If you get two or more leatherworkers together, there will probably be three or more opinions on the best stamping tools. Opinions about who made or still makes the best tools are like mothers, everybody has one. It is hard to pay homage to all the toolmakers that have come and gone, but I'll try and list some of them.
Various saddlemakers. These were custom made tools, often from a nail or if necessary from a piece of tool steel. Almost NEVER signed and seldom marked with anything, they nonetheless could get the job done. Most of these were made circa 1946 or before, but some later. If you see three hash marks at the top of the stamp it was made from a nail, but you won't always find these..
Dick McGahen made tools or had them handmade by skilled artisans like Ken Griffin, Ellis Barnes, and others. These were quality tools seldom marked. Although this was the beginning of Craftool, few were marked with the maker or Craftool and no two were really "alike". Saddle makers could see what the tool actually was and nobody would look at the numbers if the tools had them anyway. This was in the later 1940s and early 1950s, mainly in California.
Craftools really brought leather carving and stamping to the masses (that's us). When Craftool started numbering the tools sometime in the 1950s (I think), they were marked "Craftool Co" and the number. This pretty much stayed the same up through 1962. These were handmade as far as I can tell. In 1963, Craftool started adding a letter prefix to the tool number, so now they were marked "Craftool Co", a prefix (for tool type), and then the number. This marking continued until sometime in 1969. To this point, these were really very good tools. In 1969, the marking changed to "Craftool Co. USA" and retained the Letter Prefix and tool Number markings. They eventually changed the name to "Craftool USA" the letter tool type identifier prefix and the tool number until they stopped production in the US in 1999. Even toward the end, they were decent tools, well worth their cost at Tandy. After the demise of Tandy, the production of Craftools moved offshore. Tools that I have seen and used were in my opinion lacking in impression, quality, and plating. Metal under the plating was not impressive, but hey, for the cost, what do you expect. However, the beveling tools are acceptable and a good entry level product. Buy it, if you like it and use it a lot, get a custom maker to make you a better one.
Ray Hackbarth made tools in the late 1940s and 1950s for the carvers at Porter and also advertised in papers and Magazines in the Phoenix area. Ray made great tools, you see them occasionally, but not often. He made some of the first swivel knives of what we could be called the "modern" design.
Gomph-Hackbarth Tools, 10754 Martineau Rd. N., Elfrida, AZ 85610 520-642-3891 are neither Gomph or Hackbarth. This company was started by Ellis Barnes who I talked to on the phone a lot. A lot of the knowlege of the history of stamping tools was locked-up in his head and he would spend hours on the phone talking about it. He was one of the original Craftool machinists or makers. I can only wish I wrote all that down when talking to him. Ellis made a line of tools under the Gomph-Hackbarth name in various steels, some 1018, and some stainless. I have about 20 or so of these tools and they are very good. I have one problem with them, I have big hands and they are too short. It isn't an all the time problem, but maul to finger interference does occur, enough that I just keep them in my collection. Ellis passed several years ago, and I miss him now that I have the time to spend on the phone. Lonnie Height was Ellis' assistant, and he took over for Ellis and seems to be doing a pretty good job of producing tools. Try them at a show, you may like them.
Robert Beard, http://robertbeardtools.scalabledata.com/catalog.html is a custom maker in New Mexico. Bob travels the county and internationally teaching classes, and his time in New Mexico handmaking tools. I say handmake here and that is exactly what happens. The handle of the tool is profiled by his assistant, and then Bob sits with his rotary handpiece and files and constructs the business end of the tool. Bob is the consummate artist, and can make anything you want, but you will have to wait a year or more to get them. His basic tools like bevelers and such are available at shows and if you take one of his classes, tools for that class will usually be available. Bob's tools are usually O1 tool steel, hardened and blued, beautifully blued like on a Beretta shotgun. Are these my favorite tools, yes, most definitely. Bob also makes arguably the best swivel knives and blades on planet earth in addition to a skiving knife I particularly am fond of. His edgers are very good also. Bob also makes videos that when available are excellent. Visit Bob at a show to see the excellent tools he makes and some of his artwork.
