eventually shows how to sharpen these oblong punches. Good info, if you've never sharpened these kinds of tools.

Looks like the oblong punch is sharpened at about 2:59 in the video.

Edited January 2, 2012 by Sylvia

[TOM123]

I agree a Sharp tool is a must and use a heavy rawhide maul.

I use a split head maul, shoe sole leather to protect the edge of the tool, on a granite slab (or an anvil) placed at the corner of the bench with a 4x4 leg; works good.