Jump to content

immiketoo

Moderator
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content Count

    2,354

  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by immiketoo

  2. Posted · Report reply

    @Johanna

    I wasn't sure to put this here or in leather history, but here goes!  As you probably know, Johanna is the boss here at leatherworker.net, and today is her birthday. I know that what she has created here has changed the lives of many people, myself included.  Without her and this website, I wouldn't be where I am today, and I mean that both literally and figuratively.

    Please chime in on how much the forum means to you and wish her a happy day!

    Thank you Johanna and I hope you have a lovely day, doing whatever it is you want to do.  Happy birthday!

     

    Mike

    happy-birthday-quotes.jpg

  3. Posted · Report reply

    2 hours ago, fredk said:

    I'm contrary to you mike. I always use a sponge for the reasons you advise using a spray bottle. With a sponge I can control how much moisture to put on and just where. Its all in how you use it; a sopping wet sponge is not good, a damp sponge wiped over the working area delivers just the right amount of moisture

    I use sponges bought in a discount store, 10 for £1 or so. They are about 3 inches by 4 inches by 3/4 inch thick. I use them for applying dye and top finish as well.

     

    1 hour ago, ABHandmade said:

    I use a cosmetic finely-porous sponge instead of a kitchen sponge. It better retains water and allows more accurate dosage of the amount of water applied.

    That's ok.  You guys can use whatever works for you.  Having terrible luck with the sponge technique, Peter Main suggested I try a fine mist sprayer.  I can control moisture far better with a bottle.  Since then, I  haven't had any issues with too much moisture.  I agree with you about the sopping wet sponge, though.  Most people don't realize that too much water causes a ton of problems. 

  4. Posted · Report reply

    I would recommend against using a sponge, at least for re-wettin leather in the middle of a project.  Initially its fine, but when adding moisture, a sponge has the tendency to allow too much into the cuts and then causes those cuts to open up and show the core.  I recommend getting a spray bottle for adding water to leather.

  10. Posted · Report reply

    Here is a brief picture tutorial I did for a friend about how to bevel and lift carved leaves.

    Steps:

    1.  Cut

    2. swivel bevel

    3.  Steep checkered bevel

    4. Checkered matting and lift.  I use pro lifters.

    5. Background

    6. Enhance lifts with modeling spoon

    7. Make certain lifts flow into non-lifted parts

    8. Using a modeling spoon, I begin creating the negative impressions and smoothing out the lines from the craftaid.

     

    If you'd like me to do the rest of the tutorial, let me know and I'd be happy to oblige. This was only for beveling, so I didn't go into the rest. 

    20170614_211705.JPG

    20170614_211840.JPG

    20170614_212117.JPG

    20170614_212402.JPG

    20170614_212732.JPG

    20170614_212938.JPG

    20170614_213229.JPG

    20170614_213615.JPG

  13. Posted · Report reply

    I'll echo the others, and say that the Tandy knife is a waste of money.  In fact, Tandy got upset that I said that once on FB, but its true.  That knife is very poor quality and doesn't cut well at all.  Old companies like W. Rose and Osborne made excellent knives and they are available from folks like Bruce Johnson.  He will make sure your knife is sharp and it good condition.  All I use are my Knipshield knives.  I bought my first one in 2013 and have collected quite a few since then.  The difference between them and anything else is astounding.  Worth every penny.  Terry is out on an injury right now, but he'll be back soon.

    20170624_115008.JPG

  15. Posted · Report reply

    Typically, anything over 1mm thick is too thick for interiors.  You might be able to split it down to the right thickness, depending on what you have, but its hard to say.  Choosing the proper leather for projects goes a LONG way in making them look good.  Welcome to the madness!

