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Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo
1 Level
449 Review
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Review on Complete Leather Working Tools Kit - Includes 2 Leather Cutting Tools, 2 Leather Skivers, And 2 Leather Measuring Tools - Perfect For DIY Leather Craft And Leather Making Projects by Regina Smith

Revainrating 3 out of 5

Decent – some tools majorly flawed

This is okay to get you from "zero leatherworking tools" to "a bunch of leatherworking tools" in one purchase, especially if you're not sure you'll enjoy working with leather or if you'll stick with it.BUT, if you do stick with it, you'll end up buying replacements for some of these.1. Bad Beveler: The beveler seems cool, an all-metal design with a great ergonomic divot for your thumb, and works great – until the tip just pops right out a few minutes into using it and plinks to the floor.Short of welding it back in place, there's no good way to fix it. So that piece, the only beveler, is immediately useless.2. Bad Groover: The stitching groover is NOT as pictured – it's backwards! The grooving hole is at the end of the adjustable arm, and what's coming out of the handle is the aiming point that's supposed to be at the end of the arm. This renders the groover pretty useless, and there's no good way to apply steady pressure to the grooving hole.Also the grooving hole clogged and stayed clogged the one or two times I managed to make any grooves with it. Terrible. So I'll need to buy another one of those; one that works.3. Bad Mat: The cutting mat is not the self-healing-type thick mat they let you think it is. It's paper thin, hard, and scratches deeply and easily. I wouldn't trust it to protect any surface, and it is rapidly becoming so scratched up that it scratches any leather I set on it for working.So I'll need to buy an actual decent cutting mat.4. Bad Awl: One of the awls popped out of its handle as I pulled the awl back out of a hole I'd made with it.I was able to jam it back into the wooden handle, but it's at an angle.I don't much need that awl, but if I do later, I don't trust this one.5. Flaking Awl: Another awl, the one that's tapered and widens out holes, leaves tiny flakes in the leather and on the workspace. Not the end of the world for me, but wouldn't be okay in professional work. So I'll probably need to buy another one of those at some point.6. Horrible "case": The bag this comes with is garbage. Gossamer thin, scratchy, polyester, labeled "medical" so it was clearly bought as seconds from some medical device, and just a single open compartment. This set would not only be an nightmarish, jumbled up, tangled disorganized mess if you kept it in here, the various pieces would damage or break each other, AND a bunch of the things would poke through the bag and damage whatever else the bag is near. Do not use!The stamps are probably fine, the thread is good so far, the pricking/marking wheels are good, and the burnisher and beeswax have been great.So not the worst purchase if you just need your first one of a byunch of different tools – but I bet you could find a similar set of higher quality in the same price range, without these issues – especially if you forgo the stamps, which, unless you're specifically planning to do a lot of tooling, you won't need anytime soon.Can't recommend buying this set when there are other options that might be better.

Pros
  • WIDE APPLICATION
Cons
  • Some users might prefer to choose their tools individually rather than purchasing a kit, in order to get exactly what they need.