Oh No I Used A Nice Stamp !

[Boriqua]

This weekend I decided to take a trip out to Tandy and just wanted to see if there really was a big difference between their pro stamps and the regular ol stamps I have used from them for years. So I bought the 2844 basket weave since I already had a x511.

Oh my goodness ... I dont think I can ever go back. Its a bit of money at 18 bucks but WOW. Think VHS vs 1080P. It was so very well defined and CRISP. Even made it easier to use because it lined up so nice. So now I have to replace my tried and true x511. Maybe with my next sale. To far out. Well worth it.

Alex

[TheModifier]

I have old stamps that came from the factory like that, too bad they need a "pro" series imo. They were all hand tuned back in the day, long lost are the days of pride in workmanship in the tool providers I guess.

[Boriqua]

I have old stamps that came from the factory like that, too bad they need a "pro" series imo. They were all hand tuned back in the day, long lost are the days of pride in workmanship in the tool providers I guess.

Because of your post I had to go check and ...your right! I have tools from the 90's and they are nice and defined with clean cuts but the x511 I bought a few months ago is mushy and doesnt look like it was finished. More like a bad casting. Works ok but after using the new one I dont even want to touch it.

While my older ones are far and away better than my x 511 the pro stamp still is cleaner and finer than even those. Still ... 18 bucks is a little steep.

[LumpenDoodle2]

Be happy, the same stamp from Tandy in the UK is £28.07.

[WinterBear]

Watch the sales!--Tandy had a good sale on these around Christmas, they were 60-something percent off the retail price, dropped them down to about $10.

Also see if jmkjmk2 here on this forum has any still. I've bought a couple from him and wasn't disappointed. He also has some of the older craftools, and might have some on hand that you might be interested in. I've bought from him both on this forum and his ebay site--nice stuff. There are also some facebook groups that sell leather tools and stamps--they are closed groups, so you have to join and be approved first, but the nice old craftools come up pretty regularly--mostly in lots (i.e., you have to buy the whole group), but you can occasionally buy one or two at a time. I also like the old Midas and Basic Tool L.A/U.S.A geometrics and basketweaves, but those can be a bit of a pill to find.

You can also find some of the Horseshoe Brand/Jeremiah Watts, Clay Miller, Barry King, and Robert Beard stamps for sale too--those are all good ones. But they aren't cheap--they are such nice tools that they demand a high price, and people are generally reluctant to sell them. There are also a couple of people that make stamps with brass heads that a lot of people have been highly complementary. Sergey Neskromniy in Bulgaria (not cheap, but people are loving the quality--shipping is $15 to US, $10 to EU, $15 to Australia, and $15 just about everywhere else). I believe he's on this forum too, but I'm not sure what name. He only has one basketweave at the moment that I'm aware of, the rest are some really nice border and geometrics--he's on facebook and in a couple of the facebook groups that I know of. Another maker of unusual stamps is "Toolpaw" from the Czech Republic -- they have a website and sell on etsy and ebay. Toolpaw has nice borders and baskets, and some herringbone-weave stamps, but also geometrics and a lot of "paw" or track stamps--wolf, dog, ferret, bear, horse, turkey, deer....

[Greywolf]

The reason the Craftool pro line is so expensive is because they are made of stainless steel. Consider grinding the top flat where you strike your mallet as you will get even better and crisper impressions. This was a tip I found in one of the Facebook posts.