Old Craft Tools From E-Bay

[JD Alan]

I spotted these on E-Bay a few weeks ago, with 6 hours left to bid. There was one bid for 6 bucks and change, so I bid 15 just for the heck of it, and won it at $10.50 plus 8 bucks to ship.

They were advertized as from the 50's, but I have no way of knowing if that's true or not. Every tool has Craft Tool CO USA stamped on the handle. They are in excellent shape, with enough patina to verify that they've sitting around unused for years. The spot on the lid is most likely sticky stuff from a price tag.   

You can sure tell the difference between the old and the new in the steel used, and these stamp real crisp. They aren't Barry King or Bob Beard, but they are kind of a fun find

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Darn nice find, JD. I still have all my old Craftool stamps and use them a lot. For new stuff, you'll pay good money for that crisp impression. Those old Craftools are really good. Congratulations on a good score.

[Dalton Masterson]

Dang JD! Nice find! I like the old box! Ive never seen one of those.
I have been going through all of my garage sale/flea market leather tools and culling out the duplicates so I can throw mine on the 'Bay one of these days.
DM

[Slowhand Bob]

Here is one thets almost as old as the bald spot on my haid!  It is actually a great measuring tool for those odd pieces that are laying around all the time.  It works better than it looks after I did a bit of rehab on it.  Below that is several older tools.

[Cliff Fendley]

I've got the old Tandy leather craft set I got as a kid and I still use some of the Craftools regularly. They make great impressions. I have some newer Craftools I have bought for the kids to play with and they are horrible compared to the old ones.

[Boothill Bob]

JD, thats a nice buy. I bought a Lawdog pattern on e-bay for $ 0.95, but before
I had it in my hand I had payed $19. I'm live on the wrong side of the "pool" 

[cowboywc]

Howdy JD
Great find and good price.
WC

[knucklehead]

nice find.

i have some 1975ish crafttools that belonged to my granddad. for the most part they sit on my desk and look pretty.
havent used them much because i did not know how to western carve.
now that i have been taking classes and have enough information to be dangerous i may use them, not sure.
i may not use them because i got used to using barry king tools and love em.

i wont get rid of em because they belong to my granddad and they look great on my workbench.

see if you can find the old style gouger from tandy its way better than the current one they sell.

[JD Alan]

Thanks for the comments guys. It's nice to know I didn't get burned on the deal!

Hey Leon, are you going to take that holster class Bobby Rose is putting on at Tandy? I took it last year and it was a good experience. He said something to me about a class for concealed holsters and knife sheaths too while at Chan Geer's class.

I know Bobby looks in on this forum once in a while, so maybe he will comment about the possibility of the next class. He does good work, and is an excellent instructor.  

[knucklehead]

Thanks for the comments guys. It's nice to know I didn't get burned on the deal!

Hey Leon, are you going to take that holster class Bobby Rose is putting on at Tandy? I took it last year and it was a good experience. He said something to me about a class for concealed holsters and knife sheaths too while at Chan Geer's class.

I know Bobby looks in on this forum once in a while, so maybe he will comment about the possibility of the next class. He does good work, and is an excellent instructor.  

Hope to be able to make Bobby's class. Right now that is drill weekend(army national guard time) for me. I have asked my chain of command to allow me to do my duty on alternate days so I can make the class. I wont know till the end of November.
Sometimes work gets in the way of stuff that I want to do.
But thats life.

[heydox]

I have been watching ebay lately trying to build my stamp collection with the better quality older Craftool Co stamps. I came across a guide that I think might help others in the same situation of trying to determine the age and quality of Craftool stamps.

A rough guideline as to age can be made from what is stamped on the handle; If it says:

1.  CRAFTOOL CO - No Number-most likely made before Craftool started putting the numbers on the tools around 1950.

2.  CRAFTOOL CO. - with only a number, it was made prior to 1963.

3.  CRAFTOOL CO. - with a letter prefix & number it was made about 63' to 68'

4.  CRAFTOOL CO. USA - with a letter and number it was made after 69"

5.  CRAFTOOL USA - with a letter and number it was made more recently, and

6.  CraftJapan - made very recently AND in Japan

The full guide can be found at http://reviews.ebay.com/Craftool-guideline_W0QQugidZ10000000002193708

[Dalton Masterson]

Good info!! Thanks!

And welcome to the Leather Shop!
DM

[TwoWalks Baldridge]

JD great find ... there is another set of 38 stamps with the same box on there now and with no bids, the asking price is $150.00 or buy it now for $200.00

[outrider]

Heydox beat me to it....yup pre-1960 Craftool Co. did not have a letter prefix....by the way JD...so your the one who stole them from me ...only kidding

I recently won a Craftool 731 "crowner" that I have been looking for ...for about 4+ years.  It's on the second to the last page of Al Stohlman's "How to Make Holsters" book.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Heydox, thanks for the information. It's interesting to see how old some of mine are. They're all stamped with at least a number so mine are 1950-1970 or so. No Japanese ones and no first ones.

Welcome to the forum. Looking forward to more of your posts.