immiketoo
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Posts posted by immiketoo
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Then it should work just fine. Thin leather will teach you delicate stitching, for sure!
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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!
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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.
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Im still in the prologue, but its fascinating. It explains a lot of why I am the way I am. Can't wait to get to the drawing part!
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I didn't see a separate workbook.
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So, I haven't even finished the first page of that book and it talks specifically about transfer of knowledge and how best to go about it. Teaching directly. This is why I teach, and I have found that in doing so, it makes me understand what I do more fully than if I just work. Good suggestion!
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That does sound like what happened. Im all over that book! Here I go!
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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.
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Ok, so its an exacto knife. It clearly works for him. Cheap too!
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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. -
Glad it helped. As you get into finer detail and more intricate work, your BK bevelers will become invaluable.
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Pretty sure you're describing a Japanese leather knife...
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While technology has advanced, I am not convinced that society has evolved. In fact, one could argue we have devolved, and you'd only have to look at the writings of Plato, or Aristotle, Benjamin Franklin or any of the great minds throughout history to support your argument. Most people now days have very specialized knowledge but lack experience. For example, I know someone who has earned her doctorate, and calls herself a genius, but she can't figure out how to remove the monthly train pass from the plastic backing it came on. Or whose sole conflict resolution skill is crying and slamming the door behind her. Genius.
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16 hours ago, YinTx said:
All good points, but sometimes I prefer knowledge. Consider living vicariously through other's experiences. Example: One can see others getting STD's and pregnancies and addictions, and avoid having to gain that experience directly simply by knowledge. I for one would not like to have to learn how to avoid such things only by experience, knowledge is sufficient for me, thank you. Single experiences can be detrimental or have long term consequences.
When it comes to leather, it helps me to have knowledge before trying to gain experience. If I just picked up some tools and some leather and tried to do Sheridan work, I'd fail miserably and probably never pick it up again. Reading, watching others, gaining knowledge on how it is done (wait... you wet the leather? all this time I thought you were trying to keep water away from leather!) prior to gaining any experience was vital to any chance at a successful outcome. Improvement however required experience. And feedback, with more experience. Add to that additional knowledge watching others share good and bad experiences (gaining knowledge vicariously again) allows even more improvements.
At a certain point, gaining additional knowledge provides little incremental gains. It's time to go into production! Just $0.02, thanks for letting me philosophize for a bit on a Friday afternoon!
YinTx
What you're talking about is common sense. I don't need experience to know I don't want to be shot, however, If I am shot and survive, I'll have experience in dealing with it should it happen again
15 hours ago, alpha2 said:All true. I think that experience can be related to wisdom. As related to knowledge. (Knowledge is is being aware that a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is knowing to not use it in a fruit salad). You can see where experience could be substituted for wisdom there. My older sibling was all over book smarts. My knowledgeable brother has actually DONE basically...zilch. He did read all about it, though. You wouldn't want to turn him loose on a project he had read all about. After a lifetime in aviation, he was incredulous that I didn't play around with Microsoft Flight Simulator. Really. I tried to explain that if I wanted to have a flight experience, I would go to my hangar and roll the plane out. I'm not sure he ever got it. I have to say, my experience has paralleled Mike's experience. I can only read so much before I need to do it wrong a few times, to learn what doesn't work. "I have not failed, I've just found 10,000 ways that don't work", - Thomas Edison.
Now, having said all that, this forum is a real shortcut to better leatherwork. It's like book learning and experience all wrapped into one resource. But, I'm still learning a lot by messing up on a regular basis. I don't expect that to change soon!
Jeff
Yeah, I can see how real flight is better than video flight
14 hours ago, Sheilajeanne said:I used to have this as my sig when I was moderating on the Allnurses site:
Good judgement and the ability to make right choices comes with experience. Experience comes from making wrong choices....
And, from a famous SF author:
Nitwit ideas are for emergencies. You use them when you've got nothing else to try. If they work, they go in the Book. Otherwise you follow the Book, which is largely a collection of nitwit ideas that worked.
-- Larry Niven / The Mote in God's Eye (1974)
I love it.
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On 7/4/2018 at 9:02 PM, Jack1970 said:
Ok folks, I just got some new Barry King bevelers and I seem to be having trouble running them. They're just the standard course bevelers but they are steeper than what I was using before. They also seem to be a little courser. All of this is fine but when I'm trying to run them, it seems like they stick to the leather. It's like I can't just move them across a line like my craftool pro bevelers. Is there some kind of a trick that I'm not aware of here? It almost feels like the first time I've ever beveled anything. I know that I'll like them once I can get the hang of running them smoothly. Any help is appreciated!
