Favorite Stamps, Tooling, Etc.?

[Almightyox]

Hey guys. I was just wondering what you fine folks considered to be your favorite stamps and tooling patterns. I know some people like to use basket-weave, some people like to do border stamps, and some people like free handing. I wanna see EVERYTHING! Show me you favorites, either tool numbers or better yet, show us some pictures of your (or other peoples) work with impressive tooling.

 

[Omega Leather Works]

Favorites by far are basket weave with camouflage edging. I like geometric stamps too but they are harder to lay out.

I really want a meander stamp.

As far as swivel knife and Sharidan tooling, well, I've gotten as far as sharpening my blade.

I'll be doing a sample of my various stamps and color swatches for the website. I'll post them here when I get them done.

 

[Horsewright]

I too like the basket stamp and do lots of it in three different sizes, small medium and large depending on the project. I do a lot of border stamping in several different patterns. I do the meander stamps or Carlos border stamps or running W's whatever you want to call them. Mostly do that in small but do have stamps in different sizes. Do alot of initials and bevelling around the intials and brands too. Tools are Horse Shoe Brand, BKs and lots of others including some that are not marked. I don't do much flower carving anymore but the wife does quite a bit. She favors the BKs but has some Horse Shoe Brand too. The Barry King (BKs) are available off their website. Horse Shoe Brand are available from Weaver, or directly from them at ranch2arena.com. Weavers website is screwed up on prices on their stamps by the way don't buy them that way. Call. price should be $55 not $85 like their website shows.

 

[Omega Leather Works]

After using the Hide Crafter tool I'd say that there is a fairly significant difference in quality when compared to new Craft Tool stamps.

I tried to photograph the difference in plating at the actual stamp, but I couldn't get a good picture that illustrated the difference. You can tell in person though.

Weight and knurling are important to me. I prefer a heavier tool. Here's a pic of the difference between the HC and CT.

I do have some CT stamps that have nice fat handles and decent weight, but most are like pictured.

The knurling on the CT stamp is actually slightly better, however, the knurling doesn't go all the way around the circumference of the handle. It breaks at the seam.

The HC is good quality (and US made) for the $10 they charge for them at Hobby Lobby. As I mentioned, they do have a higher end line up and I'll definitely be trying them. I'd read that Hide Crafter makes the Pro tools that Tandy sells (stainless, no plating), but I don't know if this is true.

If you're just buying a small collection of tools and cannot afford or justify the expense of the high end tools, I think HC is worth a look.

Edit- you can kinda see the difference in plating in this pic.

Notice how smooth the plating is on the HC and how less refined it is on the CT. This continues on the stamping face.

I stamped this in a couple of minutes just to show the patterns. The impressions on the left are from a CT that I'll probably throw away. I hate it. The middle is another CT, but I like the stamp. It makes clean impressions and has a nice handle. The right is the HC. I went too fast and didn't get a clean result, I just did it for practice.