Tough Enough to Wear Pink - October Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Every Year we make a special pair of Rodeo Chaps in Pink to raise money for breast cancer research. We make a donation from part of the sale to the Breast Cancer Foundation.

Although Breast Cancer has not yet touched our family other cancers have and we want to support the efforts in action to stop this aweful cancer.

This year we have a pair of Chaps made from Coach Leather up for Sale $625.95

806-687-2367 if you are interested in these chaps.

History of Craftool markings by: Ron Eaton.......

History of Craftool markings    by: Ron Eaton.......

 

Craftools with no  number or info stamped on them are rare and made from circa 1949 and earlier

 

Craftools markered "Craftool Co" with a numeric numer ONLY are made from

1949 to pprox 1963

ie:    "CRAFTOOL 821"

 

Craftools marked "Craftool Co" with Numeric number AND and Alpha Prefix were made from 1963 to approx 1968

ie:    "Craftool B 201"

 

Craftools marked "Craftool Co USA" are made after 1969

ie:    "Craftool Co USA B 200"

 

Craftools marked "Craftool USA are made from the 1970's thru more recent years. The plant was closed in 1999 and no more tools were made in the USA.

ie:    "Craftool USA   V 730"

 

New Craftools are marked "CRAFTOOL" and the newer ones are just black printed lettering and not stamped into the tool per se. This was the beginning of the "IMPORTED CRAFTOOL" Some have the number and some do not. These are all imported and much lower quality and not made to use with leather mauls, etc.

ie:    "CRAFTOOL"

 

There are also some tools made for Tandys (mostly sold in KITS) that have a "Z" Prefix and a number but not stamped Craftool. These are even lower quality. Bare in mind these are tools with ONLY a number and NO Craftool designation. In the past some were nickel plated and somee were Gilt plated. These are the cheapest tools ever offered by Tandys.

ie:       "Z V707"

 

NOTE: note NOT all "Z" tools are the lower quality.....if preceeded by "Craftool Co USA" then they may be a special or limited run. These are the same quality as the other tools with a similar Craftool stamp but were a spcial or limited edition.

ie.      "Craftool Co USA   Z998"

 

The are also a few tools that are stamped with the Letter "S" After the numeric prefix. These were special HEAVY made tools most with a 3/8 inch or larger shaft and designed for Saddle Makers and extra heavy to hold up to heavy maul use. These are very limited and some consider rare.

ie:      "Craftool Co USA   P 361 S"

 

 

There are also some tools marked "Craftool Tiawan"

 

Also do not confuse tools marked "Craft Japan" or +Craftool Japan" with Craftool Tools.

Although not all of these are the same quality I have found some of these tools that were made in Japan to be the highest quality of any of the imported tools and normally much better than tools made in Tiawan, etc

 

 

Although I am not an expert I have been doing leather work and collecting leather tools fo well over 40 years. This is based on my personal experience and what otyher very knowledgable people in the leather trade have shared with me. Through the years the earliest names and dates I have heard assoiciated with Craftool would be Mr. Dick McGahen who began to make tools for leather carvers in California in the 1940’s. According to Ellis Barnes (deceased), he had several other tool makers that helped him created tools including Ellis Barnes, Ken Griffin and some others.  The tools that were made by them probably had no numbers on them and may or may not have been stamped with the Craftool name.  When you see this type of tool, it was likely made around 1949 or earlier.

 

Once the numbering of tools began, they were marked with “Craftool Co” and just a number. This type of marking was consistent up through 1962 or 1963.

 

In 1963, they started adding a letter prefix to the number.  From 1963 until around 1969 they were marked with “Craftool Co.” and a number with a letter before it to identify the type of tool it was.

 

Around 1969, they began marking the tools with “Craftool Co. USA” plus the number and the letter prefix. This continued until the later years of the company.  They eventually changed to marking them with “Craftool USA” and the number with the letter prefix. This continued to be the practice until they closed their manufacturing plant in 1999. This was the last time Craftools were made in the USA.

 

Afetr this point most Craftools were and are still made in Tiawan or ogther overseas locations.

 

Do not confuse genuine Craftools with tools made by Craft Co. of Japan "Craft Japan" or "Craftool Japan". The tools made by Craft Japan are nice enough tools, but they have no relation to the original Craftool Company.>

 

By, Ron W. Eaton

 

 

sources:

Craftool Co.

