Members multivitamins Posted December 31, 2015 Members Report Posted December 31, 2015 New to this forum but been lurking for months now. I have discussed with cmdachong(caomeng) in taobao and confirmed that he is using HSS (hrc level above 60). Ordered some customized tools from him which I will get next months. Also made ordered some amy rokes. I am no chinese, but i have been lurking the chinese forums for years now (re: cnc and programming discussions) and I can tell you that the chinese(china, taiwan, hk etc.) leathercraft community is very big. They have shops in china who carries VB, Au Chinois, Rons, Barry King etc...
Members simontuntelder Posted January 11, 2016 Members Report Posted January 11, 2016 New to this forum but been lurking for months now. I have discussed with cmdachong(caomeng) in taobao and confirmed that he is using HSS (hrc level above 60). Ordered some customized tools from him which I will get next months. Also made ordered some amy rokes. I am no chinese, but i have been lurking the chinese forums for years now (re: cnc and programming discussions) and I can tell you that the chinese(china, taiwan, hk etc.) leathercraft community is very big. They have shops in china who carries VB, Au Chinois, Rons, Barry King etc... Could you share a link to some of these forums? I've been more and more curious about some of the Chinese toolmakers that are making quality products. However the ordering process seems complicated with some of them and there's a lack of proper reviews available - at least I haven't come by any. So if you have any experience with some of these toolmakers, please do share them.
Members GrainGalleries Posted January 11, 2016 Members Report Posted January 11, 2016 Any chance you're still selling the irons? Interested in a set. Shoot me an email to graingalleries@gmail.com
Members simontuntelder Posted January 11, 2016 Members Report Posted January 11, 2016 Any chance you're still selling the irons? Interested in a set. Shoot me an email to graingalleries@gmail.com Guess you didn't bother reading the thread
Members multivitamins Posted January 11, 2016 Members Report Posted January 11, 2016 (edited) Could you share a link to some of these forums? I've been more and more curious about some of the Chinese toolmakers that are making quality products. However the ordering process seems complicated with some of them and there's a lack of proper reviews available - at least I haven't come by any. So if you have any experience with some of these toolmakers, please do share them. Main reason is their pricking irons are always out of stock or they have a long list of clients. I got an email from both Amy & Roke and C Mason. Amy & Roke currently has 3.38 sets (9SPI) available (A bit rare for them to have stocks. The chinese guys need to wait for 2 months to get a hold of AmyRokes irons.) and C Mason just started to re-stock most of his sets. In addition, C Mason just started to sell his own Fileteuse in china (quite cheap. i think around $200+ for the machine and $50+ for each tip). Contact details: Amy & Roke - It is very easy to contact Amy Roke if you know how to use (Chinese ebay)Taobao (https://amyroke.taobao.com/). They have a chat service and they will actually reply in english. Otherwise, send them an email @ atelieramyroke@hotmail.com - . I suggest to stick ordering via email. If you order via Taobao, they wont accept paypal and you need to go through the Taobao process. If you want some AmyRokes now (and skip the wait of 2 months), I suggest to send them an email NOW. Like what I have said, they currently have few 3.38 (9SPI/10TPI) stocks left and these wont last long. (note: shipping is quite expensive.). Still waiting for mine to arrive. C Mason/caomeng - He is hard to get a hold of. He is always busy and rarely replies in email and taobao (and he use google translate to communicate. Sometimes he ask his friends to translate). I find that the easiest way to contact and order from him is facebook and his Etsy shop . He currently has stocks and he will most likely reply within a day or two. Another alternative is Dol Dokki from Korea (instagram) - I was told that his tools are being used by high-end artist in Korea. In addition, his tools are quite popular in Japan. Downside is, his tools are a bit expensive (around VB price but looks way way way way better). Check his instagram and you will see why. His tools are a work of art. His pricking iron are solid and thicker than VB, You can send him an email and ask for the price list: carstylist@naver.com . (forgive me if my english is not that good). Edited January 11, 2016 by multivitamins
Members simontuntelder Posted January 11, 2016 Members Report Posted January 11, 2016 Your English is very good! And thank you for sharing your knowledge here. And I hope you'll share some pictures of your custom made tools once they arrive. I already know Dol Dokki and have been following him on Instagram for ages. You can tell his tools are high quality but they just don't speak to me. They look too hi-tec in a way - like the new French company Eprose. I guess I prefer tools that just look classic... I wish there were more resources on Japanese tools too. For instance I've seen "Go leathers" on Instagram and he seems to be using a good mix of Japanese and European tools. Like he has tools from Iwataya (I believe that's the name) and they look really good. A bit crude, but they seem to work really well and I like that. I guess I'll try ordering an edger or two from cmdachong and test the quality. I'll of course share a review here if or when I decide to pull the trigger. I'm really not acquainted with taobao. I do believe I came across some forum or blog on taobao with a lot of American tools (mainly Ron's) - however I didn't bookmark it and haven't been able to find it ever since. If you know any good threads or blogs to follow from China or Asia in general do share them.
Members multivitamins Posted January 11, 2016 Members Report Posted January 11, 2016 (edited) cmdachong currently don't have #0 (.6mm) edger. But I think he does have #1 (0.8mm) - #5(3mm) available and you can have it customized if you want to go wider (If my memory serves me well, waiting time would be around 2-3 weeks for customized products). For asian forums, best would be china (mix of china, taiwan and other chinese countries). However, you need a chinese account to be able to fully scan the forums. Problem is, for you to successfully create an account, you need to have a chinese number. If you're lucky, you can find some free log-in accounts in bugmenot.com China - 1.) This one (baidu) is sort of like a reddit style mixed discussion thread/buy&sell forum. This is where they introduce their new products as well as selling used stuff. (Just use the google chrome translate feature). 2.) this one also have lots of leathercraft discussion Singapore - http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/fashion-grooming-235/leather-thread-2437972.html Will do a review and comparison once I receive my irons. Edited January 11, 2016 by multivitamins
Members multivitamins Posted January 11, 2016 Members Report Posted January 11, 2016 If you want some VB items and Lin Cable colors exclusively made for a korean store, you can visit THIS. I contacted them but I received no reply. I was interested with the Louis Vuitton patterned knife made by VB just for this retail store.
Members multivitamins Posted January 11, 2016 Members Report Posted January 11, 2016 Japanese Iwataya Tools (shipping is quite expensive though) - http://www.iwataya-kouguten.jp/
Members simontuntelder Posted January 12, 2016 Members Report Posted January 12, 2016 Japanese Iwataya Tools (shipping is quite expensive though) - http://www.iwataya-kouguten.jp/ Wow, thanks for sharing all of these links. Some of them I knew already and others I didn't. I'll have something to read up on now. If more comes to mind, don't hold back. I have a Japanese friend who goes to Japan ever so often. He could possibly pick up stuff from Iwataya if I knew what to order. He told me that Iwataya is completely back ordered because of orders from other Asian countries.
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