BearMan

Hi Spinner, While I appreciate your comments about my attempts at finger carving,,, I feel we should show what a true Finger Carving Master can do. Here are a few pictures of just a few things that Bob Park (hidepounder) has done. Bob is a true inspiration to us all. Ed the "BearMan"

Thanks Bear & King X, Hopefully, after I get a couple more done,,, I can rest my brain for a while. The problem is,, that once I've figured out how I want to do things on one project,,, I start rolling some designs around,in my head,for the next project, while I'm doing the first one. I guess that make me a "multi-tasker". That's why I keep a note pad on the nightstand,,, some of my best ideas happen in the middle of the night, when I can't sleep. Thanks again, for the wonderful comments!! Ed

Hi Everybody, Here is another Christmas present done. Only a couple dozen to go,,, I hope I survive!! It's a 10" x 6 1/4" Olivewood Cross, in a Walnut 12 1/2" x 10" shadow box frame. The Olivewood is certified to have come from the "ancient" Olivewood trees in Bethlehem. The lining is 1 1/2 oz veg. tanned lining leather. The colors were all done with spirit dyes. The design was done using one of my cocobolo "snake" burnisher / modeling tools. The simple design was done "on the fly" without any pre-conceived patterns. The cross is only held in by friction. The lining leather is stretched over some 1/2" thick foam board, that I cut in a "rabbit" around the edge, for a shadow line. I made the cross removable,,, just because. This was one of those projects that everything just seemed to go right,,, without any muss or fuss. Thanks for looking,,, Ed the"BearMan"

Hi Chris, Once again,,, thanks. The thread I used on this is an 18/4 natural color thread. As far as the maker,,, & where I got it,,, I think it's Barbour waxed linen. The reason I'm not sure, is that I found it squirled away, in a box I had forgotten about. Up until recently, I had been using a normal stitch groover, with mixed results. What I did differntly this time, is I used an old freehand groover along with a straight edge. I like to trim my edges down after all the stitching is done, so a normal groover just doesn't work as well for me. JayMack, Thanks!! Actually, I have talked with a couple places about doing a spirit dye coloring demonstration / class. Once I get things figured out,,, I'll try to let you know. Thanks,,, Ed

Good Morning Everybody, Thanks for all the wonderful comments! Chris, yes all the stitching is done by hand. The "organic" layout is really pretty easy to do,,, I usually just start with a mirror image, or a a copy of the overflap design from the front, & then build off of that. It's basically done with circles of different sizes. The "tricky" part is balancing the negative & positive spaces, to get close to the old "fibonocci" scale. Butch,,, sorry,,, I have too many on the "list" already!! Ed

Thanks Ben & Tracy!!

Hi Everybody, Here is the latest Christmas present I just finished. It's a Journal, for my Mother -in-Law, to continue writting her memoirs. This was one of those projects, that seemed to take forever to complete. Of course only being able to work on it for a couple hours at a time slows things down also. It measures about 10 1/2" x 8 1/2" x 1 1/4". It's a two piece cover, using 6/7 oz, with brushed pigskin as a lining, & 3/4 oz for the inside flaps. All the colors are with spirit dyes. The back also has some antique applied. It's all finished with a NeatLac type of finish. It's all stitched using 7spi,,, & the edges are done using Bob Parks method. Just before starting this project, I received a couple swivel knives & blades from Henley. They are well worth the wait, & the money! They came to me very sharp, & ready to use. I believe their blades are some of the best around! Thanks for looking!! Ed the"BearMan"

Come to think of it, I may even have a Tap-Off of this flower. I'll look tomorrow. I know I have something very similar. Well,,, it's kinda close,,, here's a picture,,, look at the upper left flower. Not quite the same,,, but the same idea. Oh Well,,, Ed the"BearMan"

Hi Joe, Maybe this will help?? You should be able to print this, to the correct size, & re-draw over the lines. Hope this helps,,, Ed

Hi, I believe the way Disney found out about the "Dumbo" logo on the saddle was from an interview, the customer did in a cutting horse magazine, where he called the saddle his "Dumbo" saddle. Disney, along with LOTS of other companies, constantly do searches for references about,,, or to their copyrighted materials. Plus, the saddle shop I worked for,,, & the customer,,, were less than 200 miles from Disney,,, so that was a factor also. I just feel, that why put all the time & money into making something that could wind up costing you a lot more than what you'd make from making & selling something that is illegal. If the customer really insists on using a copyrighted logo,,, why not ask them to get written permission from the owner of the logo, to protect BOTH of you? But,,, you might want to check,,, there are lots of places that have logo's that aren't copyrighted. It's best just to call them & see, there's better than a 50% chance, they'd say no problem.