Tandy Catelogs and publications

Vintage Leather Tools

 

Family is so important. Always make time to spend time together to keep the bonds that tie you together strong. This weekend we spent time with Ron's cousins and had a ball. Time to catch up with everyone and their kids, share stories from days of our childhood... and complain a little bit. (HAHAH ) a lot of talk about Obama.
I am reminded what a blessing it is to be apart of a family who ALL love the Lord and each other. Is it perfect? No but there is forgiveness when things go wrong and pick up where we left off.

Thank you Lord for a wonderful weekend.

The Man behind it all

 When Ron was just a little boy he fell in love with the Cowboy Way and leather. From a very young age he picked up the art. He still uses many of the tools he bought when he was a young man. To this day Ron is creating and designing new items for the shop to make from Chaps to Saddles and everything in between. RANCHco Started off as Rodeo Specialties with Ron's Dad RW Eaton just off the Rankin Hwy in Midland Texas. Although things have grown and moved to a little different zip code in West Texas things are still very much the same. Quality Hand Tooled Workmanship in the USA on USA tanned leather

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OK so you know when you reach that time in your like you need a little help with your boots?

We all come to a point in our life when we need a little help putting on our boots. You maybe young and have a injury or sore from riding some wide animal, or maybe you have lived a good life and just reached a point that you need a little help getting your boots on and off.
DON'T Stop wearing your boots! We have just what you need!

We have found the perfect thing to help you out.

Pat Pending US648922S

Did you think you could not wear boots anymore because they are to hard to put on and take off? This is your answer to getting your boots back on.

This is very well made from steel and painted black. This is adjustable so if you need this higher or shorter to help hold your boots you can do this with ease.

This is perfect to help get your boots off and on without sitting down.

 We all need a little help from time to time.

24" Wide x 32" Tall 

Watch a video on how easy this is to use:

http://youtu.be/Gnk5tgAdeIo

  

Chuys Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients 2 lbs chicken (split chicken breasts with ribs) 2 tbsp olive oil 1 chopped medium white onion 1 chopped carrot 1 chopped celery 16 cups chicken broth (99% fat free) 1 tbsp habanero powder (optional) 4 diced Roma tomatoes 1 cup corn 1 tbsp lime juice 1 tsp pepper 4 oz can diced green chilies (Hatch) 2 cups chopped cilantro 1 avocado chopped 1 cup chopped sweet potato (optional) shredded jack cheese tortilla strips (optional, but way better with) Preparation Boil chicken and remove meat from bones. Cook onion, carrot, celery in oil until onion starts turning golden.Add chicken br oth and bring to a slow boil and turn heat to medium. Add chicken meat, green chilies, corn, Roma tomatoes, lime juice, cilantro, avocado, sweet potato, habanero powder and pepper. Allow to cook for 20 to 30 minute on medium heat. When serving add about ¼ cup of jack cheese to bottom of bowl, add soup, and top with tortilla strips.

What is the difference between Sterling Silver, Overlay Silver and German / Nickle Silver

Several times a week I have someone ask me about the difference between Sterling Silve, overlay silver and German or Nickle Silver. Here is what I know:

 

 

Sterling Silver:

Fine silver is 99.9 percent pure or more, but it is very soft and unsuitable for most uses. Sterling silver is defined as 92.5 percent pure or higher. Sometimes, as you note, 95 percent pure silver is sold; this has more silver than the minimum it needs to be called sterling but its still sterling.

The remaining 5 to 7-1/2 percent is usually copper because this has been found to be the best metal to alloy with the silver to not discolor it, while making it hard.

Silver Overlay:

Silver overlay is a process of taking nickel silver and applying a layer of solid sterling silver....it is many times thicker than "Plated". The overlay is then engraved, etc....whereas plated items are engraved and then plated with a very thin electro plate of silver.

The process of using sterling silver overlay is done by the finest silversmith. It has the great appearance of solid sterling at a reduced cost but will far out last plated products.

Of course there are good quality plated items and cheap quality plated items. Not all plated items are cheap....for instance some of the finest dinnerware (forks, spoons, etc) are plated.

Sterling overlay is much better and more expensive than plated but not as high a solid sterling silver.

German silver or Nickel Silver:

German silver also known as Nickel Silver is a copper alloy with nickel and often zinc. The usual formulation is 60% copper, 20% nickel and 20% zinc. Nickel silver is named for its silvery appearance, but it contains no elemental silver unless plated. The name "German silver" refers to its development by 19th-century German metalworkers. This is NOT Mexico silver.