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Post by scrapperal on Feb 14, 2020 3:07:50 GMT
I am looking to add to my collection of punches and the only circle punches I have are my old CM punches. I will most likely invest in the Fiskars or Stampin Up circle punches. What are your favorite sizes?
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scrapnnana
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,105 
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Post by scrapnnana on Feb 14, 2020 14:20:30 GMT
I like the larger ones offered by Fiskars. I would get a circle punch that is at least 1 inch, 1.5 inch, and 2 inches if you can. I am assuming you want to punch out stamped designs. That is what I usually use mine for, and the larger ones tend to be the most useful for me.
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Post by Embri on Feb 15, 2020 6:54:08 GMT
I love my 1" Fiskars Thick punch. It goes through 1.5mm mattboard, which is great for making finger pull half-moons and tokens.
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Post by joblackford on Feb 15, 2020 17:05:14 GMT
I have a little circle punch, I think it’s 1” that I got for punching images to put in bottle cap art pieces. It’s Fiskars, the kind with the rabbit ears squeezy handles (> . <) but I don’t use it as much as my 2” and 2.5” ones, which are the flat EK success ones. (so much easier to store!) I don’t use those a whole lot either - I like stitched circles so I more often reach for my dies, and the dies are more precise and cleaner too. I hate it when the punch doesn’t cut cleanly, and I feel like more often than not they don’t.
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Post by gmcwife1 on Feb 15, 2020 18:52:25 GMT
I have a little circle punch, I think it’s 1” that I got for punching images to put in bottle cap art pieces. It’s Fiskars, the kind with the rabbit ears squeezy handles (> . <) but I don’t use it as much as my 2” and 2.5” ones, which are the flat EK success ones. (so much easier to store!) I don’t use those a whole lot either - I like stitched circles so I more often reach for my dies, and the dies are more precise and cleaner too. I hate it when the punch doesn’t cut cleanly, and I feel like more often than not they don’t. I agree with 1 1/2, 2 and 2 1/2 being my favorite sizes. And with the not always cleanest cuts. I go back and forth thinking about and using my circle dies and punches. I love the ease and quickness of just grabbing a punch. But I do think my dies are always cleaner, they are just more time consuming and I’m always in a hurry  |
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Post by Embri on Feb 15, 2020 21:40:04 GMT
Dies do cut cleaner, and are easier to place accurately in my experience. And you can get edge embossing. But I wouldn't say they're any faster - at least if you keep your cutting machine at hand, there's really little difference unless you're doing multiple circles in succession. There the hand punch wins since you can immediately keep going.
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Post by Shakti on Dec 21, 2022 14:11:11 GMT
scrapperal , do you find that you use your CM punches much in card making? I have both sizes of circles and squares, as well as a hexagon. I haven't used any of them in card making and am beginning to think I won't ever. They're much too difficult to use "upside down" which is the best way to cut out stamped images, especially sentiments. And the second size on the same punch makes them difficult to use to cut windows in between card layers if that makes sense. It seems to me that all they can do is cut shapes to add to something, never make a hole in a thing. I am considering parting with mine. Edited to add that my CM punches are 15 or 20 years old -- I just took a quick peek at their site and they have clearly recognized my issues and redesigned their basic shape punches....
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Post by scrapperal on Dec 21, 2022 17:41:13 GMT
I actually did use my CM hexagon punch recently. But I think the Fiskars punches are much easier to use. Since my original post, I've added quite a few Stampin Up punches to my collection (because they either have matching stamps or they were on sale). They are the flat ones like EK Success.
I know my CM punches are a sunk cost, but it was so much $ and effort to get them originally, I can't give them up yet, even though I hardly use them.
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Post by Shakti on Dec 21, 2022 17:57:58 GMT
Mine have been sitting on a little shelf, in plain sight and easy to grab, with my others (mostly Marvy Uchida and a couple SU). I was vaguely aware I never seemed to use them. I was able to use the circle to make a little grabby dip in a gift card holder, but then I wanted a circle again this past weekend to make a window in a dark card layer to the white underneath and it just couldn't do it. That's when I just tossed the whole lot into my swap/sell/donate bin. But figured I'd get some other opinions as well to see if I were missing some trick of the trade or whatnot.
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Post by Embri on Dec 21, 2022 21:45:54 GMT
Punches shine when you want the positive part, i.e. the cut out circle. They struggle when you're looking for the negative, unless it's on an edge. There are physical limitations on how far a punch can reach into the paper, or you need to get a special magnetized everywhere/window punch which are expensive, clunky, and come in a very limited range of sizes. Between the lower cost and viability of much bigger circles and more intricate shapes, etched steel dies have mostly beat out punches when it comes to papercrafting.
Most of the punches I've kept are corner punches, where the physical punch part helps with aligning the corner and the speed is an advantage to get all four done quickly.
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Post by don on Dec 22, 2022 4:28:06 GMT
I like the one size I don't have when I need it.
You can get a 3/8 punch, but not a 3 3/8 punch
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Post by Shakti on Dec 22, 2022 12:39:58 GMT
As I think about shedding my CM punches, the sunk cost doesn't bother me -- it was so long ago that if I can recoup anything for them I'd be happy. I just need to figure how and where I am going to get rid of all the things in that bin.
Not having a circle punch does bother me, though. I do think I want a flat EK Success flat circle punch (since SU no longer sells a plain circle). Joann seems to offer a 1.25 or a 2, with no 1.5 that I can see. Seems like the 2 inch will be my best bet.
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