Stanley Chalk-o-Matic

[Tomi Rosso]

Moi,

I bought this kind of chalk line marker, Stanley Chalk-o-Matic model 47-100, Made in USA. Working nicely and there are red chalk still inside.

346854346853346855

I made little bit searches and seems that Chalk-o-Matic came to market at 1959. Some sources says with same logo, that it's from 50's or 60's. This could be still wrong. Have anybody some better knowledge of those? When those are made in USA?

I tried search some "newer" Stanley catalogs, maybe from 60's and 70's, but I could not find those. I think those could be helpfull to me, when trying to determine age of this kind of "new" item.

BR,
TR

[Ray Selinger]

I think that's made by Evans, mine says Craftsman on it. I think they work much better than the Irwin , they will work at angles and not jam the string. I bought mine in the early 70s after having a Irwin.

[Bill Houghton]

Oh, thanks a lot, Tomi! Now I have a new item to watch for at yard sales - just when I thought my toolkit was approaching complete!

It's interesting that what seems to be such a rare item found its way to Finland.

[Jim Koepke]

There are no chalk lines listed in my 1953 Stanley Catalog No. 34. A lot of things aren't listed there.

The John Walter book also doesn't list any chalk lines.

I am not sure when the XX-XXX numbering designation came in to use at Stanley. That may be an indicator of where on the timeline of Stanley production it falls.

jtk

[Stew Denton]

Hi Tomi,

My Stanley Chalk-o-Matic chalk box looks exactly like yours, but is a model #47-050, not a #47-100. Mine has a capacity of 50' of chalk line, so I think the second number gives the line capacity.

I do not remember exactly when I bought mine, it may have been in the very early 1970s like Ray when I worked in a lumber yard or was carpentering, or it may have been in about 1982 when my wife and I bought our first house and I started remodeling it. I cannot remember for certain, but think it was the earlier date.

Like Ray, I had an Irwin Straight-Line chalk box first, and bought the Stanley later. I still have both and still use both. The Irwin has more line capacity, my guess is that your Stanley has about the same line capacity as my Irwin since yours is a model 47-100.

My Stanley is also stamped "Made in USA," so they were made here at least until I bought mine.

Both chalk boxes work fine, and I don't prefer one over the other.

Stew

[Tony Zaffuto]

When I worked for a living as a carpenter, I bought and wore out a numbr of chalk lines/boxes. I started my apprenticeship in the mid 70's and left the trade in 1989 when I started my manufacturing plant.

Still have the chalk boxes (seem to never throw anything away) with the boxes being Irwin Straight line and Stanley. My Stanley is identical to the OP's, bought in the late 70's/early 80's. I prefered the Irwin over the Stanley, as it was quicker/easier to put chalk in. Current Stanley's are plastic and much cheapened.

Oh, in all my travels, I have not come across anyone collecting these things, so the world is your oyster! Value? If I came across one in a flea market, I would give $1.00 or so for it.

[Tomi Rosso]

I have noticed that too, when I been searching information from internet, that xx-100 models looks like have longer line than xx-050 models. That seems to make sense.

I have seen also pictures of models 1050 and 1100. Same thing, last number seems to tell legth of line. I don't know was those older or newer. Shape looks like that 47-100, but Stanley logo is at backside. That circle with Chalk-o-matic, Made in USA is still at front.