bruce johnson

I have a little more time today to address Slick's question about buying on Ebay in general. Like most auctions, you need to have a pretty good idea what you are buying and be in a position to expect a few disappointments along with the really sweet deals. Not everything is going to be as described and that works both ways as seen by the example above. I look at feedback casually. If a seller has a few dings, I'll see why. If it is they take 2 weeks to ship, leave out items, or seriously misrepresented something, I proceed carefully. If someone red buttoned them for receiving a broken finger on a glass figurine and I am looking at a hammer then I probably won't care. I look at shipping costs, and a lot of times contact them. The calculator can be off, or I can suggest a faster and less expensive method. Package Service at the post office takes some pretty odd routes (Illinois to the sort center in Warrendale, PA, then back across country on a camel caravan) and the savings aren't usually worth it. Just as important, when they say they can ship a crank splitter for $25, I really think hard. That is way too cheap to pack and pad 50# of cast iron correctly. They'll lose money (likely) and then short the packing material (more likely) so you receive a box of rattling parts iwith clean shiny breaks (most likely). On the items themselves I look pretty carefully at the pictures and not so much at the descriptions. (Again, Slick's example above). I look for what is there, and just as important what is NOT there. Awhile back a crank skiver sold on a buy it now as-is no returns for $300. Front picture looked really clean and good. From the back it was missing the whole back assembly that held the blade, that was major. Buyer was pretty disappointed when he called to see if I had a spare back half. The sellers don't always know what they have. Kind of like gambling, never bid more than you can stand to lose, although buyer protection gives a little insurance. I have a figure in mind of what I can pay for a particular type of tool pretty much privately or at auction. Something has to be pretty special for me to exceed that. I multiply out my factors on the tools and that's my bid. I usually do scheduled bids in case I am not around or want the leeway to change a bid or cancel it if something else comes along. A lot of stuff seems to come on Sundays and then close a week later all within a short time period. There may be 3 or 4 similar things I am looking at, and if I get the first one I can cancel the other bids.

I don't have any right now and will be looking to get some made up. I lucked into a box of 20 or so last fall in a set and used the last one 2 weeks ago.

My thoughts at the time was that these were not described very well. At least some of the stamps are Hackbarths, and probably Ray Hackbarths. Pretty sure that swivel knife to the right is, although the blade might be suspect. Some of the rusty crusty stamps are likely McMillens based on catalog impressions, Can't rule Eberle or another handmaker out on some either. The faces looked pretty good and should derust just fine. To be honest I had a scheduled bid in for more than they sold for, but most of these would have been duplicates for me. I have quite a few Ray Hackbarths already and looks like I have most all of these that may have been. The two multiple "birds eye" stamps I have, and they were probably the cream of those types. I was offered a private deal a few hours before these ended on a boatload of really good hand tools .I scaled back my scheduled bid on these to free myself for that. I left these at a "if I get them, I stole them" price and the next bid got them. My initial scheduled bid was based on value to me. I figured a price on the knives. I came with a factor for each type of stamp based on common/no so common and multiplied that out by the numbers by each maker I thought there probably were. Added it all up and that was my initial bid.

All good advice so far, and especially when you found that holding a little "looser" worked better. Don't hold the tool "down", just float it over the cut line and let it hit and rebound up with the strike. Pretty soon you'll get a rhythm going and strike, slide, strike will be second nature. I usually slide about 1/3 of the stamp width. The other thing to consider is the stamp. The sides need to slightly ramp up at the edges to slide the way I run them. If they are square then they'll stick or leave chatter marks at those edges and not walk. The more the slippering or ramping, the lower into the cut you can hang and roll.

I have a couple shop made round and English points that are 2-1/2" and 3" I use(d) on stirrup leathers. The round ends I traded for and are unmarked. The guy who made me the English points is back to welding cattle trailers and wrenching semis. I see them once in a great while, but rarely marked. In these larger sizes a die maker or pretty good smith can make them up.

Apparently good vintage pricking irons are not all that easy to find in Europe either. I get emails every week about them. Just to add another dog to the hunt here, most of the vintage Blanchard, Mayer-Flammery, and Dixon tools I get are then sold either back to Europe or to Australia (European influence). Less than a third stays in the US and the majority there are plough gauges. I can't recall selling a Blanchard knife within the US. I have sold a few to Canada, but most go to Belgium, France, Romania, Switzerland, Germany, and one went to Moldova.

Seller has posted the tools are sold.

Where are you in central CA?

WS, Thanks again for your insight. I talked to Ron about this yesterday as well. He said he has a Craftool catalog with an insert that has the deal about the chrome plating and the war restrictions. How many were affected?? I have had the occasional unplated stamp and so far they have all been no-letter so I never thought twice about it. Now to find 17 of them in a whack with prefixes piqued my curiosity a bit more. I was rolling the dice and expecting they'd may be preletters, McMillens, or other handmades. No worries, these are nice stamps and I'll stack the basket and waffle stamp against anybody's made today.

I ended up with a pretty large set of older Craftools. In the set are 17 stamps that are not plated. Very nice impressions, but definitely not plated nor evidence of having plating removed. I had been told that the stamps were not plated during the Korean war due to chrome being used in the war effort. The odd thing with these stamps is: 1) seven of the unplateds are marked only Craftool Co, but have the letter prefix before the stamp number. In my understanding the letter prefix was after Tandy bought Craftool in 1963 or so. 2) The rest of the unplated stamps are marked Craftool Co USA. and should be plated?? How often has anyone seen these variants? Thanks for any insight! - Bruce

Good luck and hoping for a fast and complete recovery!

When I was making saddles, I really liked Bill Bean's seat tins a lot. Saved time and heavier gauge than most of the others.

