Question about Craftsman 1/2" Circle U Ratchet head stamp

[Hesher_McHonkey]

I have a 1/2" Circle U ratchet without the circle U head stamp. When I got it, there were some gouges on the Craftsman logo side where the stamp would be, but to my understanding, the stamp is on the other side. To further complicate matters, because of the gouges, I've already gone into the grooves on both sides to smooth things out and make them uniform. Is there any circumstance which this would not have been stamped? You'll have to trust I'm not a dumb *** and didn't file the stamp off myself. Thanks for the help.

 

[TheRealZeus]

Got two screws in the face or one?

 

[TheRealZeus]

Nothing comes to mind other than a short fill or maybe defect. Likely filed off, decades ago, by a previous owner.
Here is a link to a discussion bout’em;
Thread 'Craftsman 1/2 and 3/8 ratchet with U circle'
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/craftsman-1-2-and-3-8-ratchet-with-u-circle.57217/

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Is there any circumstance which this would not have been stamped?

Forged. The Circle-U marking was forged, not stamped. Why I point out that distinction is more than picayune. A stamping could be a missed step at the end of the production process, when the Crafty branding and COO markings were stamped. A missing forged-in marking would mean a completely different die, which is much less likely. Given the condition of that ratchet frame - I'll just sat it's the shiniest, slickest, most chromiest finish I have ever seen on a Circle-U rat (they are usually dark naturally steel, cadmium, or that dull unfinished satin look), normally my hunch would be that the only slightly raised logo was removed in whatever process did that to the finish.

However, I happen to  own a 1/2-drive Circle-U ratchet without a Circle-U marking. It was in a near complete set I found at a flea market and in original condition. Lord knows how many were made that way until they fixed it.

Edit: I'll post pics when I find them.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

 

[TheRealZeus]

Whittled it down to this;

Stamp = pressed voids into piece.
Relief = raised lettering cast into piece.

Being the early to mid 40s, many tools from a couple brands seemed to have quirky nuances in a wartime production….

Lugnutz, do you think this may have been a contributing factor consider?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

It's possible the missing logos are all from cruder '44-'45 production, if that's what you mean. I don't think we've seen enough of them to draw conclusions and the finish on the OP's has been so mutilated we really can't tell what the original finish was.

 

[Hesher_McHonkey]

Got two screws in the face or one?

Two

 

[Hesher_McHonkey]

Forged. The Circle-U marking was forged, not stamped. Why I point out that distinction is more than picayune. A stamping could be a missed step at the end of the production process, when the Crafty branding and COO markings were stamped. A missing forged-in marking would mean a completely different die, which is much less likely. Given the condition of that ratchet frame - I'll just sat it's the shiniest, slickest, most chromiest finish I have ever seen on a Circle-U rat (they are usually dark naturally steel, cadmium, or that dull unfinished satin look), normally my hunch would be that the only slightly raised logo was removed in whatever process did that to the finish.

However, I happen to  own a 1/2-drive Circle-U ratchet without a Circle-U marking. It was in a near complete set I found at a flea market and in original condition. Lord knows how many were made that way until they fixed it.

Edit: I'll post pics when I find them.

Yeah, because of the damage, I had already gone in and started smoothing both sides before I posted the pics. Just always see guys getting yelled at for no pics, so...