TandyPro Tools

[Tugadude]

Tandy announced today a whole slew of new tools.  They look amazing.  I hope to see them in person at my local store.

 

https://tandyleather.com/collections/since-tools?trk_msg=SGT8MVS0VIIKDFMSGV56TQJTV0&trk_contact=RUQU13VTJ3Q606IA18J9JOOVG8&trk_sid=487AUIPM189T2MV6V6U08V776G&utm_source=listrak&utm_medium=email&utm_term=https%3a%2f%2ftandyleather.com%2fcollections%2fsince-tools&utm_campaign=Introducing+TandyPro®+Tools!

[Retswerb]

Huh. Yes, most of those look fairly nice, and I’d like to see them in person. In this economy Tandy only gets one shot at this though, if they market these as nice tools and they turn out to be trash it won’t go well. The pictures are nice but the descriptions are generic. 

The manufacturer appears to sell all the same tools, for less, on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/SinceLeather?ref=simple-shop-header-name&listing_id=607347714 Of course there’s an advantage to getting them in person at a Tandy instead of waiting for shipping from China, but... something about this feels like grasping at straws on Tandy’s part.

Would love to hear if anyone sees them or has prior experience with Since.

[Rhale]

Tandy has also started selling SOME Barry King tools!

[Spyros]

10 hours ago, Retswerb said:

The manufacturer appears to sell all the same tools, for less, on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/SinceLeather?ref=simple-shop-header-name&listing_id=607347714 Of course there’s an advantage to getting them in person at a Tandy instead of waiting for shipping from China, but... something about this feels like grasping at straws on Tandy’s part.

 

Heh, good research Retswerb!

[jcuk]

I did the same searched Since leather tools got that link and a facebook page not on facebook so could not go any further there.

https://www.facebook.com/sinceleather/

May get some feed back there.

Hope this helps 

JCUK

[Spyros]

So basically high end Chinese tools

Could do worse than that.

[Tugadude]

6 hours ago, Spyros said:

Heh, good research Retswerb!

The tools appear to be the identical price, at least when I looked at the site.  There is mention of free shipping however.

 

Edit:  I've never understood the attitudes of some members of this forum regarding Tandy.  Perhaps they have had problems with Tandy in the past and it has left a bad taste in their mouths?  Personally, even if that is true there is a time at which you have to admit that it isn't the same Tandy.  New leadership, website, pricing structure, products, etc., etc.  No comparison to "the old Tandy" really.

I'd love someone to explain to me how shooting them down at every turn, predicting their demise, etc., etc. helps the leatherworking community.  Shouldn't we all want them to succeed?  Wouldn't that be a sign of a healthy industry?  

Edited November 6, 2020 by Tugadude

[buzzardbait]

I think these tools are made in Japan. Check out Leather Mob on Etsy.

[Spyros]

2 hours ago, Tugadude said:

The tools appear to be the identical price, at least when I looked at the site.  There is mention of free shipping however.

 

Edit:  I've never understood the attitudes of some members of this forum regarding Tandy.  Perhaps they have had problems with Tandy in the past and it has left a bad taste in their mouths?  Personally, even if that is true there is a time at which you have to admit that it isn't the same Tandy.  New leadership, website, pricing structure, products, etc., etc.  No comparison to "the old Tandy" really.

I'd love someone to explain to me how shooting them down at every turn, predicting their demise, etc., etc. helps the leatherworking community.  Shouldn't we all want them to succeed?  Wouldn't that be a sign of a healthy industry?  

Personally?  i don't mind if it stays a niche industry with some thousand craftspeople around the world, a couple dozen online vendors, and a few chat rooms and youtube channels to exchange ideas.  Works for me.  I'm stuck in COVID isolation for months anyway, I've learned to live without physical shops.

I have nothing against Tandy, everything I bought was cheap and I got what I paid for.  Those type of products have a purpose and a place in the market, but I've moved on and it's not for me anymore.  Having said that, I appreciated the organised website and the fast shipping to Australia.   Good to see they're bringing in (what looks like) some more high-end stuff, I might try something.  Or, I might opt for the cheaper Etsy shop instead.  I have about zero shop loyalty 

Edited November 6, 2020 by Spyros

[Tugadude]

25 minutes ago, Spyros said:

Personally?  i don't mind if it stays a niche industry with some thousand craftspeople around the world, a couple dozen online vendors, and a few chat rooms and youtube channels to exchange ideas.  Works for me.  I'm stuck in COVID isolation for months anyway, I've learned to live without physical shops.

