New Tandy Swivel Knives

[electrathon]

And I see people saying that these tools are made in China. Do we know that for a fact or is that just a guess?

I was going by the "made in China" part on them. Very little Tandy sells is not made in China. I have long considered them the Harbor Freight of the leather industry.

[JustKate]

I think what usually drives me to upgrade to a better quality tool is when I reach a point where I'm frustrated that I can't get the results I want with the tools I have. That was certainly the case with my bevelers. I was frustrated with how difficult it was to get rid of the track marks I was getting from the bevelers I got from Tandy. So I got some better ones (from Hidecrafter), and my beveling immediately became much better.

But then, after using the new ones for a couple of years... one day I picked up my old Tandy bevelers, and did some work with them, and much to my astonishment, the results were much better than I remember from the last time I had used them. Wha...?

Here's my theory. The new bevelers did indeed improve my beveling. They made it easier to do better work. But what they also did was raise my expectations of the results I get from the beveling. Over time, my skills continued to improve - though maybe not so noticeably, and by the time I tried the old bevelers again, my skills were much better, and also my expectation of the results.

So, is it your skill that improves your work, or the tools? Answer: yes.

[edit: grammar correction.]

Edited January 22, 2013 by JustKate

[billymac814]

That's a very good way of putting it especially where you said it increased your expectations of your beveling.

It pretty much is always nicer using better tools but nothing goes farther than experience and practice and if someone is new here don't think you need to spend a fortune on tools to turn out decent work, you may have to get a little crafty with modifying things though but that's no big deal.

I did order one of the new bevelers today to see what it looks like.

I think what usually drives me to upgrade to a better quality tool is when I reach a point where I'm frustrated that I can't get the results I want with the tools I have. That was certainly the case with my bevelers. I was frustrated with how difficult it was to get rid of the track marks I was getting from the bevelers I got from Tandy. So I got some better ones (from Hidecrafter), and my beveling immediately became much better.

But then, after using the new ones for a couple of years... one day I picked up my old Tandy bevelers, and did some work with them, and much to my astonishment, the results were much better than I remember from the last time I had used them. Wha...?

Here's my theory. The new bevelers did indeed improve my beveling. They made it easier to do better work. But what they also did was raise my expectations of the results I get from the beveling. Over time, my skills continued to improve - though maybe not so noticeably, and by the time I tried the old bevelers again, my skills were much better, and also my expectation of the results.

So, is it your skill that improves your work, or the tools? Answer: yes.

[edit: grammar correction.]