     

  16. Posted · Report reply

    4 hours ago, NVLeatherWorx said:

    You nailed it my friend.  I have been explaining to new people that I have to train in a work environment that is mechanically demanding and I always make it very clear that even though we have seen evolution in the technology behind how we design and build things, we have lost the true knowledge and experience of how to think on our feet and work through the issues that arise while on the task at hand.  We have become technologically advanced but our ability to use our minds to achieve the great things that mankind has been able to do throughout history is no longer there. The best example of this can be found in the design and construction of the Great Pyramids; with all of our technology today we are unable to replicate the process or results to even think about trying to build that same structure.  Experience is probably the best determining factor in one's successes but knowledge, when truly understood and applied, gives you the direction you need to go to gain that experience.

    Its not just the pyramids.  The Acropolis in Athens, Greece has been knocked down in numerous battles and put back together, and its only in the last 30 years that they realized that no two pieces of the columns are identical.  More than that, each piece has exactly one place it fits, and they have no idea how it was done.  Also, the structure eliminates parallax in that it looks straight and square from any vantage point, while in actuality it is anything but.  There were great minds in humanity, and I fear there aren't any left alive, with the exception of a few hidden away from society.

  21. Posted · Report reply

    Inspiration is different.  I carved this piece very early on in my career, and I have tried several times to repeat it, although not recently.  I was in the zone when I did it and all further attempts have been unsuccessful.  I can't even remember how I did some of it, but I do remember the feeling I had while carving it.  Driven.  Inspired.  Almost like a runner's high.  Weird.  Now, looking at it, I can see all the flaws and areas I'd do differently, but I still feel like this was a milestone in my carving career.  I was truly and unequivocally inspired.  I exceeded my knowledge and experience with this piece, and I believe that is why my later attempts at this piece were failures.  

    IMG_8692.jpg

  23. Posted · Report reply

    8 minutes ago, billybopp said:

    I like to think that knowledge is the result of experience, either your own or somebody else's.  The main thing that makes experience superior to somebody else's passed on knowledge revolves around this imperfect thing that we call communication.

    Imagine if the technology existed that would allow a direct brain link from one person to another.  Knowledge could be passed along wholly intact, including for example what it feels like to hold a swivel knife just right or hit a stamp just the right way with just the right power.  It'd be easy peasy!  But that doesn't exist, so we have to rely on communication to pass along that knowledge through some form of communication, whether one-way or a two-way exchange, and in many possible formats such as verbal, written, pictorial, video - any of which could be one or two way.  So, we're limited in obtaining knowledge outside our own experience by the communication skill of another person.  Furthermore, we need to find somebody that communicates in a way that works for us.   What is perfectly clear communication to one person might be pretty much incomprehensible to another, whether because of the format or the style of the communicator.

    Fortunately, we have people with experience and the knowledge gained from it that are willing and able to pass that along as best they can to us, imperfect tho it may be.  Their knowledge is a GREAT shortcut for us!  To pick on @immiketoo for a minute.  Bad as it was, imagine how long it would have taken to make that first case that he mentioned without the benefit of Stohlman's book - and how many bad versions it may have taken to get an acceptable result.   Even then, some techniques and ideas may never have occurred to him!  Also fortunately, @immiketoois a pretty smart guy who got it figured out and probably added some new knowledge through his experience, and that of others .. and is willing and able to communicate it to the rest of us.

    - Bill   

     

    Ive often wished for the mind meld, or brain plug in to be real.  Like the Matrix.  Apoch, I'm gonna need a program on pattern making and Mexican braid. Insert digital noises and pictures of code flowing, and boom.  I know braiding as well as Bruce Grant!  Sadly, we all pick up things in one of the three forms of learning.  Auditory, visual or haptic.  Some are better at one or the other, and I believe a person needs all three to full understand a concept.  Like you said, downloading what I feel under my knife or what Peter Main feels under his would probably be drastically different but imagine if you could have that kind of zero loss transfer.  We could build the pyramids or the acropolis in Athens again.  We could discuss philosophy directly from the Greek philosophers.  What a world it would be.  

    got it figured out and probably added some new knowledge through his experience, and that of others

    ^^^ This, is something that I will expound upon more very soon.  It's interesting that you mentioned it, because I have some very strong feelings about this specific point.

    Personally, I'd download from Plato, DaVinci and Nikola Tesla.  Add Mozart and I'd be set.

×
×
  • Create New...