china Report post Posted April 26, 2010 Hi all I have just been given some leather stamping tools that were thrown out at a dump some of them are marked kelly tool co New Zealnd and appear to be very good quality can any one shed any light on them Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cem Report post Posted April 27, 2010 Hi all I have just been given some leather stamping tools that were thrown out at a dump some of them are marked kelly tool co New Zealnd and appear to be very good quality can any one shed any light on them The Kelly Tool Co made the Midas line of stamps and are no longer in business, they occasionally come up on ebay and usually go for a decent price well here in oz anyway. They are a better quality than todays Craftools and would be on par with the Craftools from the 1960-1980's maybe even a bit better depending on the stamp. I've only got one, matting tool (618) which is from the mid 70's and it's a goldish colour which I think they all came in. Cheers, Clair Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
china Report post Posted April 27, 2010 Thanks for that, yes they are all gold in colour and at least one has midas stamped on it. There are some earlier made craft tools that are with them plus a swivel knife with a gem tiped blade possibly a industrial ruby, plus what appesrs to be a swiveling type groover it is all ceased up I am working on cleaning it up. I will take some pics and post them in a fiew days just for interest Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WyomingSlick Report post Posted April 28, 2010 A very nice windfall for you! Here are a couple pages from an old leathercraft magazine showing the line up of Kelly tools which were made in New Zealand as yours indicate. The regular MIDAS line chrome plated tools were imported from China. According to this advertisement - the "gold color" is brass. Note - The attachments are page size scans so that you can print them out and add them to your data base. Most of the earlier Kelly's were very good stamps, but as the dies used in their manufacture wore out, some of the later ones were not so good. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
china Report post Posted April 29, 2010 Thanks They will be a good reference Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
twhTatanka Report post Posted March 8, 2012 Here is a link if you are interested in learning more about Kelly Tools history. http://www.kellymidasclassics.co.nz/about_noel_kelly.php They offer for sale some of their Classic Tools, and are still based out of Akaroa, New Zealand. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jack523 Report post Posted April 7, 2013 thats good info I bid on three of these tools for Ebay and the quality is outstanding! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