I have never been so take that for what it is worth.I keep thinking I want to go, but something else always comes up. I know guys who go every year, and have bought me a fair amount of stuff out of there. The offerings range from big stitchers to bench machines to hand tools to leather. There are some bargains, some horsetrading, and some stuff goes higher than it should. Some stuff is really good and some is wore out #3 crap. A few things maybe have diluted it from what it used to be. This year there was another harness-makers auction already sold in Shipshewana, IN. Weavers is next up. The Harness Makers Get Together is someplace different every year and they have an auction. This year the Harness Makers is something like 15 miles away from Weavers and 3 or 4 weeks later. Some guys are thinking what normally might go to Weavers could end up at the Harness Makers instead so that might be a factor. Still, If I was in the area, I'd dang sure be there.

To replace the ferrule you have to take the bit off, slide a fresh one on, the replace the bit. I have some and do it pretty frequently if you'd want to send it here.

Nice tool and I'd replace the ferrule for sure, but that's me. There is a check in the wood and I'd go so far as to rehandle it if I had one with the right receiver for the shank.

I am in the middle of doing a tutorial on edge beveler sharpening now. It is one of the most common questions I get. In a nutshell until I get the sketches done, here's the abridged version. Abrasives - Use very fine stones or fine wet-dry. More damage is done by using a heavier grit than necessary and then trying to work that out. Most edgers just need a touch up first and then a good stropping. If you start too coarse you might end with a more ragged edge than you started with. By the time you have worked that out with progressively finer grits you have wasted time and metal. 600something to 800 wet-dry is about where I start on most edgers. work up a grit or two and get to a nice even pretty smooth edge. Once I get to a strop, I use green compound. It will remove some metal maybe, but if I work it right I get the best edges. On most edgers I work off the bottom. It is more accessible and easier for me to maintain a consistant angle. One I have a pretty fine edge and starting to draw a thin burr evenly across the width, I start stropping. top and bottom to work that bur off. On the bottom I rotate up slightly at the end of the stoke to make a slight convex edge. It is more durable on thin stock edgers and holds better. If the edger is good it doesn't take much of a convex to hold it. Some edgers have the top in a slot and compound on stiff cardboard works well for me. If I have nooks and crannies like a round bottom Gomph or vizzard edger, I use an angled piece of hard leather to get into the corner OR I use a soft wire wheel and lightly do the top with that rotating away from the blade edge. On round bottom edgers I use something that mimics that same curve. Best way I was taught was to edge a piece of leather slightly smaller than the profile, wrap wet-dry over that to fill in the profile and match the tool, and secure it in a vise. You can draw or lightly push to work up an edge. Once you have the edge, time to strop. An edged piece of firm leather rubbed with compound and held in the vise is good, just draw back and strop the bottom, Use whatever works for the top. I know this is contrary to a lot of instructions. They show most of the work done with files or wafer stones in the slot from the top. My problem there is that with the bent shanks you can't get a good stroke without running into the shank or handle. Three things happen. You raise the angle to clear them and you are really making a steep and stubby edge. Second is that you get tired and quit too soon and the edge never gets sharp. Third thing is you have spent an inordinate amount of time sharpening the edge but you do get it right. This is the thumbnail of what I have so far. I figured how hard can it be to write a little tutorial. Yeah... I am on three pages and no sketches yet.

It depends on a few things. If you are cutting bigger projects, then a small board can be a hassle. Making part of a cut, moving the board, cutting again, etc can result in a choppier cut than a bigger board under you. LDPE boards tend to grab knives more and makes a bit more effort as well as mark up faster and those grooves can catch a blade edge too. I like HDPE better for cutting. If you are going to use one to punch on, the HDPE can be brittle though and crack or break. LDPE is a better choice there.

WS, Thanks for the heads up on the misID'd stamp. I'll pull it tonight and change that. I have had several unmarked Osborne (or seriously Osborne-like) tools. Knives most frequently but handled tools as well. Some may have the USA stamp in the wood, but no maker marks on the metal. I am not sure if these are subbed tools from Osborne's military contracts or just pushed through to meet the immediate needs at the time. I may have had or do have an unmarked Compass groover also. I don't remember off the top of my head.

WyomingSlick, You made me go look! I have a page of only preletter Craftool stamps for sale and another "Bargain Basement" page with lettered Craftool stamps on my website. I had to double check to see if I had a #115. No joy, but I was kind of excited for minute or two there. LOL, Thanks, - Bruce

My technique is pull, push, pound, and swear a lot. I hope Dawson didn't learn any new words.

What do you mean "that's not much of a feat"? That is always a good feeling for anyone! Nice job on the whole thing. Now send it out to get used.

One thing I have found are a couple references to the Newark vs. Harrison marking. Osborne changed the marks on most of the tools soon after the move. The round knife with the Newark mark was their ID/badge/flagship/"brand recognition" item. An image of the knife and marking was on their stationary, catalog covers, and flyers. At least a few have thought they might have still marked the knives with the Newark stamp up until maybe WW1.

Your knife could be 1890s or thereabouts. I have an 1897 catalog reprint with the "X" marks on the knifes. The usual knives were 6" wide, the "X" knives were 6-1/2", the "XX" knives were 6-3/4 and the "XXX" were 7". The single X knives then were $1.84.

I had one for my Boss when I had it and have one for my cylinder arm power machine now. What they do is let you sew a gusset in bags and cases with 90 degree inside corners. The rounded profile on top of the stirrup[ plate shortens the radius up instead of flattening what you are sewing. They will let a machine march right around the gusset corners.

Cut and paste got me and left out more of my reply above. The second one is a loop creaser that was used to put a creased pattern onto loops. I have never seen them maker marked, but the only place I have seen them cataloged was on a single page flyer from Charles Rosecrans. I find a few here and there. I am up to 14 of them and have yet to get a duplicate.