Bracelets, handbags and bags, belts, wallets, key holders - the list of what you can think of and make from genuine leather is very long. This material is responsive, malleable, and quite practical things and genuine works of art come out of it. If you decide to try yourself in the role of a master, then you will need, in addition to talent and hard work, professional tools. These include a skin punch.
Hole puncher
Yes, that's right - a hole punch. This is the purpose of this toolkit. Of course, for these cases it is possible to keep an awl or scissors with you, but they cannot make perfectly even holes with smooth edges. In the end, you only torment yourself, and at the exit you will hold in your hands a product that is very far from perfect.
There are many types and forms of a skin piercer. The most primitive is a cone sharpened on one side in the form of a cone. Some craftsmen independently make such hole punchers from cartridges. It’s easy to use: put it on the leather blank with a sharpened end and lightly hit the hammer on top. The hole is ready. It is only necessary to get the hang of holding the tube itself strictly upright, and do not mow it with a hammer upon impact.
In addition to simple round punchers, inveterate craftsmen are able to make a lot of curly ones - in the form of hearts, flowers, rhombuses, stars. But who knows what kind of fantasy comes to the mind of a real creator.
A skin punch is needed not only and not so much for decorating products, although curly perforation, of course, looks simply amazing. It is indispensable for making holes for the braid, manual seams. They make holes for them to fasten or in order to insert grommets, blocks, and plant rivets.
Professional - professional tool
Those who decide to work with this material not from case to case, but on an ongoing basis, will need a more advanced hole punch. For the skin in this case, you need professional tools. On sale there are devices of a revolving type. They are somewhat similar to pliers, only their head is equipped with a drum with several sharpened cones. We clamp the edge of the workpiece with such a hole punch, click on the handles and get a hole of the desired diameter.
There is another type of equipment. These are already familiar tubes, only shorter ones, and they are also worn on a special handle with a spring mechanism. He put the tip to the material, pressed it, pressed the handle and slightly turned it to the side - and that's all. You can even take a ready-made set of punches for your skin right away. It includes several incisors of various diameters. Some firms offer including curly tips.
Stamps also relate to some extent to this type of tool. The difference is that their tip is blunt. Their goal is not to pierce the workpiece through, but only to squeeze the desired pattern onto the skin.
About quality
When buying a punch for leather, give preference to products made of durable hardened steel. It’s better to pay a little more money, but get equipment that will not let you down. Soft metal will quickly collapse and become worthless. In addition, pay attention to the sharpness of the sharpening of the incisors. Take an interest in acquiring turret designs to see if the heads are interchangeable.
And don't be afraid to accumulate too many different hole punching tools. Sooner or later, you will definitely take advantage of each of them.