I have nothing against Tandy, everything I bought was cheap and I got what I paid for.  Those type of products have a purpose and a place in the market, but I've moved on and it's not for me anymore.  Having said that, I appreciated the organised website and the fast shipping to Australia.   Good to see they're bringing in (what looks like) some more high-end stuff, I might try something.  Or, I might opt for the cheaper Etsy shop instead.  I have about zero shop loyalty 

By the way, I wasn't singling you or anyone out in particular.  Thanks for the reply.  I have noticed some on this forum treat Tandy Leather like a piñata and it seems to me nothing they ever do will be enough to satisfy.

[Tugadude]

3 hours ago, buzzardbait said:

I think these tools are made in Japan. Check out Leather Mob on Etsy.

The Tandy website says made in China.  I would much rather they be made in Japan, but sadly they aren't.

[tsunkasapa]

2 hours ago, Tugadude said:

By the way, I wasn't singling you or anyone out in particular.  Thanks for the reply.  I have noticed some on this forum treat Tandy Leather like a piñata and it seems to me nothing they ever do will be enough to satisfy.

Sadly, Tandy has let too many of us down too many times in the past. It will years before they earn back our trust.

[Danne]

5 hours ago, Tugadude said:

The tools appear to be the identical price, at least when I looked at the site.  There is mention of free shipping however.

 

Edit:  I've never understood the attitudes of some members of this forum regarding Tandy.  Perhaps they have had problems with Tandy in the past and it has left a bad taste in their mouths?  Personally, even if that is true there is a time at which you have to admit that it isn't the same Tandy.  New leadership, website, pricing structure, products, etc., etc.  No comparison to "the old Tandy" really.

I'd love someone to explain to me how shooting them down at every turn, predicting their demise, etc., etc. helps the leatherworking community.  Shouldn't we all want them to succeed?  Wouldn't that be a sign of a healthy industry?  

But they still sell a lot of more or less useless tools. I understand that those tools I talk about is for beginners, but I did the mistake as a lot of other people to buy some beginner tools from Tandy. One of them (The diamond hole chisel set) is possible to use but there are way better choices, even a cheap set for a couple of usd from Aliexpress is a better choice. Why? because they are so far from sharp you can get, you have to hammer them down with A LOT of force, and they leave HUGE holes. Buying Seiwa or LC-diamond (Goodsjapan or Leathercrafttools) is a better choice for a beginner. 

The Mini leather punch set isn't just bad tools, I would go so far to say it's fraud, I have mentioned this before on this forum and showed photos. Can you make a hole with them? yes, but you can with a steel pipe too if you punch hard enough. 

I can understand that a company can make mistakes and sell a tool that is not good, but not learning and keep selling useless things will just end one way. You loose customers and finally enough customers so you have to close down.  

 

[Retswerb]

6 hours ago, Tugadude said:

The tools appear to be the identical price, at least when I looked at the site.  There is mention of free shipping however.

Interesting, I see them all the same now as well. When I first looked they were mostly 10-15% cheaper on Etsy, with a couple of items like the folder more like 50% cheaper.

I’ve got a small Tandy about 20 minutes from me and while I don’t love the selection, I try to buy there regularly because it’s valuable to me to have a local place where I can pick up things in person at the drop of a hat. If they go out of business there’s no way they’d be replaced by another leather store, of course. I sure appreciate being able to see and touch actual samples of dyes and finishes and I can fish through the leather stacks to find ok pieces - for which I pay no shipping and can take home and start on immediately. I have no doubt my opinion of the company would be far lower if my experience with them was purely by mail.

[battlemunky]

Here is why I have issue, among a few other things, with Tandy. Guess which one is Herman Oak and guess which one is Tandy. That is from removing blue tape after tooling. One is nearly hairy, the other is nearly perfect. Both are shoulders. 
 

Aside from poor leather sold at similar prices as HO, I’ve encountered more often than not, Tandy sales folks just hawking stuff for the sake of hawking it. Asking for an item that you are very familiar with just to be pointed to a completely different item just for an up sell, as if you were stupid, by a sales rep is unacceptable. That is how the leather industry is hurt not us bagging on Tandy. They are the only chain available to a lot of folks and instead of preying on hapless victims they should learn how to help people in stead of trying to liberate their money from their wallet. 
 

if I wouldn’t have encountered this at multiple Tandy’s in multiple states I’d let it slide but it is systemic I fear. That helps neither themselves, newbies, or the jaded and knowledgeable they try to grift on. 
 

Yet I continue to patronize them from time to time. 

[Spyros]

5 hours ago, Danne said:

The Mini leather punch set isn't just bad tools, I would go so far to say it's fraud, I have mentioned this before on this forum and showed photos. Can you make a hole with them? yes, but you can with a steel pipe too if you punch hard enough. 

