Caydo 69 Pieces Leather Tools Kit with Instructions, Matting Cut, Stitching Groover, Prong Punch, Leather Working Saddle Stamps Tools for DIY Leathercraft

TL;DR= If you are just starting leather crafting and have no tools, you can grab this set. It grants basic essentials to start, but far from “1 kit to do them all” title. If you need tiny/fine details be prepared to get a few more stamping tools. If you want adequate and crisp stamp imprints, find a more barebones set and get the stamps separately in a specialized store.Ok, another long review coming this way. Not comprehensive since I just started learning how to use these tools but I’ll update as I find things out for those looking to get into the craft.First off, this kit is comprised of several items from various places. Basically they get items from different places and put them in a box. I assume some or most items are theirs but since one of them has exclusively Japanese text and many have individual packaging, I’d guess they had products from various places. To me that’s pretty good. “If you don’t have something that is needed in a starter kit, add it yourself or settle for an inadequate kit.” Glad to see they tried to make the kit as full as they can. The drawback of course is that the quality of each item will vary. Leading to what everyone probably wants to know first: the stamps.The stamps are what make this kit “worth its money” as most stamps would cost $5-9 each, and with this many it more than pays right? Well... first off, the stamps are of durable quality. They don’t deform from being smacked with a mallet (normal use). I was half expecting the handle to bend over multiple uses at this price. The types vary so a broad range of typical projects can be done. This kit lacks fine detailed stamps like a tiny beveling tool so if you need to do fine details such as tight curls, expect to get a few more stamp tools. Most stamps I was informed are “picture stamps” which aren’t used in making your own pictures and such, but it can be used in borders and space fillers. Oh one more note, it seems some stamps may not be 100% even. There was 1 tool I tried because I had no idea what it was and it didn’t stamp evenly, despite different angles and number of strikes I tried. If you are creative, you may find good uses beyond what my friend was teaching me.*UPDATE* Ok, little more than disappointed on the quality. I bought some stamps from Tandy Leather and didn’t realize I got one that was the same from the kit. The stamp on sale costed me $3. But I took the opportunity to try them side by side. Aside from my amateur alignment, turns out the one from Tandy was more pronounced in finer details, and more uniform (it’s a basket weave “symmetrical stamp”). The same stamp from kit was a bit faded. If I had to describe it, it is “less crisp” and tends to stamp unevenly. So if you want pattern stamps that look “worn in” it might help but you have to hit pretty hard in different angles to make sure the picture stamp imprints well enough to not look like a sloppy job. Try explaining to the giftee that half of that 1 (out of 4) butterfly is missing because the cat ate part of it before it escaped. You can always carefully put the stamp back on and flesh it out but you risk stamping it slightly off and the piece is ruined. The smooth head bevel tools included also doesn’t have a very smoothed head, so you have to lift it slightly and place it back on so as to not “catch the leather under it. Compared to similar bevel tools from Tandy, it doesn’t glide well and is difficult finding the cut groove from the swivel knife.Single hole punch tool was the one with Japanese text, and to me was one of the nicer ones. Similar hole punch tools need a mallet to operate. This one operates similar to a push drill so no mallet needed. You push down, the tool swirls the tip, cutting the leather, creating the hole and the leather gets taken into the tool to be ejected from a slot located at the midpoint. The tool resets itself when you remove it from contact point so you can punch holes back to back. To be accurate it is more a hole cutter, the way the tip carves the hole. It may require multiple presses to punch the hole. Be sure to have the cutting mat under, you won’t expect it punching through until you realize you should have stopped pressing 3 times ago.Swivel knife comes ready to use, but doesn’t come with a sharpening strop. So before undertaking several projects, make sure you have maintenance tools for your tools.*UPDATE* Still works quite well. But they were only on scrap leather to test things on the same medium of material for my actual project. I didn’t have to use the leather strop I got yet.The stitching hole punch is something my friend tried to use when teaching me, but he had difficulty using it. It might be the scrap leather we tried, but as a warning they aren’t hole punchers, but “hole makers”. Difference in that hole punchers would make a hole by punching a part out, like paper hole punchers do. “Hole makers” makes a hole by piercing a spot and shoving material to the side, much like a nail would. Now why is this important? Because if you have leather that resists being pierced into, you are better off using a drill or a hole puncher. My friend wasn’t able to pierce through the scrap with it.*UPDATE* It was definitely the scrap leather. I tried it on a different scrap leather and it had almost no issues piercing through (3-4 oz) the multi-hole piercing tools are good.Other tools this kit doesn’t have: mallet (can be expensive or cheap, find what works well with you), sharpening strop (a dull swivel knife is not good), leather shears (yeah apparently that’s a thing) but you can just as easily use a utility knife or box cutter depending on the thickness, fine beveling tools (for intricate detailing) or “crisp” stamping tools.If you are willing to use sub par tools, this might be for you. If you need a starter, and want good tools, look for a more bare bones kit and prepare to pay for the others separately.

I'm new to leather crafting, so this should be an interesting endeavor! The tools look solid and came packed very well. I may not know any better, but I don't feel like much was left out of this kit. Perhaps some beeswax would have been nice, but I ended up picking some up on eBay. I'll also need a straight edge, but those are easy enough to come by. Overall, I feel like I have a great set of tools in front of me.

While some of the items are great (including the cutting board, the burnisher, the stamps, and the punches), I had no luck with several tools breaking after the first few times using them. I am a novice leather-worker, but I am pretty sure I am not using these simple tools incorrectly. The awl tip broke after 2 uses, the groover never really worked at all, the edge bevelers are dull and just scratch up your edges, and the included needles are crap. I broke three of them within the first 2 sewing jobs. All the needles in the set are different so it makes saddle sewing a challenge. The sewing punches bend when you use them, making them useless.All in all, if the tools were of good quality, this would be a good set. As stated above there are some good items in the set, so if you want to price it out for those, it may be worth the money. As it is, look elsewhere and spend your money on some better tools, as I'll have to do.

So far everything i've used in this kit is pretty good. The only issue i've come up with is that the screw hole punch no longer grips the inserts. This makes it very frustrating or impossible to use. Otherwise the variety of stuff is good to get you going.

Tools are cheap quality! I thought I was ordering Tandy merchandise, since I typed it in the Amazon box. NOT! mADE only for ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS!! Don't buy them!!

So I’m just getting started in leather works, and it’s an interesting challenge. From the start, I could tell that some of these tools were lower quality than others. Overall, I’ve had no problems with the tools for this price point, but I will be replacing some with better ones over time.

A lot of great tools to start with. Would have been helpful with a sheet advising what each tool is and what it is used for. Trial and error worked for me!

Good set of tools... some are not as good as others, but for a starter kit you know you are going to have to buy more professional tools as you figure out what tools you use the most. All in all a decent kit and worth the money.

as advertised