Thought the $19 hand punch from the craft store was junk, 400 pins later I owe it an apology
Back in 2019 I was sure the cheap lever punch at the shop on Grand Ave in St. Paul would crack after a couple hundred cuts, so I stuck with my old iron press for two years. Then my press arm bent and I grabbed the $19 punch out of desperation to finish a 250 pin order for a local band. It's still cutting clean circles today, and honestly it's faster on small batches since I don't have to warm up the press. Anyone else got a cheap tool that outlasted the fancy one, or am I just lucky with this one?