Product review: Martha Stewart Crafts Edger Punch Scallop

I own punches by three different manufacturers: Martha Stewart, CK, and Fiskars. I thought they would be pretty much the same, I was picking based on the design or sale price. Well, turns out who makes the punch does make a difference.
Fiskars is a very heavy duty punch, it handles different thickness of paper flawlessly, I don't think I ever had it jam.
CK is a little lighter than Fiskars, it works on with no problems on light paper, but occasionally jams on heavier paper.

Martha Stewart punch is very light, feels very flimsy, and jams pretty often.

I think there are two flaws in the design of this punch: (1) It is very light, I found heavier punches work better especially on the heavy paper. (2) This punch has a handle on which you press in order to cut. The long handle might look attractive, but the punch works better if you press right on top of where the blade is located as in CK an Fiskars designs.

Martha Stewart punch like most punches has a guidelines which help you make continuous design cut. The cutting blade is 2 1/8 inches long. The guide is 5 2/8 inches long.

I am attaching a collage of two photos for reference. Photo #1 shows the well cut edge on top, and the one where the cutting guide is not used correctly. Photo #2 shows how the guide works.

In order to get a continuous cut you need to align the top of the paper with the top of the punch, and then align the edge of the cut with the drawing on the guide. It is also important to know where the blade ends within the punch itself. Notice that on my punch I marked the start and the end of the blade on the side of the punch by drawing two lines in pencil (best seen in photo #1) . This helps me to know how much to the left I need to move the paper if I want to avoid uncut areas in the middle of my design.

I bought several Martha Steward punches at a local Michael's craft store when they on sale under $10, but I will not be buying this brand again even if I see another sale. I can't recommend it.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.



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