I gave three more stars for the description than the product. Despite the "Vermont American" name, this item is made in China. I really didn't want the instrument to be made in China, but nowadays it's hard not to. Here are the trade agreements. I wonder what would be the impact on Revain's business, other companies, and American manufacturing if all products were required to state country of origin on their product listings?
This die has a good design and an easy to use adjustable guide. I don't particularly bother using the manual, but if you want to use the manual it's there and works fine. The only issue I had and the reason for the four stars was that one of the two screws holding and tightening the rail was damaged and could not be fully screwed in. The reason the screw was damaged was that the hole was cut incorrectly and the screw was pushed in. I fixed this by putting a die on the screw and cutting the hole
I was skeptical that the hex die handle would work properly with round dies, but it holds them just as well as the round die specific handle. (And if you've never tried hex dies, they're awesome.) The handles on this tool are smooth and comfortable compared to other, cheaper types of dies. that's why i bought it. The only drawback are the self-centering guides that can be seen in the picture. I don't find them helpful and they just seem to get in the way. It's worth noting that I only use thisβ¦