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Post by hop2 on Sept 18, 2020 12:02:15 GMT
Has anyone else noticed the lowering of quality of nane brand punches?
The only ones I’ve bought recently that work are the fiskars.
In fact I’m so annoyed with the quality of punches I’ve bought lately. I like certain punches for the ease of aligning with stamped images like circles & squares, I have a ton of circle or square stamps that I like to use in my planner. So many of my recent circle punches are poor quality I’m talking name brand punches. My year old trio of circle punches from a name brand with a named designer on them are falling apart, and have never cut a smooth edged circle. No amount of punching sand paper or foil has helped and the lock buttons never worked. I’m about to throw them out. In fact if my new hero arts infinity circle set matches those 3 sizes I’m going to. Why is it so darn hard to punch a circle? Yet I can punch a perfect Mickey Mouse or pine tree with my 15 yo punches.
My ‘old’ punches from when I started scrapping all work great ( knock on wood ) and trust me I have quite the collection. I mean there’s a couple of intricate ones that don’t like thick paper but if you get the right paper they still cut perfectly. I had such a bad time with this circle set that any punch I order I punch right away and if it doesn’t punch smoothly back it goes. I shouldn’t have to ‘sharpen’ a brand new tool.
Has anyone else noticed an issue? Or Have I just been getting sent lemons?
When I have the chance I’m purging any punch that doesn’t punch clear/smooth.
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Post by Linda on Sept 18, 2020 12:14:39 GMT
I don't use punches often - I have a few from when I first started scrapping (2002) that have never given me any issues. But the circle punch I bought at M's a year or so ago never worked well and I finally gave up and tossed it. I miss have a circle punch...
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scrapnnana
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,090
Jun 29, 2014 18:58:47 GMT
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Post by scrapnnana on Sept 18, 2020 12:22:28 GMT
I haven’t bought any punches for years because they take up too much space, and I get better cuts from dies (which are easier to store, too).
However, in the past when a punch didn’t punch well, I would punch it through aluminum foil several times. That was supposed to sharpen it. It did seem to help.
Before you toss any of them, sharpening them with aluminum foil might be worth a try.
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Post by hop2 on Sept 18, 2020 12:22:30 GMT
I don't use punches often - I have a few from when I first started scrapping (2002) that have never given me any issues. But the circle punch I bought at M's a year or so ago never worked well and I finally gave up and tossed it. I miss have a circle punch... so you have the same experience as I do, old punches work great, new punches not. Sad
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Post by hop2 on Sept 18, 2020 12:23:50 GMT
I haven’t bought any punches for years because they take up too much space, and I get better cuts from dies (which are easier to store, too). However, in the past when a punch didn’t punch well, I would punch it through aluminum foil several times. That was supposed to sharpen it. It did seem to help. Before you toss any of them, sharpening them with aluminum foil might be worth a try. the ones I’m complaining about I have done that and then stepped it up to superfine sand paper still no help. They weren’t cheap either so I’m not real happy with them
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Post by riversong1963 on Sept 18, 2020 15:28:44 GMT
I don't buy punches anymore. I've tried using some old punches recently, and they have jammed and ruined what I was working on. I'm talking Martha Stewart punches, which I paid a lot for back in the day. I couldn't even get them apart to punch through aluminum foil. I know about the freezer trick too, but honestly, if I have to put my tools in the freezer before I use them, I'm not going to use them. That's why so many of them sit in a drawer. I've started to just chuck them when they jam and I can't get the paper out. (Oh, yeah, I've thrown them on the floor too to unjam them. That usually works, but I don't want to do that all the time either.) There are some that still work great, and most of those are made by Fiskars.
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Post by sleepingbooty on Sept 18, 2020 16:43:18 GMT
I shouldn't be laughing considering the importance of the November elections...
I avoid punches these days, too, like many fellow crafters on the board. Too much space, too much hassle to get them to work properly. Give me a thin die instead.
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scrapnnana
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,090
Jun 29, 2014 18:58:47 GMT
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Post by scrapnnana on Sept 18, 2020 20:47:53 GMT
I hope you have notified the companies that their products don’t work.
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Post by riversong1963 on Sept 18, 2020 21:46:51 GMT
I hope you have notified the companies that their products don’t work. They worked fine when I bought them, but they haven't held up over the years. Since they don't have any warranties, I don't think that contacting the companies would result in anything but more frustration on my part.
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Post by hop2 on Sept 18, 2020 23:32:07 GMT
I hope you have notified the companies that their products don’t work. No I didn’t buy from the company so I didn’t think they’d care. Now it’s a year later. I just don’t buy punches from that brand anymore.
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Post by 950nancy on Sept 18, 2020 23:47:22 GMT
I have many and once in a while a punch will go bad. It isn't any specific company though. My NEW, EXPENSIVE CM camera punch is not the best. Sad.
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Post by Jessica on Sept 19, 2020 4:05:53 GMT
Yes. Old punches worked a lot better than new punches. So...I have a few punches and more die sets.
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Post by refugeepea on Sept 19, 2020 19:42:31 GMT
hop2 I've had the same experience. I also prefer to use punches with stamped images. EK Success seems to still do a decent job. I have their old lever punches and the newer slim line ones where you lock them into place. I try to stick with this brand, but I had a hard time finding a 3/4" inch circle punch and bought the Recollection brand. It's okay.
