How To Use Belt Hole Puncher

Which Type of Leather Hole Punch?

This post covers the all-time methods for making holes for belts and other leatherwork projects, using several different types of leather hole punch tools. Information technology will teach y'all how to employ the drive punch, rotary hole dial, oblong hole dial, and four pigsty dial. The post will also help you choose which leather handtool or leather punch set is the best fit for your leather crafting needs. At the stop of the post is a video where you can watch how to make a pigsty in leather with each different type of leather hole punch.

Circular Hole Drive Punch

The bulldoze dial is the virtually bones, strongest, and near universal type of leather hole dial. They come in a range of sizes. We use our pocket-sized 3/32 inch leather punch to brand holes for pocket-sized rivets and small jacket snaps, our 1/eight inch drive punch tool to make holes for medium and big rivets, and our v/32 inch hole punch for large jacket snaps. These sizes can be used for some buckle holes also, just oftentimes the larger pigsty punch sizes are better for buckles with thicker pins. For this, you will need to choose a punch based on the circumference of your buckle tongue. To make holes for grommets and eyelets, you will need to choose a dial size based on the interior circumference of the eyelet or grommet.

Round bulldoze punches are available in many hole diameters.

You tin can also observe adjustable leather punch sets. These consist of a trunk that can exist fitted with different sizes of removable pigsty tube tips. Our mini punch fix includes six smaller tips, and the maxi dial fix has six larger tips. These are a good choice if y'all aren't certain what size you'll demand, or if you need to punch multiple sizes of holes. They are a good economic choice if you won't be punching a lot of holes, since y'all won't have to spend money on many unlike individual bulldoze dial tools. The disadvantage of this type of punch is that swapping out the ends takes up time.

Mini dial set with interchangeable tips and wrench.

How To Use A Drive Punch

To employ a bulldoze punch, first start with a sturdy surface that won't bounce when you're punching holes. We utilise a solid tree stump. On top of the stump we lay a piece of scrap leather, so that the sharp point on the bulldoze tool won't get dull from punching directly onto woods. This besides prevents the punch from chewing up the wood and ruining your cutting surface. If you lot don't accept flake leather available, you tin employ a poly cutting board.

Employ a pencil or scratch awl to mark the leather where you demand the pigsty punched. On darker colored leather it is easier to see a indicate marker past the awl than a pencil mark. Then gear up the piece on your cutting surface and line up your punch. The hole dial should be completely perpendicular to the leather. Hold it securely in this position, and hammer straight downwards. Depending on the thickness of the leather, the punch should cut through cleanly with one or two solid blows.

We punch holes on top of a tree stump, with a fleck leather pad to protect the drive punch tool.

The hammer shown in this photo is a large poly head mallet; a heavy rawhide mallet is likewise a adept option. Both materials will blot bounce, and the softer surface will protect your tools over fourth dimension and extend their life.

A traditional carpenter's hammer can be used as well. The disadvantage of a metallic hammer is that over time it will start to mushroom the terminate of your hole punch tools, since you are banging metal confronting metal.

Making Buckle Slots With An Oblong Leather Punch

Ellipsoidal hole punch, used for the pin hole on belt buckles.

Use the aforementioned process to punch an oblong shaped hole for a belt buckle. It may take a bit more than hammering than the smaller drive punch. You tin tilt the leather oblong punch slightly, if needed, to focus the force of the hammer onto a stubborn spot.

If you can't afford an oblong hole punch when outset starting leather craft, you can get around that problem with your round pigsty punches. Punch two round holes an inch apart, then use a utility knife to make two parallel cuts to join the round holes together. You could also use a wood chisel to make the straight cuts. However once yous take the money and employ an oblong dial, y'all will never go back to the work-effectually method.

For well-nigh of our belts and dog collars nosotros employ a 1 inch oblong punch. We apply larger punches for items with large or bulky buckles, and smaller punches for small items with slender buckles. If you lot can't afford a number of dissimilar sizes of oblong pigsty punch, y'all tin employ the one you already own to make a longer hole. Punch one hole and so overlap the punch on the existing hole, extending information technology past the existing hole to the desired slot length. Give information technology a blow with the hammer so the two slots brand one longer oblong slot. You can see a poly cutting board beingness used below to protect the bench and the tool's edge.

Use an ellipsoidal hole punch tool to punch a pigsty for a chugalug buckle. Shown with poly cut board.

Punching Round Holes With A Rotary Punch

Revolving hole punch is convenient for doing the odd quick pigsty.

The reward of the rotary hole punch is convenience. It comes with 6 different sizes of hole punches, which you switch between by rotating the wheel. We used to accept this hand tool to craft shows to add a hole to a belt when someone would request information technology.

The disadvantage is that if you accept many holes to dial, using the rotary dial pliers becomes tiring on the hand. It also will only reach about an inch in from the edge of your leather, so you tin't use information technology to punch a hole in the center of a large piece. Also, the thicker the leather and the larger the tube size, the harder it becomes to squeeze the revolving dial through. In these cases, sometimes you have to twist the punch some as you squeeze to become through the thicker leather. This leather tool is skillful for doing the odd hole, simply too tiring and hard for punching lots of holes.

With this type of punch nosotros over again use a scrap piece of leather underneath the piece we want to punch, to keep the blades sharp. Otherwise you are crunching the precipitous cutting tube into the difficult metal anvil. Doing then will tedious the tube quicker and article of clothing out the metal anvil. Sandwich your skillful slice of leather and your scrap piece betwixt the tube and the punching surface, and squeeze the handles together.

Punching Round Holes for Lacing

A four hole punch used for lacing.

Beyond the basic bulldoze and rotary punches, you tin can find specialty leather punches for different applications. Ane of the more than handy leather work tools is this four pigsty punch, which is used to brand minor holes for lacing leather. On this punch each hole is 3/32 inch diameter, spaced i/4 inch apart. The reward of the 4-in-one punch is that it volition salve time and keep your holes evenly spaced. Utilize this four hole punch for the directly parts of your leather lacing project. For going around curves, use the single hole punch mentioned at the beginning of the article.

Use this hole puncher the aforementioned style as an individual drive punch. Every bit with the ellipsoidal punch, you may need to tilt the punch to focus the strength of the hammer on a particular hole.

The Video

Here you tin watch Jamie demonstrating these leather craft tools. He shows how to punch a hole in a leather belt and other leatherwork projects in his custom leather shop.