I find it always so difficult to make a birthday gift list. During the year I think “I have to write that down for my birthday” but every year I lose that little piece of paper or note on my phone somehow… For who didn’t know my real birthday, not the one of the blog but my own was last week. So besides my Christmass list, my ‘Sinterklaas-list’, a Dutch holiday, I also have to think of a birthday list… Though ever since I started leathercraft there is always something I know to ask! This time I wished for a hand press or Spindle…
What is a hand press or spindle press?
My family and friend love me a lot but when I start babbling about hand presses and spindle machines I’ve lost them… What is it and what is it for? Well, it is a manual press with a lot of functionalities. You can put a little hole punch on it to punch holes (yep, it’s true…) or set your grommets, rivet and snap rivets with an extension set.
Why should I get you one?
Good question… Well, you’ve got the manual rivet setters but somehow I manage to set them uneven, crooked or not even fully. With this press, you will always use the right amount of power to set it evenly and completely. Besides that, you will also have one hand free to correct or adapt the materials inside the press!! And setting those rivets, snapping rivets etcetera, goes a lot faster = more time for something else.
Alright.. but where do I get one?
That is the question I will answer with a nice little story! As you could have read in my post about the Kingsly foil press I like products with a story… First I searched online but a new one was a little over my birthday gift budget. So you’ve got some from made in China but with quite a long shipping time… But then I found a link to a second-hand website. I love a good second-hand product but always check them in person before I buy it. Therefore I had to make a little trip to Amsterdam!
Find a good home
I found an ad from four ladies, some amazing ladies, who had three of them for sale. I called them and they welcomed me to their place to have a look! They told me they worked at a confection atelier to make tailored clothes but more and more shops had to close over the years, due to the fast fashion. They could buy the remaining Spindle machines with the rest of the buttons, zippers and snaps from a recently closed shop. But since they only had work for four ladies they didn’t need more than one Spindle machine and would love to find a good home for the rest of them. That’s when they offered me a good deal, and eventually, I found my birthday gift!
I always daydream about who the user was before me. For whom they have made their clothes with this hand press. Maybe did they make clothes for some rich fancy clientele or also made bags just like me… mmm nevertheless I love this little red new friend of my and have to find a little spot on my workbench for it! Do you have a hand press already? Do you use it often?
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