Rossr Report post Posted October 29, 2017 Folks, Please bear with me I have been reading a lot about different stamping tools and learning the ages and companies involved. This has led me to study my tools more and I just recently purchased more tools so I set out to sorting and understanding just what I had and how old. First some observations. Like everyone I came into this and bought a few craftools and started pounding on leather. Thanks to this forum and you tube I have been able to learn how to carve. Lets be clear a master I am not! As I progressed I canvased ebay and craigslist and slowly bought more tools. Several times I have read that the older craftools are better, read 1960's era and older. Now having some of these I can agree in some ways but much depends on condition of the stamps and if they were abused. I also see a wide variation in how the stamp looks, I have noted that some of the same beveling tool, might be wider or slightly different angle. This of course makes sense since from what I understand many tools were made by different makers, as we progressed along different techniques were used and now we have mass produced stamps. So lets look at craftools From reading several places on the internet I think this is roughly how to age them but by all means correct me if I am off base. 1950 or earlier: No Name No Number just the stamp still has the knurling on it and looks like a craftool. 1950-1962 marked with craftool or craftool co. and at some point just the number. 1963-1969 craftool co letter prefix and number 1969-1999 craftool co usa letter prefix and number. I gathered some of this information from these two sites and you can read much more here: http://ranchco.blogspot.com/2013/04/?m=0 http://www.ebay.com/gds/Vintage-Craftool-Buyers-Guide-for-Leather-Stamping-Tools-/10000000178607342/g.html 1962 or earlier marked craftool co and just a number Perhaps these are pre 1950? No Names No numbers no markings at all on these Another interesting tool company that I have managed to get a few stamps from is the Kelly tool Company in New Zealand. They handles of the ones I have say Kelly Tool Company New Zealand and Midas ### on them. They are gold in color and make really nice impressions. Neat stuff for sure Ray Hackbarth tools are out there too and made of stainless steel, It seems Lonnie Height still makes these tools and studied under Ellis Barnes the previous maker after Hackbarth. I know there are other makers out there such as Barry King, I dont have any of his tools yet but from everything I read they have a awesome reputation, Jeramiah Watt, Bob Beard and I am sure many others I am not familiar with yet. The whole point of my post was to share some tools that are out there and share some information That is out there on this site and on the net and maybe help some folks out learning about the stamps they have in their collections. Hopefully some folks can add some more stamp pictures and information and we can have a very useful thread for anyone looking for more information about their stamps. For what its worth I think starting off with any stamps is great if it gets you into trying leather work as you learn and grow I can for sure see where the higher cost and quality tools will be of benefit. I will leave you with this carving I did over the summer. I wont win any awards for it but It was a lot of fun(btw its off a doodle page by Al Stohlman called the grumpy Grizzly) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JD62 Report post Posted October 30, 2017 Thanks for the info its very interesting. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bruce johnson Report post Posted October 30, 2017 I am going to throw a few more maker names in your mix. The two unmarked and unplated stamps are in "no man's land" technically but..McMillen would sure be my guess for the darker one for sure. The other may or may not be. There is no way to tell for sure but McMillen was/sort of still is the longest running stamp maker ever and except for the early ones - rarely marked. These could have been made by one of the more minor good stamp makers but odds on just by the numbers of stamps produced - McMillen. Hackbarth stamps are sometimes questioned whether they are orginal Ray Hackbarths or later ones made by Ellis Barnes/ more recently Lonnie Height. There are some overlaps but here's where I'm at based on handling a bunch and talking to the old guys. Stamp length - 3-7/8" - Ellis Barnes for sure. 4-1/8 - Ellis made some for sure, all of the Ray Hackbarths I've had are this long or better. Can't go just by length Number on the shank - Ray Hackbarth. They tell me the early Ray Hackbarths weren't numbered but when he started mail order he numbered them. If they have a number - Ray Hackbarth. No number - could be either and look at other characteristics. Maker Marking - Elfrida, AZ - Ellis for sure . Phoenix - Ray Hackbarth was in Phoenix but Ellis marked some Phoenix too - keep looking Font - I have about 100 Ray Hackbarths right now and every one I grab has the "Stainless" in a larger font size than the R Hackbarth/Phoenix font. The representatives from Ellis - same size font all the way through. "The hyphen-dot" - Something I have recently noted. Every one of my current Ellis stamps have a small 'tick' mark before and after the line of the name font and the line of the city/state font. "Stainless" has a short hyphen or mark as well. I do not see that on any of the original Ray Hackbarths. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rossr Report post Posted October 31, 2017 Bruce, Great information. I went and checked the three I have. All three measure more than 4 and 1/8 inch. They have R Hackbarth/ Phoenix Az. And the Stainless is a larger font on them. I am toying with making up a chart or spread sheet with information about each stamp maker that can be found, Using the information like you have on Hackbarth tools. Ill have to see what I can mess with and perhaps others on here can post information that we can add too it. Ross Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rossr Report post Posted November 1, 2017 http://blog.leathercraftlibrary.com/2015/06/17/leaders-in-leathercraft-dick-mcgahen/ Stumbled on this article from Tandy. As it points out at the end of the article. The Letter prefix was added in the 1963 catalog. However it may be hard to date the stamps based on the craftool or craftool usa on the stamps since they may not have updated the name till the die stamp wore out. Just more data folks Ross Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
