Black Craftool Poly Maul durability?

[ContactCement]

Basically how durable is this Black Craftool Poly Maul ? Some photos of any chunks missing and indentations in the surface would be great. I'm not made of money even if they go on sale. Heck I'm drinking milk a slight hint of sour odor with chocolate added right now so I don't waste the money paid for it. I know everyone has a celebrity "name brand" that cost too much money. To be quite honest asking these modern prices is down right wicked and evil. Is a leather craft hobby. Tools shouldn't be as expensive as a hospital bill, prescription drugs or a house payment. The cold hard fact is people were tooling leather long  before plastics and rubbers were even invented. What were they effectively using back then?  https://www.walmart.com/ip/Tandy-Leather-Craftool-Poly-Maul-3302-00/146107497?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=5405&adid=22222222227115627678&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=233311779350&wl4=pla-386176901475&wl5=9015608&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=113940046&wl11=online&wl12=146107497&wl13=&veh=sem

[bikermutt07]

Probably a wooden mallet. No one said you can't make your own stuff.

I had the poly crafttool mallet. I thought it was junk. I gave it away to someone, new comer, scout troop or somebody.

Some people in your shoes have made some nice ones with a small lathe, a chunk of wood, and a wheel from a roller skate.

There are some nice ones to buy for fifty to 75 bucks.

http://www.barrykingtools.com/roundmauls.htm

Yeah, it's just a hobby, but some hobbies are expensive. You think leather is bad? Try model trains or airplanes.

Or fishing.

You don't need a 50,000.00 boat for leather work.

Ymmv.

[ContactCement]

Leather craft does seem expensive. Anyhow I ordered the black poly maul on sale this Christmas for $24.99 It looked okay on you tube even if it had a few small indentations in it. I'll take my time and rotate it on the up stroke like a wood carving maul and it should make the surface wear evenly. My experiments with plastics and narrow blunt metal rods shows repeated strikes in the exact same place produces a nice neat dent.

Edited December 12, 2017 by ContactCement

[bikermutt07]

Good luck with it. I hope it works for you.

[KingsCountyLeather]

I started leather crafting this year... and wont say exactly how much ive spent on tools already but a lot! I will never get my money back from sales and anything ive made so far has been gifted to someone. I’m at a stage in my life where ive worked for more than forty years and not much time for myself. This is my new hobby and I “can” afford some nice tools.

But... The leathercraft trade doesn’t require all these nice tools to make good work!  Sharp tools good knowledge I think are the most important and good leather!  It’s nice to have a good mallet and it may make you feel like you’re getting a better job, But you can use a lot of things as a hammer... 

[TxLeather]

On 12/9/2017 at 6:18 PM, bikermutt07 said:

 

You don't need a 50,000.00 boat for leather work.

 

That's true!  ;-)

[brmax]

I cant imagine sitting down to work! Or for that matter enjoy anything, especially a hobby I selected to rid myself of a tough day, with a stomach of sour milk. 

Something is wrong with this picture!  As an investment I suggest using the milk for the cat and watch them joyfully patrol the yard or field edge around the home. This way its theraputic viewing them through the window, enjoying themselves. 

And you my friend would feel so much better. Even if resorting to thoughts of lemon water 

Have a good day

Floyd

[lawman133]

Hi. I would go with the Chinese versions available over EBay.  I have several different head shapes with both steel and wood handles that are excellent for all purposes.

My first choice would be to buy made in Canada,/Britain/U.S but I have not been able to find anything near this quality or price.  I have not paid more than $15.00 Canadian with FREE shipping for any of the 4 I have ordered !  It may take a month to get to you but  as an Xtra bonus I have never been chargeed any customs or excise tax either.  When you consider that Tandy wants over $200.00 for their leather handled "Nuclear" version this is a "NO BRAINER" decision. For shock reduction on the steel handled ones a couple of "dips" into a can of  rubber "Dip It"  solves the problem and helps with grip also.

The quality of the Tandy stamps is going down hill as well as I noted yesterday when I picked up a stamp in a Detroit Tandy. It was a a mistaken purchase of a stamp I already had and when I got home I realized my mistake and when comparing the two the finish on the new one was  very poor.  

Jim

[ChasCS]

Tandy has done some marvelous price reductions with their seasonal sales recently. 

As much as some here don't prefer Tandy products, I would suggest getting yourself on their mailing list, to be alerted about any great savings... ;-)

 

Chas

[ContactCement]

On ‎12‎/‎17‎/‎2017 at 2:56 PM, ChasCS said:

Tandy has done some marvelous price reductions with their seasonal sales recently. 

As much as some here don't prefer Tandy products, I would suggest getting yourself on their mailing list, to be alerted about any great savings... ;-)

 

Chas

I  fully agree that the holiday sale and Saturday super sale was pretty good. Our car was at the shop so we had a free dealer loaner car. So we finally visited the local Tandy store 54 miles away. I came back with a rather expensive item (not saying) and a few stamps. They also explained why a couple craft store stamps in a kit bent easily. The Z  indicates Zinc. The Lesson. Stamps with a Z on them are Cash In The Trash.

