Osborne 151 Bag Punch , Sharp As My Elbow !

[J Hayes]

I got myself two new Osborne bag punches, 1 1/2" and 1 5/8". I have to say I was a bit disappointed, they look crude and are not sharp at all. Anybody else experience this? I kinda just want to send them back to where I bought. The 1 1/2 one wouldn't cut, the 1 5/8" one cut through one layer of 9/10, barely.

Jeremy

[dirtclod]

You have to sharpen most tools you get.

[Tree Reaper]

I've yet to buy a hole punch that didn't require sharpening.

[J Hayes]

I've yet to buy a hole punch that didn't require sharpening.

You have to sharpen most tools you get.

I suppose, I thought they'd be a bit sharper than the are though, the one has a pretty good nick in it. Kinda like buying a punch "kit" in way.

Thanks guys, I'll know what to expect on the next ones, or just make my own.

Jeremy

[grittyroots]

i just bought a 2" u strap cutter and the second day chipped the blade on a glue spot on my cutting board.

[particle]

I bought a pair of punches from a well known custom die maker in Texas (hint, hint) a couple/few years ago and experienced the same thing. The edge had severe grinding marks and wasn't polished at all. The edge was almost blunt - not at all what I'd call an acceptable level of sharpness. I tried to sharpen them myself, but too much material needed to be removed so I finally contacted the maker, explained what I'd done and asked them how much they'd charge to fix what I'd done (was was still miles better than what they originally sent me) and properly sharpen them. The lady on the phone basically told me I ruined them by trying to sharpen them myself. Wrong answer! Another user on this board offered to sharpen them for me and they worked much better after that. I've been using them since then without a problem.

By comparison, I've bought a few punches from Weaver - their "Master" tools. They've been great, and came extremely sharp with a mirror polish. I didn't have to sharpen them at all when I received them - ready to go right out of the box, as they should be.

[billymac814]

I recently bought an Osborne bag punch in 1/2" size and it would NoT punch through anything after a few tries. I finally realized that the opening where the leather should eject from was too small and it was basically filled up. Needless to say no matter how sharp it was it wouldn't matter so I had to return it. Next one worked fine.

I have a tormek sharpener that I use to touch up my edges on most of my tools and then use the strop wheel to polish them.

Particle, what punches did you buy from that place in Texas? I have a die coming from a certain place in Texas, I'm hoping it will be ok.

[particle]

I purchased two slot punches - one was 5/16" x 1 9/16" and the other was 5/16" x 1 13/16" - both had handles attached. I just checked their site and if memory serves, I paid around $65 each for them back then - they seem to be much cheaper now.

Regarding the ejection of the punched pieces - both of my above mentioned punches have the same problem - they get clogged up on the shoulder and weld splatter inside the punch. I can usually keep punching though and they'll eventually push through, but that's going to be totally random unless it's intentionally ground away in the finishing process.

[billymac814]

I didn't realize they made slot punches there, although by the sounds of it they don't come highly recommended. I was just curious.

[billymac814]

Ok, I see on their site now. Do you have any pictures of what they look like?