Tandy Leather Tool Conversion Chart

[prc77ro]

Thanks for pointing this out - I went and downloaded it out of curiousity. I am surprised to see TLF put something out like this that demonstrates how badly they have dropped the ball in the leather stamp department. Plus there are many, many other older tools that they don't show in this chart. Then there is the fact that many of the new tool impressions do look very inferior to the old impressions.

Tis no wonder that many forum members are referring to the new Craftools as "craptools"!!

Looking at the comparison between the old stamp impressions and the newer letter-prefix ones like in the flower and acorn stamps above is so revealing that I am finding it hard to understand how TLF would even post this chart which is so damning to the stamps they are producing now. Are they so blind?????...............or..............are they ??????......{ excuse me but this may be somewhat paranoid thinking } .........getting ready to come out with a new improved line of stamps (perhaps the SS ones mentioned above) that will get them back to the quality of their stamps made in the fifties????

Well, we will see what happens. Meanwhile, my recomendation has been and remains: Buy your Craftools on eBay; every summer bring a new crop of tools that people pick up at estate sales, yard sales, and auctions. Some of these tools were owned by people who originally bought them in the fifties and sixties and have been held onto for fifty years. There are great bargains out there on eBay, and there are perhaps even greater bargains at your local sales and auctions. I recently communicated with a seller who sold a set on eBay for over six hundred dollars - a set that he picked up locally for forty five bucks!

Please visit my blog here on this forum for more information on stamping tools.

The "new" craftool stamps that are being made are made in Taiwan, with a goldish color. Be careful on Ebay because there is a seller selling "vintage Craftool" stamps that are gold and either stamped CRAFTOOL or printed in ink but the photos that are posted show chrome tools. The Craftool plant closed in 1999 so anything made after that IS NOT made in the USA. Oh and incase some didnt already know Craftool Co. put the USA on the tool in about 1990.

[WyomingSlick]

The "new" craftool stamps that are being made are made in Taiwan, with a goldish color. Be careful on Ebay because there is a seller selling "vintage Craftool" stamps that are gold and either stamped CRAFTOOL or printed in ink but the photos that are posted show chrome tools. The Craftool plant closed in 1999 so anything made after that IS NOT made in the USA. Oh and incase some didnt already know Craftool Co. put the USA on the tool in about 1990.

No, Actually Craftool started putting "USA" on their stamps around 1967 in response to the introduction of Midas tools which were foreign made. I know this to be a fact since I was in 4-H leathercraft at the time.

[prc77ro]

I appreciate the clarification, I was going off of what Jim Villwock from Tandy had sent me when I had inquired about the markings. I am still waiting to hear back from him as he was supposed to be contacting the former manager of Craftool. Maybe there is a difference in time between the Craftool Co. USA and Craftool USA? The info he gave me he recieved from an employee that has been at Tandy since 1960.