Barry King, Sheridan, WY 307-672-5657, http://www.barrykingtools.com/index.htm is a custom maker of stamping and other leatherworking tools. Barry makes it to most shows and his tools definately have glitz, but that ain't chrome pardner, that's stainless steel. Barry is the grandson of Don King but he's not locked into that era. Barry uses CNC machinery to make his tools and does it himself and with help in his own machine shop in Sheridan where everything from manufacture to quality control is right where it belongs. His tools are perfect and identical which is a good thing, and his geometrics are prized all over the leatherworking community. Barry also makes mauls and mallets for stamping or whatever. I have several of these up to a 96oz one for really whacking things. Again, these mauls are world renowned, and can be seen and tried at any show. Barry also makes some edgers that are pretty fine, and a good nuts and bolts swivel knife and blades that ain't elegant, but it sure works. You would not go wrong if you had only Barry King tools.
Jeremiah Watt, Horseshoe Brand Tools, Coalinga, CA 559-935-2172 www.ranch2arena.com is another long standing high quality toolmaker. His stamping tools are first drawer, but his saddlemaking and other general leatherworking tools are things of beauty, quality, and function. You can tell this man takes pride in his tools. His findings, or fittings are also first rate and will function perfectly on any saddle or other leather item.
Jay Gore: Gore Tool Route 1, Box 306-B Caddo Mills, Texas 75135-9801 800-859-8338 who is renowned for his geometrics. I don't think these tools are being produced at this time, they are fine tools.
McMillen Leather Tool Company 864 Four Waters Drive Sunrise Beach, MO 65079 phone: 573-374-7880, formerly of Kansas City is another excellent tool company. Don't try to make sense of the numbering system. This company has been producing for a long time and builds a fine product.
Craft Co. Japan has made stamps since at least 2009. The ones I have seen and used have been of good quality and execution. I have not found a supplier for them recently, but I keep seeing the stamps.
This is not by any means a list of all the toolmakers. This is just an overview of what you can reasonably expect to get or be able to find. Frank Eberle, Bill Woodriff, Roth, Barnes, Stohlman, and others all made tools but your chances of running across these are slim and they are probably not marked that well anyway. You occasionally run across RBS tools (I mean VERY occasionally) in a bunch of Craftools, Ellis told me they were some tools he and Stohlman made in collaboration with Mr Roth who bought Craftool in the beginning. It is unfortunate that most of these early tools are no longer used but only collected.
Snaps are a device to hold two of something together temporarily as a finished product. Snaps usually come in four sizes.
Ligne 24, Line 24, Durable Dot, or 15mm Snaps are about 19/32 or 5/8 inch. They come in many makeup and finishes and platings and are made by a lot of different onshore and offshore companies for different applications. They can be obtained in various cost configurations to suit the quality and purpose of the end product. These come with various names usually incorporating the company name, like DOT or SK to name a couple, but generally answer to the name snap fasteners. Sometimes the trademark Durable Dot is applied to Ligne 24 by the trade. These are most common in the Boat and Marine trade and can have really tight tolerances, making them difficult to apply and remove (and they are made to be that way). Ligne 24 four part (sometimes called ring snaps) also are available with short, medium, and sometimes long posts. This is very important as the thickness of the material and proper setting of the snap depend on using the proper length post. These also come with a variety of options including "lift the dot" one way snap caps that are good for holster and other applications.
Ligne 20, Line 20, Baby Dot, or 12.5mm Snaps are about 1/2 inch. These are more for the apparel industry but are also used a lot in leatherwork. These are just smaller versions of the Ligne 24 above.
Ligne 16, Line 16, Belt, Glove, Segma, or 10mm Snaps are about 3/8 inch. This is a light duty closure used a lot in the garment industry and also for thinner straps in the shoe and leather. The caps for these can be had in just about any color. They are different in construction from ligne 24 and 20.
Scovill Ligne 14, 15, 16 Gripper Snaps are the little snaps with a wire in them to secure the closure. You don't see these much in the leatherwork trade, but a lot in garments leather or otherwise.