Thanks!
Jack
This will sound counter intuitive, but take your bevelers and run them on a strop board or very fine sand paper to take some of the sharpness off of the checkering. Bob Beard told me to do the same with the bevelers I bought from him and I refused for a while on account of the idea of taking sandpaper to my new tools. Once I worked up the courage, I did a few light swipes against my finger holding the sandpaper. It didn't take many passes, and I tested it every few swipes. Now I can run them smoothly and there is no perceptible difference in how the checkering looks on the leather.
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Knowledge vs. experience.
Throughout life, you've heard the terms book smart or street smart. These are equivalent to knowledge vs experience, and I believe experience is the greater of the two.
Don't get me wrong, knowledge is important and I'll go back to that in a bit, but experience pays dividends in ways knowledge can not. An example I read recently illustrates this perfectly: Who would be the better musician? A man who knows all there is to know about music, composing, theory etc, but has never played an instrument, or the man who has no formal education in music, but has been playing the instrument of his choice for years.
The man who has been playing will have learned from experience how to match pitch,tempo and rhythm, and more importantly, he will have developed ability to feel the music and the stamina and muscle memory required to play, where the man with only knowledge will not.
Now, imagine being able to combine these two men into a single, well trained musician. Knowledge PLUS experience is the key to mastery.
I believe the same can be said for any profession, especially leatherwork. I have purchased and read many of the books available about leatherwork. One in particular, Making Cases Vol. 1, was one of the first books I read. With my newfound knowledge, I set straight to work and much to my surprise, I failed to apply that knowledge to actual leather successfully. My project had so many flaws, it could only be considered a failure.
However, I now knew how NOT to do it, and I had gained experience. As time passed, my failures became less common and my successes increased specifically because of experience. The knowledge from the book was exactly the same. The words hadn't changed one bit.
But then a strange thing happened. Because memory is fleeting, I happened to re-read one of those books and very much to my surprise, I had a substantially deeper understanding of what was written. The words were the same, but my experience allowed me to see more of what I believe the original intent of the author was.
The practical application of both knowledge and experience resulted in MORE experience, and thus, a greater understanding of the knowledge. It sounds like a chicken or egg scenario, but its actually more akin to a symbiotic relationship, in which each element needs the other to reach its greatest potential.
The point, if there is one, is that I encourage you to try something even if it's outside your comfort zone. I was reminded of this on a recent order, and much to my surprise, I found that I enjoyed the project despite my early misgivings, which were based on a lack of experience.
Maybe I'll read that book again...
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Thank you. That is exactly what I meant. Blank just meant the fabric. Ive never heard of these before.
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That's fantastic. Can you post pics of your equipment and some of the blank products?
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You are correct in being concerned that dye can soak in to surrounding details, so you just have to be careful. Never put a fully loaded brush against any part you want to leave another color. If it were me, I would dye the red first and then carefully dye black around the remaining area. If you chose to paint, you will want to use acrylic paints, and the techniques are the same, except that acrylic paint will cover dye. However, I find its best to leave any area that is to be painted un-dyed. Dye can leach into the paint and discolor the paint so that you need more coats to cover the dye.
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I just bought a glass cutting board without texture from the grocery store. Its the same size as my slab and it works for most projects. I have also been known to use brass weights or my leather weights to hold pieces flat til they dry.
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Nice clean work!
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Are you sure they didn't say crisp enough? A crisp impression is dependent on the tool maker. Some stamps suck, while others are much sharper. I wouldn't recommend sharpening them.
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Oil before dye will help the color set better and reduce streaks to a certain degree, but I don't know about the potato chip effect. When dealing with thin leather, I place it under glass or weights to prevent curling.
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On 7/1/2018 at 4:20 PM, NVLeatherWorx said:
The outer edge of the holster has been laced with a double whip stitch, as has been previously pointed out. The decorative "tab" on the front is indeed a Blood Knot, and the "lanyard" is a simple flat braid. All of these can be easily executed with some basic knowledge that can be found all over the internet. The type of lace used for the outer edge and the lanyard appears to be a 1/8" Natural lace, maybe calf or could be Roo lace; Blood Knots are typically done with either latigo lace or created with lighter weight harness/latigo leathers for the larger designs (this one would fit that bill well).
Looks like natural calf to me too. Here's how I do mexican round braid. I think it looks better than other braids. One in Kangaroo, the other in Natural calf lace.
Round knife
in Leatherwork Conversation
Posted
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.