Poundo Boards Dull Punches?

[MedusaOblongata]

I thought poundo boards were designed for punches and the soft material wouldn't dull them. According to SLC's video here: 

 

 

 

 

poundo boards dull punches and you're better off with hard plastic cutting boards. This is counterintuitive to me, but these guys know way more than I ever will. Then they say that poundo boards make good cutting boards, though in my experience soft cutting boards create more drag than hard ones, and even my grid ruled self healing mat causes more drag on the point of a knife than a hard plastic cutting board. I've also heard chefs say they use plastic cutting boards because they can be sterilized better, though they dull knives worse than wood ones do, which also seems opposite to what they're saying here.   I'm not trying to be argumentative, I'm just pretty confused. Can anybody make sense of all this for me?

 

 

[mike02130]

I cut on  an HDPE sheet.  I punch on an end grain cut-off from a log.  I've tried many things.  These work best.

[Tugadude]

10 hours ago, MedusaOblongata said:

I thought poundo boards were designed for punches and the soft material wouldn't dull them. According to SLC's video here: 

 

 

 

 

poundo boards dull punches and you're better off with hard plastic cutting boards. This is counterintuitive to me, but these guys know way more than I ever will. Then they say that poundo boards make good cutting boards, though in my experience soft cutting boards create more drag than hard ones, and even my grid ruled self healing mat causes more drag on the point of a knife than a hard plastic cutting board. I've also heard chefs say they use plastic cutting boards because they can be sterilized better, though they dull knives worse than wood ones do, which also seems opposite to what they're saying here.   I'm not trying to be argumentative, I'm just pretty confused. Can anybody make sense of all this for me?

 

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I've visited Springfield Leather and seen some of the operation "in the back", in other words, where they fabricate leather products for sale.  When I began buying from them they didn't offer as many finished retail items as they do now.  On a recent trip I noticed literally dozens of different items that they were offering, from wallets and key fobs all the way up to leather journal covers and such.

All of this to say that they cut a lot of leather.  If, in their experience they say one thing works better than another, I'll take their word for it.  That doesn't mean that others cannot have different experiences, but again, with the volume of work they churn out they have to know what works, at least for them.

Just because a material is soft doesn't mean it cannot be harmful to tools.  You mention drag.  Perhaps the rubber in Poundo Boards has some material in it which is abrasive?  That wouldn't change the softness of the rubber but it would certainly affect cutting edges.

I use HDPE for both punching and cutting.  I keep them separate, one for each process.  When they get ruined, I throw them out and replace.  They're cheap.  Cheaper still if you want to invest in a large piece and cut to size.  

Don't know if that helps but that's the way I see it.

[TonySFLDLTHR]

I think the point the Kevin was trying to make here is that the density of the poundo is what creates the surface to not be as ideal to punch through. Bounce bounce bounce as you try to punch punch punch...where the poly board gives you a solid punching surface...even if it is set on poundo. (But I will see if I can get him to do a follow up video and why he said what he did)

Cutting on a cutting board is good and so is cutting on poundo. Me personally I like cutting more on poundo...because my project doesn't try to slide around as much as it does on a poly board.

I can say though, that in our leather gathering department they have a table with each surface to cut on. Both marked with sqft squares.