Appalachia Sling Co. is proud to bring pouch-cutting dies to market for the DIY pouch enthusiast! We now have 19 classic pouch designs available, starting at 40mm long and ending with 82mm long! Each pouch-cutting die can be used with your choice of material (leather or microfiber), a small piece of nylon cutting board (one is included per order at no additional fee), and a hammer or die press to cut thousands of pouches before dulling the high-quality Japanese steel blades. Pair with a square foot of our premium microfiber or a piece of our kangaroo leather, and have at it!
A few keys to success:
(1) Watch the product demonstration video mentioned below before attempting to use the die(s).
(2) If using a hammer (as opposed to using a die press) to cut pouches, take small blows instead of large ones, checking your progress between every strike or two. You want to just barely make it through the material (leather or microfiber) before stopping; continuing to strike the pouch-cutting die assembly after the pouch has already been cut can shorten the life of the blade. Similarly, if using a die press, stop just after hearing the material "click," which means that it has been sufficiently cut.
(3) Use a hammer or rubber/acrylic mallet with a large surface striking area (i.e., one that covers all--or most--of the blade).
(4) Always work on a hard, flat surface. Failing to do puts stress on part of the pouch-cutting die assembly (namely, the band and center hole punches), which can actually break free of the plywood frame and begin to slide. If this happens, the pouch will be cut out but the holes will not (unless they are pushed back into place so that the entire assembly is level again). Pouch-cutting dies with "loose" hole punches can still be used for quite some time; however, they are best if repaired by reinforcing the plywood backing with another piece of plywood, preventing the hole punches from moving when struck.
(5) Use the pouch-cutting dies with approved materials (light- to middle-weight leather or microfiber). Thicker and tougher materials such as canvas-backed (i.e., laminated) leather (and anything >2mm-thick) will stress the blade and cause it to dull faster.
(6) Clean out your hole punches regularly using something akin to a wooden toothpick that will not damage the blade, which can become impacted with densely packed material from repeated use. Most of the time, hole punches expel material without having to be cleaned manually, but they do get stopped up every once in a while. The pressure of the impacted material can actually become so great that the die will warp and crack from the inside out!
NOTE: Please watch the short video attached in the "Photos" section of this page for a demonstration on how to correctly use the pouch-cutting dies. Also, please note that it is normal for pouch-cutting dies to have small imperfections in both in the plywood and blade. These imperfections do not affect functionality and are NOT a valid reason for returning or exchanging this product. We assure you that these dies work and work very well; we use them ourselves! If used correctly, they can literally cut thousands of pouches before needing to be replaced.