UK leather machinery - clicker, hand press, burnisher

[navarino]

Hi all,

I currently make leather bags by hand (up to 10oz thick) and am looking to buy some machinery to ease the strain on my joints - I've done some research but it's hard to find any UK sellers for most of the things suggested on this forum - I wondered if anyone could recommend any hand presses (for punching and rivet setting), hand clickers (for die cutting), and burnishing machines sold in the UK. Budget is pretty limited, hence the request for hand tools rather than hydraulic. If anyone has any advice on UK options it would be greatly appreciated. 

Thanks,

Nav

[Matt S]

Hi Nav. There's certainly not as much "small guy friendly" leather machinery available in the UK as there seems to be in the US. I suppose it's a market size thing.

Plenty of simple rivet/eyelet presses on eBay, from about £25. I have the very common/cheap green ones, which take a M8 threaded top die and 19mm bottom die. They really aren't the best but work fine and the price is right. Die sets start at £15. Punches (round or slot) are also available for these machines.

There is very limited choice for clicker presses. The only hand operated one I've found in the UK is the Lucris. Last time I checked the dealer was charging £1300+VAT. Instead I bought a small bearing press for £60 off Amazon. These are hydraulic but you have to pump the lever up and down.

Burnishing machines -- I know Tandy sells one in the UK now but let's just say I wouldn't buy it. I have a burnishing wheel from Nigel Armitage (currently £78) which I fitted to a £25 bench grinder with the grinding wheels stripped off -- the cheapest induction motor I could find. The motor's really not great -- it runs too fast and it overheats quickly but the setup works and works good.