Is that the silver one with the set of black screw-on tips?  I bought this thing too, I broke a tip the first day, and broke another one the day after, they just broke in half.  I was so ftustrated I got nervous laughter :D

Then I don't know what got into me but whenever I shopped at Tandy I kept adding replacement tips in the basket, like it was somehow my responsibility to keep this tool functional, so now I have a collection of random tips in overlapping sizes.  And the funny thing is I keep using it a lot.  Occasionally a tip breaks, I buy more.  I could've probably bought a nice Osborne set by now with how much money I've spent on it   

 

Edited November 6, 2020 by Spyros

[Danne]

14 minutes ago, Spyros said:

Is that the silver one with the set of black screw-on tips?  I bought this thing too, I broke a tip the first day, and broke another one the day after, they just broke in half.  I was so ftustrated I got nervous laughter :D

Then I don't know what got into me but whenever I shopped at Tandy I kept adding replacement tips in the basket, like it was somehow my responsibility to keep this tool functional, so now I have a collection of random tips in overlapping sizes.  And the funny thing is I keep using it a lot.  Occasionally a tip breaks, I buy more.  I could've probably bought a nice Osborne set by now with how much money I've spent on it   

 

It was this set. https://tandyleather.com/collections/tools/products/mini-leather-punch-set

if you look in some of my earlier posts you will find where I show a photo of the cutting edge and how much I had to sharpen them to cut. A tool for beginners shouldn't need to be completely reshaped and sharpened to work.

[Spyros]

1 minute ago, Danne said:

It was this set. https://tandyleather.com/collections/tools/products/mini-leather-punch-set

if you look in some of my earlier posts you will find where I show a photo of the cutting edge and how much I had to sharpen them to cut. A tool for beginners shouldn't need to be completely reshaped and sharpened to work.

Because of the shape of the tool I don't find it hard to sharpen, I just mount it on a drill and run a sandpaper on the outside and then clean the burr on the inside with a roundjewelers file.  Takes me a couple of minutes per tip.  My problem with those tips is that they literally break if I'm not VERY careful what I punch and how I punch it.  But somehow I got used to it.. I like how I can have the whole "system" in a small container next to me instead of having 10 "real" hole punches of different sizes, I don't know...  I think my future is the same thing but from a better manufacturer, I have to research it.

[Danne]

59 minutes ago, Spyros said:

Because of the shape of the tool I don't find it hard to sharpen, I just mount it on a drill and run a sandpaper on the outside and then clean the burr on the inside with a roundjewelers file.  Takes me a couple of minutes per tip.  My problem with those tips is that they literally break if I'm not VERY careful what I punch and how I punch it.  But somehow I got used to it.. I like how I can have the whole "system" in a small container next to me instead of having 10 "real" hole punches of different sizes, I don't know...  I think my future is the same thing but from a better manufacturer, I have to research it.

Yes, it was easy to sharpen. But a tool for a beginner shouldn't require to be reshaped and sharpened. 

Kevinlee have nice hole punches, also Ksblade have or had a version with interchangeable punches.

Also I think this is a good set (I'm not certain, because I can't find the seller I got recommended way back) But it looks like it's the same.

https://www.etsy.com/se-en/listing/679842132/individual-sizes-05-20mm-steel-round?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=leather+hole+punches&ref=sr_gallery-1-23&organic_search_click=1&pro=1

Personally, i'm looking at Kevinlee's hole punches, and I will buy those sizes I need.

I found the Ksblade set, they have a couple sets and they cost a lot but good quality tools.

https://ksbladepunch.com/product/multi-hole-punch-14-pcs

This set would be nice, but it also cost like a Chinese bell knife skiving machine lol. 

https://ksbladepunch.com/product/multi-hole-punch-large-28-pcs-set

Edited November 7, 2020 by Danne

[Spyros]

1 hour ago, Danne said:

Yes, it was easy to sharpen. But a tool for a beginner shouldn't require to be reshaped and sharpened. 

Kevinlee have nice hole punches, also Ksblade have or had a version with interchangeable punches.

Also I think this is a good set (I'm not certain, because I can't find the seller I got recommended way back) But it looks like it's the same.

https://www.etsy.com/se-en/listing/679842132/individual-sizes-05-20mm-steel-round?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=leather+hole+punches&ref=sr_gallery-1-23&organic_search_click=1&pro=1

Personally, i'm looking at Kevinlee's hole punches, and I will buy those sizes I need.

I found the Ksblade set, they have a couple sets and they cost a lot but good quality tools.

https://ksbladepunch.com/product/multi-hole-punch-14-pcs

This set would be nice, but it also cost like a Chinese bell knife skiving machine lol. 

https://ksbladepunch.com/product/multi-hole-punch-large-28-pcs-set

wow, that last one...

