Originally Posted by
mizgeorge
Their customer service people and their stock are held in two very different places. One does not speak to the other, and their computer systems are like-minded. However, if you telephone their toolcentre in Hockley, they generally have the actual tools to hand. They can't sell them to you from there, but can usually provide information, and I've found them reasonably helpful in the past. I don't, of course, know if they've survived the recent lockdowns.
I'd also add that all the 'artisan' cutters are Indian made, and many are pretty decent quality.
Anecdotally, a friend of mine has a version of this same tool (but bought on ebay). The faces are angled, and after spending a bit of time polishing the surfaces, said it did a pretty decent job. Especially on the basis that you have to punch a lot of discs to justify the cost of having one rather than simply buying precut discs.
I have a Pepe and a Swanstrom, and in terms of mechanism, slightly prefer the Pepe (on which this is based), mainly because of the holding screw knob rather than lever, which tends to jam. It also has a better range of small sizes, whilst the Swanstrom has more larger sizes, and has its apertures better positioned in terms of making it easier to cut from smaller pieces of metal.
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