Tandy Pro Strap End Punches

[Ed in Tx]

A few weeks ago I bought a Tandy Pro strap end punch in 1 1/2 inches on sale at what I though was a good price. I needed a new one as I made the mistake of buying a used one on eBay that ended up being useless as the previous owner had screwed up the edge on it. I finally got around to trying out the new punch a couple of weeks later on a belt I was making for my son. Well when I laid the punch down where I wanted, the edges of the punch were no where close to the belt edges, I knew I had cut a 1 1/2 inch strap from the hide but thought maybe I messed up so I measure the strap and it was 1 1/2 inches. Then I measured the Tandy punch and found out it was not even close to 1 1/2 inches, I looked at the stamping on the punch and it said 1 1/2".

I took the punch back to Tandy and told them what happened, the store manager took another punch and measure it and it was also larger than stated. Ends up that NONE of the punches they had were of proper dimensions, they were all more than 1/8 of an inch bigger than indicated on the punch. Luckily the store manager gave me a refund.

I have no idea how Tandy stays in business, the punches all say "made in the USA" but the packaging shows the dimensions in metric terms and the punches are stamped with SAE measurements. Since I still needed a punch I called SLC and added one to my next order, I know it will be the correct size.

[eby]

Sounds like the trend at Tandy. I just returned an oblong punch to Tandy that looked like it had been "sharpened" by someone wearing a blindfold. I don't expect it to be razor sharp out of the box, but I don't feel like I should have to grind a new bevel from scratch. I might as well make it from scratch. Lesson learned, that's the last tool I buy from Tandy. On a positive note the manager immediately agreed that it was totally unacceptable and refunded my money. I have always gotten good friendly service at the local Portland Tandy, just total crap materials and tools... There is another local supplier that will get my business from now on.

[RavenAus]

The strap end punch from my local non-Tandy-stockist (I don't have a local Tandy, there's only one in Australia) was exactly the same, a little oversize. I'd prefer it a tad big to a tad small though! By the time I've burnished the edge you can't tell the 25mm punch is oversize a few mm

[Cletus2014]

Strap end punches are always slightly oversize from their specified, or marked size, which is by design. At least for the English Point strap end punches I have, it's possible there are other types where this isn't necessary, but I don't know what that would be. My 1" punch measures about 1.25" and my 3/4" punch is closer to 7/8" at the widest part. This not only gives you some wiggle room for slightly different width straps, but also if you think about it, if your leather strap was exactly 1" and you were using a punch that was 1" with zero oversize, you'd probably be unable to get a clean tapering off at the rear edges of the strap. In other words, if the distance between the cutting edge at the widest part (the rear) of the punch is even a tiny bit narrower than the strap you're cutting, you wouldn't get a clean end without a step that would be very difficult to remove.

So it's necessary for the strap end punch to be a bit wider than the strap your cutting and they are intentionally made that way. I agree with you on the relative low quality (and high price) of Tandy tools and materials, but the strap end punches I've bought from them were actually pretty high quality (and also pretty expensive at ~$45 each). I only mention that, as it's one of the few items I've got from Tandy that were pretty good.

[bruce johnson]

I'd agree with the others that slightly over is better. With English points the tip is easier to center of the fit it close though. Out of curiosity I measured about 40 English point and round end strap punches here. Makers represented are CS Osborne "Made in England" one piece forged punches, CS Osborne forged one piece punches, HF Osborne forged, Gomph forged, Dixon forged, older CS Osborne arch punches, and some recent make CS Osborne arch punches. All except one group were either dead on or all under 1/16" (most about 1/32") over the marked width. Although it can't be a scientific study due to low numbers, one of these groups was 1/8" over - 3 of the 4 modern CS Osbornes are a full 1/8" wider. The 3/4" was a touch under 1/8". Ed, please let us know how the SLC punch measures when you get it.

[Ed in Tx]

Just to clarify, the punch wasn't just a little over size it was almost 1/4" larger than stated. I received my punch from SLC yesterday and it is an Osborne English point and it sits exactly as it should just to the outside of a 1 1/2" belt strip. It measures just under 1 5/8". The 1 1/2" Tandy punch would have worked great for a 1 3/4" belt but not 1 1/2"

[Cletus2014]

Yep, I'll certainly defer to Bruce Johnson, as well as the OP's experience, with regard to the strap punches. Evidently I've been under the impression that my low quality, oversize punches were supposed to be that way. I suppose I just bought the explanation I had received, as an excuse for poor quality control, and then repeated it here as factual.

I learn something new every day, please forgive my misleading remarks above. I'll just quiet down now and listen instead!