Quality
I have found the quality of snaps varies in the myriad of brands out there. Some brands take better (or often only) to machine setting, some work ok for hand setting. Snaps from TLF (Tandy), Weaver, Springfield Leather, Ohio Travel Bag, Zack White, Rochford Supply, Sailrite, Sheridan Leather Outfitters, Standing Bear's, and a lot of little leather shops along the road, will work adequately if not really well when properly set. Note that the marine places will have stainless snaps in ligne 24 only and they will snap and unsnap with extreme prejudice, if not it will seem like you will rip the leather apart, which you may; they actually make tools to get these things apart, and half the time you have to tap them with a hammer to get them to go together.
Setting
I can't count the number of hand setting tools I have for snaps. Most of these purchased at a Tandy or other store to do one job one time. This generally means that if I go in the toolbox, I now have about a 50% chance of emerging with the right impact tool to set a particular snap. That being said, if I am in the shop or know I am going out to do a snap job, I use a press. Which one oh god of leather? A Snap N Press from Hoover or the Little Wonder from Weaver Leather. Snap N Press even in the shop if I don't have a billion to do because it is already set-up for Ligne 24 all the time, and I have two of them so one is set-up for one side and one is set-up for the other. Ok if you get up enough nerve to take on a canvas job, and your Snap N Press goes on the road with you, put a lanyard on it and tie it to your belt; just finding the thing, even with SCUBA gear, is a ain't going to happen often situation when it goes overboard. If you have a lot of them to do, the Little Wonder wins hands down, especially because I have two (again one for each side). Setting snaps correctly, no matter what you use is no easy task. If you use the wrong length post, it will never be right, and this is just something you have to experiment with and learn. I recommend using a scrap piece of leather of the same thickness to practice and adjust if necessary. If you have a post that is too long, you can file it back a bit; if it is too short, well you are snapped (or screwed as the case may be), however, once you set, there ain't no unsetting it except with the Dremel. No matter what you use to set the snap, press or impact, do not set too deeply; this will pull the ring or post in on itself and the snap connection (when you snap them together) will be weak at best. Just use firm taps, you can always set it a little more but not a little less, just till it doesn't spin, and getting a mis-set snap out is...well I hope you have a Dremel (have I ever told you that you need to get a Dremel or even a cheap Black and Decker or Wen or something, I have one, it was a bargain on Amazon).
Suppliers
Ohio Travel Bag
DOT or Scoville
Weaver Leather
TLF (Tandy)
Springfield Leather (SLC)
Zack White
Rochford Supply
Sailrite
Standing Bear's Trading Post
Black and Decker Dremel like gizmo
Wen Dremel like tool, half the Black and Decker
Art
This is my first blog. I am doing this on request, so I hope I like it. Let me say first and very important that opinions, evaluations, methods, procedures, and anything else in this blog are merely opinions, my humble opinions. I am not responsible for information contained in these ramblings and claim no responsibility for anything in this blog, however accurate or inaccurate it may be. You pay nothing for this blog, and you may assume that nothing is what you are getting. This is a legal disclaimer. Now that I have disclaimed, we won't hear any more of that.
I will review products and purveyors of products and other tangible and intangible things giving my honest opinions on same. I will tell the reader where I got the product, if I paid for it or it was donated or presented for evaluation. If you are giving me a product to evaluate, realize that it may be tested to destruction, or it may be given longer normal treatment. The decision is mine and you won't get it back. The evaluations written here will be honest and truthful to the extreme; if I buy it or you give it to me, I am going to tell it like it is. This is kind of another legal disclaimer, and hopefully this stuff is done and you won't have to read it every time.
Why am I doing this? I am a moderator on leatherworker.net and believe me, people post a LOT to this site, I mean a LOT. There are a handful of us that read everything, well almost and as much as we can. We hope that the things that fall through the cracks are picked-up by one of our cohorts. Doing that takes up a lot of time we could use replying to posts. There are a lot of posts that could use or derive benefit from much of the experience the mods have (literally decades), but we only reply where we see the need, maybe to someone who is not getting any response because maybe his question is a little complicated or maybe too simple. This is my opportunity to give back a little. I am now retired (not from leatherwork) and have some time. As I read through the posts, I will write down topics that may need some pontification, and blow a little hot air over it in this blog. I am not planning to ramble on and will categorize blog posts as much as possible.
If you want to see something here, let me know in a PM (personal message) on leatherworker.net.
Art