ETA: I have one Fiskars hexagon punch with the 2 handles and don't like it very much.
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Post by joblackford on Sept 20, 2020 0:29:48 GMT
I need to check my punches and see if I have any like that. I got rid of a corner rounder that didn't line up nicely, and I might still have a couple of other punches that leave me wondering why I bother using them. I don't think my circle punches leave a very clean edge.
I only have a small collection but it's always a good reminder for me just to get rid of something that doesn't work well right away. I tend to put it back in the drawer and then get frustrated over and over.
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Post by artsyk on Sept 20, 2020 0:55:05 GMT
I have many and once in a while a punch will go bad. It isn't any specific company though. My NEW, EXPENSIVE CM camera punch is not the best. Sad. Now this I would definitely complain about.
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Post by artsyk on Sept 20, 2020 0:55:30 GMT
I shouldn't be laughing considering the importance of the November elections...
I avoid punches these days, too, like many fellow crafters on the board. Too much space, too much hassle to get them to work properly. Give me a thin die instead. LOL I love that meme...
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Post by papersilly on Sept 23, 2020 21:42:41 GMT
nothing i hate more than weak, crappy punches. Fiskars have always been good. EK Success was good back then and so was Stampin' Up. I think i only got one crappy Stampin Up punch but it was still usable.
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Post by auroraborealis on Sept 23, 2020 23:37:47 GMT
Yes!! The Fiskars ones I have are good but I have 2 square-ish ones that were not cheap by some other brand (don't remember which one) and they have had rough edges from the start (the more detailed one is the worst, but the other is a simple plain square). That was a real waste of money. Shouldn't a square punch be able to cut a square? I can fussy cut after punching the square to fix it up, but the one with the beveled corners at best gets a decent cut on one or 2 corners.
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Post by scrapaddict702 on Sept 24, 2020 0:18:12 GMT
hop2 I've had the same experience. I also prefer to use punches with stamped images. EK Success seems to still do a decent job. I have their old lever punches and the newer slim line ones where you lock them into place. I try to stick with this brand, but I had a hard time finding a 3/4" inch circle punch and bought the Recollection brand. It's okay.
ETA: I have one Fiskars hexagon punch with the 2 handles and don't like it very much.
If they're newer EK, don't bank on them. EK is owned by American Crafts now, which means the quality is going to go into the shitter.
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Post by riversong1963 on Sept 24, 2020 2:49:09 GMT
EK Success made the Martha Stewart punches that are dying on me one by one.
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Post by 950nancy on Sept 24, 2020 3:11:55 GMT
I love punches (when they work). One of the Allsion Davis pages used a page full of hexagon shapes. It would take hours to cut out as a die. I generally don't have a lot of trouble with my punches.
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Post by meganliane on Sept 26, 2020 19:27:43 GMT
I generally have not had issues with my punches. I generally buy the ones from EK success and Fiskars. I also have a Tim Holtz small star that works well. I usually buy from amazon or Joann.
The ones that always work good are the Fiskars Thick punches though they can be pricey.
I am one who like punches bc I like how easy it is.
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Post by cupcakepeddler on Sept 29, 2020 1:48:58 GMT
I stopped buying punches a while back after I had a run of them all breaking, however I did a few years of fundraising stalls at my kids school and I did purchase some of the fiskars punches with the two handles and I can not fault them. I went through my punches a while back and checked what was working well and what wasn't and it was an odd mix of cheap and expensive ones that worked well, the older stampin up and EK success seemed to be the best performers though, I was really unimpressed by the amount of Heidi Grace for Fiskars punches that I had to chuck out, it was like something inside them snapped and would get loose.
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Post by 950nancy on Sept 29, 2020 3:36:59 GMT
I generally have not had issues with my punches. I generally buy the ones from EK success and Fiskars. I also have a Tim Holtz small star that works well. I usually buy from amazon or Joann. The ones that always work good are the Fiskars Thick punches though they can be pricey. I am one who like punches bc I like how easy it is. Me too. If I need 5 hexagons, it takes me 10 seconds to get the punch out and punch them. Running every die through a machine (especially multiple cuts) just takes too long sometimes. I like my dies when I want lots of detail, but for basic shapes, punches work so much easier.
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Post by hop2 on Sept 29, 2020 17:30:49 GMT
I generally have not had issues with my punches. I generally buy the ones from EK success and Fiskars. I also have a Tim Holtz small star that works well. I usually buy from amazon or Joann. The ones that always work good are the Fiskars Thick punches though they can be pricey. I am one who like punches bc I like how easy it is. Me too. If I need 5 hexagons, it takes me 10 seconds to get the punch out and punch them. Running every die through a machine (especially multiple cuts) just takes too long sometimes. I like my dies when I want lots of detail, but for basic shapes, punches work so much easier. yes, when they work!
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Post by 950nancy on Sept 30, 2020 1:25:31 GMT
Me too. If I need 5 hexagons, it takes me 10 seconds to get the punch out and punch them. Running every die through a machine (especially multiple cuts) just takes too long sometimes. I like my dies when I want lots of detail, but for basic shapes, punches work so much easier. yes, when they work! I rarely have issues with mine. If I sharpen them, I'm usually good.
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