banner eyelets and punch

[David Hammond]

I got mine from Atwell’s – IIRC Chris is who I spoke to.

I think my press uses 12mm self piercing brass eyelets, and a just a bench top manual press.

Its one of the 3 best bits of kit I’ve bought!

[Robert Lambie]

I cant advise on whats best and not, to be honest i bought mine from B&P Lightbrigade about 8 years ago. they have gone bust now. anyway, i still have the same one and works very well. paid about £250 for the eyelet machine but ive seen similar for under £100 these days.

Atewells as has been suggest have a good range of products. i could be wrong but i think it was their stand i was on their stand at signuk looking at foot pedal operated eyelet machines.

you will see various suppliers of these products listed under
"Suppliers – 11 – C"
On the UKSB Toolbar
https://www.uksignboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=38498

[David Hammond]

They were at the NEC Rob.

Ordered mine a few weeks before. Atwells know their stuff. My press is really simple, load eyelet, pull handle.

Its paid for itself 100 times over, as the previous owner sent all their banners out for finishing… 1hour there, and an hour back the following day to collect.

I’ve seen similar presses going for silly prices, shop around. I would certainly say make sure you get brass eyelets rather than cheap metal ones.

[Robert Lambie]

yeh eyelets are important too. been using the silver chrome finish ones 13mm self piercing.

[Bob Scullion]

Thanks for the replies guys. Rob is 13mm standard size for the eyelets then.

Seen some eyelet machines at a couple of hundred pounds and others at 60 / 70 pounds, I know you get what you pay for in most cases but its not as if its going to be in use constantly.

Thanks again

Bob

[Mo Gillis-Coates]

quote Robert Lambie:

I cant advise on whats best and not, to be honest i bought mine from B&P Lightbrigade about 8 years ago. they have gone bust now. anyway, i still have the same one and works very well. paid about £250 for the eyelet machine but ive seen similar for under £100 these days.

Atewells as has been suggest have a good range of products. i could be wrong but i think it was their stand i was on their stand at signuk looking at foot pedal operated eyelet machines.

you will see various suppliers of these products listed under
“Suppliers – 11 – C”
On the UKSB Toolbar
https://www.uksignboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=38498

I bought one similar for under £100 Rob, sad to say it probably did 30 banners tops before it fell apart……. Sometimes quality does come at a price!

[Richard Martin]

we have the foot pedal type one and the pull down handle type, for banners the pedal operated one will give you no real advantage as it really is meant for eyeleting heavier duty material and you can hold the material taught whilst eyeletting. Its not so easy to stick in a cupboard out of the way when not in use either.

Avoid the cheap sub £100 chinese copies as they aren’t built to last and you’ll end up buying a decent one in the end, its a false economy.

[Andrew Martin]

Its all to easy to slag off something because its Chinese.. But I wonder how many people have actually bought one of those Chinese eyelet hand presses, I bought one over 18 months ago, its solidly built from cast iron and have put well over 2500 eyelets through it and its still ok with no problems even the dies still perform like new still.
I got mine from easygraphic.

[David Hammond]

I bought mine from atwells because I knew if anything went wrong they’d sort it.

The quality of the die is the important but as that’s what does the work, and where the wear and tear will show.

I paid £147 for mine, including 1000 eyelets, some tape, the die, and the press.

[Richard Martin]

quote Andrew Martin:

Its all to easy to slag off something because its Chinese.. But I wonder how many people have actually bought one of those Chinese eyelet hand presses, I bought one over 18 months ago, its solidly built from cast iron and have put well over 2500 eyelets through it and its still ok with no problems even the dies still perform like new still.
I got mine from easygraphic.

Correct its easy because its usually true i’m afraid 90% of the time. They can’t make stuff that is consistant, whilst you may have a good one there will be several that were total shite. In this instance its a £100 gamble, you could buy one and it last years or it may last weeks and you then have to stump out for another.

Each to their own but I have fallen for the "cheaper chinese price" on more than one occasion to find I only have to replace sooner than expected. One thing that I have noticed is if its for light use they tend to appear to be good. 2500 eyelets we will do in less than 2 months, our chinky machine lasted 2 weeks before the dies wouldn’t old the eyelet correctly and the best we could get was half pressed crushed eyelets.

[Bob Scullion]

Thanks for all the replies, spoke to Atwells yesterday, very helpful, press, eyelets and tape ordered.

Thanks again

Bob