I mean if you need it you need it, right?  Problem is I don't really, I hardly ever cut such big holes.  And when I do need one or two odd-shape holes I have this cheap set of cutters, I pick the one i need, hold a piece of wood over it and give it a good smack.  Does the trick.

KS Blades... I love the chisels i bought from them, but for hole punches it's probably overkill.  Plus it took a very long time to make and receive from Korea.

I like the ones you linked on Etsy, they have a good shape.  Hmmmmm

Edited November 7, 2020 by Spyros

[Danne]

4 minutes ago, Spyros said:

wow, that last one...

I mean if you need it you need it, right?  Problem is I don't really, I hardly ever cut such big holes.  And when I do need one or two odd-shape holes I have this cheap set of cutters, I pick the one i need, hold a piece of wood over it and give it a good smack.  Does the trick.

KS Blades... I love the chisels i bought from them, but for hole punches it's probably overkill.  Plus it took a very long time to make and receive from Korea.

I like the ones you linked on Etsy, they have a good shape.  Hmmmmm

That kit with punches look nice.

Regarding round hole punches, i've also heard good things about this one from Kevinlee.

https://www.kevinleathertools.com/products/hexagonal-handle-black-round-holeunch-set-14cs

[Spyros]

11 minutes ago, Danne said:

That kit with punches look nice.

Regarding round hole punches, i've also heard good things about this one from Kevinlee.

https://www.kevinleathertools.com/products/hexagonal-handle-black-round-holeunch-set-14cs

Nah, too many punches for me, I only really use 5 or 6.  Plus too many features I don't want to pay for: Hexagonal handle (don't care, I've made built in bins for my bench specifically so things don't roll around), black finish to prevent rusting (don't care, no humidity where I am, never had any tool rust on me), sharpening & polishing (don't care, I do those things myself), wooden rack (keep it, I'm a woodworker)

This one however is just perfect:

https://www.kevinleathertools.com/products/basic-hole-punch-set-1

I just ordered it actually, I'll let you know what it's like when it arrives

Thanks for the tips!

Edited November 7, 2020 by Spyros

[Danne]

3 minutes ago, Spyros said:

Nah, too many punches for me, I only really use 5 or 6.  Plus too many features I don't want to pay for: Hexagonal handle (don't care, I've made built in bins for my bench specifically so things don't roll around), black finish to prevent rusting (don't care, no humidity where I am, never had any tool rust on me), sharpening & polishing (don't care, I do those things myself), wooden rack (keep it, I'm a woodworker)

This one however is just perfect:

https://www.kevinleathertools.com/products/basic-hole-punch-set-1

I just ordered it actually, I'll let you know what it's like when it arrives

Thanks for the tips!

Yes, please update me when you have tried them. I'm not looking for "fancy" nice looking tools, I just want them to do the job. And also plan to build a storage solution in wood for tools. 

[Spyros]

30 minutes ago, Danne said:

Yes, please update me when you have tried them. I'm not looking for "fancy" nice looking tools, I just want them to do the job. And also plan to build a storage solution in wood for tools. 

Ahhh if we were closer by I'd propose a swap: make me a wallet and I'll make you  a nice tool holder from Huon pine and Tasmanian blackwood

Unfortunately it would cost an arm and a leg to ship to Sweden, doesn't make sense  

 

For the punches, it's really the high carbon steel and the shape of the tip i was looking for, that's all I need.   I can tell from the colours he has hardened the tips so the guy obviously knows what he's doing and has a good rep generally, and the price is right, so yeah it's probably worth taking a punt.  But I'll let you know when I receive them.

Edited November 7, 2020 by Spyros

[Spyros]

Danne, about toolholders: I used to make toolholders for every single tool, but over the years I realised they sound (and look) much better than they actually are.  The thing is, tools change all the time, you can never predict exactly what shape and size holders and holes you will need, and sooner or later you end up with tools that you have nowhere to put, and then you end up permanently building new holders.  Also they're just not practical, you have to reach over for your tools, and then to put it back you have to remember what goes where and which hole is for which etc. 

I don't know if you've seen my workspace thread but this is my solution for storing everyday things and keeping them from rolling around:

I have another strip like that on the left hand side of the white HDPE, I just can't find a photo right now.  Just some wooden borders, that's it.   As long as you can bolt them down somehow on your bench/desk/table so they are stable, that's all you need really.  But the main thing is they are right next to my hand, and when I finish with a tool I just drop it back in without thinking.  And they're also very low, so if I have to roll a hide over them to cut it they are not a problem.  Add some magnet strips on the wall for whatever can go on the wall and you're done.  I've had workshops all my life and I found those are the most practical and space saving solutions.   Toolholders look nice but they're really just a pain in the butt.