Edited December 21, 2017 by ContactCement

[ChasCS]

37 minutes ago, ContactCement said:

I  fully agree that the holiday sale and Saturday super sale was pretty good. Our car was at the shop so we had a free dealer loaner car. So we finally visited the local Tandy store 54 miles away. I came back with a rather expensive item (not saying) and a few stamps. They also explained why a couple craft store stamps in a kit bent easily. The Z  indicates Zinc. The Lesson. Stamps with a Z on them are Cash In The Trash.

You aren't telling, because, perhaps the better half reads this forum? Haha probably their splitter or Tippman Stitcher.... ;-)

Really surprised yesterday, to find a $20.00 Gift Card from Tandy in my mail box. That was timely, and appreciated.

So I went out there today and picked up an awesome new book, and a Glass Burnisher, that was on clearance for $16.19..

Happy that I finally bought Al Stohlman's How To Carve Leather. I had a copy here that was given to me, but it was too water stained and smelled bad, to appreciate using it.

PM me about your new Tandy prize, you piqued my interest... ;-)

Chas  

[bikermutt07]

Not all the offerings from Tandy are junk. I really like the crafttool pro edge bevelers. And the pro stamps seem good too, though I don't carve or stamp. About 15 or 20 of those tooling stamps we're on sale last week for 6.50 a piece. That's way down from their normal 30 price tag. 

You really have to work to find a good deal at Tandy. Catching their quality stuff on deep discounts is difficult, but not impossible. You just have to save and bide your time.

That newer crafttool pro press looks like a great quality tool. But, I will never pay their retail price for it. Even in sale it's still 75-100 overpriced in my opinion. Not to mention their die sets are astronomical.

Something else I have noticed. They will regularly discontinue items all year long. Only to bring them back in a year or two.

I have lots of jeweled rivets I bought for next to nothing on clearance. Now a year later, I am seeing them back on the shelf at retail.

And one last gripe. Their pieces and parts don't match. Example: you buy some antique bronze snaps. Then you realize "oh, I need a rivet here". Go back to Tandy. They don't sell antique bronze rivets. 

I had the same problem with antique copper snaps. They sell antique copper snaps. You can get a bag if 500. Walk across the aisle to the rivets, they only have nickel, bright brass, and bright copper.

All rivets mentioned we're tubular rivets. I won't use the double caps for anything other than decorative.

In their defense, the staff was apologetic and sympathetic. And they did recognize me by name when I walked in. Even though I hadn't been there for 6 months.

And I did leave there with a new crafttool pro edge beveler #3 for only $9.50. 

That was a good deal.

[ChasCS]

Congrats on the pro edge beveler. Tandy have always been good to me. I have no complaints.

I only wish they still had a convenient location on the South side of the river...

 

Chas

[alpha2]

You make a good point about trying to match hardware finishes at Tandy. I've given up. The buckle is this finish, the rivets are this one, the D ring is something close, but no cigar, and IF they do have the finish, they don't have the size. It was a good place to start in the leather bit, but I've been forced to move on...by Tandy.

[bikermutt07]

24 minutes ago, alpha2 said:

You make a good point about trying to match hardware finishes at Tandy. I've given up. The buckle is this finish, the rivets are this one, the D ring is something close, but no cigar, and IF they do have the finish, they don't have the size. It was a good place to start in the leather bit, but I've been forced to move on...by Tandy.

I agree totally. It is a good place to start. But you have to move on.

[ContactCement]

 I picked up the $274.99 splitter on sale and six stamps at $2.99 each. They said it doesn't go on sale that low very often. So I ignored other items that go on sale more frequently. The Tippman is very impressive and well built however I personally don't need anything that heavy duty right now. I would describe it as strong and space saving. As for a poly mallet and rawhide maul I stumbled onto this online store. http://www.wrising.com/  I got a 1 lb mallet on sale and 2 lb rawhide maul for wood working as some of my chisels are very expensive. The general rule is the cutting tool must be sharper than material being cut. The tool hardness will vary. When it comes to wood handled chisels the rawhide should prevent mush rooming of the handles. Plus the rawhide has a nice texture for a powerful strike.

Edited December 22, 2017 by ContactCement

[ChasCS]

2 hours ago, ContactCement said:

 I picked up the $274.99 splitter on sale and six stamps at $2.99 each. They said it doesn't go on sale that low very often. So I ignored other items that go on sale more frequently. The Tippman is very impressive and well built however I personally don't need anything that heavy duty right now. I would describe it as strong and space saving. As for a poly mallet and rawhide maul I stumbled onto this online store. http://www.wrising.com/  I got a 1 lb mallet on sale and 2 lb rawhide maul for wood working as some of my chisels are very expensive. The general rule is the cutting tool must be sharper than material being cut. The tool hardness will vary. When it comes to wood handled chisels the rawhide should prevent mush rooming of the handles. Plus the rawhide has a nice texture for a powerful strike.

Hopefully, these new mallet and maul will serve you well, and you'll be happy if very productive using them. 

Looking over the Tandy flyer for the recent craftools sale, some of those newer Craftool Pro stamps are quite nice. 

 

I saw this pic the other night, and it made me think of your "twelve" threads on mauls, mallets, hammers and slammers... Ha

I realized, that "Nothing good lasts forever" also holds true with most of our leather tools. ;-)

 

Chas