Hi, Jim, Just call the University, & ask them for permission to use thier LOGO. Tell them what you are wanting to do,let them know it's a "one off" ,,,, get the name of the person giving the permission. If they don't give permission,, I'd be hessitant to do it. Many years ago, while working in a saddle shop, I always would tool in a hidden design, that the customers wanted to use as something to help identify the saddle in case it was ever stollen. We had a customer that wanted a little "Dumbo" elephant as his ID. We had never really thought about a copyright infringement, since it wasn't part of the main design,,, & that it was hidden from normal view. Well,,, guess what??? Disney contacted us, & informed us, that if we wanted to keep from being sued, we had to buy back & destroy the saddle, or remove the copyrighted piece & send it to them as proof of removal. After about a years worth of use,,, removing & them trying to match the color of the removed piece was very difficult. Luckily,,, the customer was very understanding. Sooo,,, You do need to be VERY wary of using a copyrighted logo, design, or anything else somebody has copyrighted. Ed the"BearMan"

Hmmm,, that first link didn't work,,, lets try it again..http://www.itwtacc.com/products/index.cfm?product=Mason Bond&subapp=Masonry%20Adhesives It's called Mason Bond from http://www.itwtacc.com

Hi Fredo, There are several products designed to do just what you are needing. If used correctly, the stone will break before the adhesive will seperate. These adhesives remain slightly flexable, unlike some epoxies, which get very brittle. Here are a couple types to look for,,, they should have them at Lowes, or Home Depot. http://www.itwtacc.com/products/index.cfm?product=Mason Bond&subapp=Masonry%20Adhesives http://www.brickstopcorporation.com/brick_html/brickstik.htm Hope this helps,,, Ed the"BearMan"

Absolutely Stunning work!! Along with everything else, I'm a wood carver also,,, so I can really appreciate the work & design that goes into his carved guitars, not to mention his other sculptures. Great job,,, You should be Very proud of him!! Thanks for sharing,,, Ed the"BearMan"

Hi, Here is a quick tutorial: http://hidestoart.com/FreeNovember2008.pdf.pdf I hope this helps. Ed the"BearMan"

Hi Everybody,,, I just had to jump in here,,, I've seen some of the results from the wool burnshers, & they produce a very smooth & shinny edge,,,, but I haven't seen anything that will produce a smooth , shinny,,, & DURABLE edge as the "Bob Park" method. Here's a picture of my old drill press burnisher,,, with a padded duck cloth covered section. It works pretty well,,, for a quick edge. Ed the"BearMan"

Good Morning everybody, Thank You all for all the wonderful compliments!! I always try to make things that could be nice enough to pass down. I kind of do the same as Bob,,, once I finish with something special, I tend to "inspect" it for a day or so,,, until I let it go. Let me tell you a little story about a present my Mother recieved from my Father while he was in Vietnam,,, for the first or second time. My Mother recieved a big box of very nice china, that my Father had sent. Upon returning home, my Father was very surprized & somewhat upset that we hadn't been using the china. My Mother told him that it was "Too nice to use". So my Father promtly removed all the other dishes, we'd been using, so that we had to start using the "Nice China". My Mother still uses, & has most of that "Nice China" sill today. So,,, the moral of the story is,,, just like my Father,,, I don't care how "Nice" they are,,, they are intended to use!! hehehe The "Snake" rub stick, is a copy of a copy, of a copy, of one that I recieved from Bob Dellis, that he told me was a design that him & Ray Hackbarth came up with. Reguardless,,, it is a very nice & usefull design. I use mine to help define some of the tooling I do. Here are a couple pictures of #3 & the snake,,, somehow, I let #2 get away from me, before I took any pictures. Thanks Again Ben & Bob, for all your help! Ed the"BearMan"

Hi Tim, I use "Rare Earth Magnets" quite often. I believe the "Rare Earth" nickname comes from the materials they are made out of either Neodymium, SmCo Samarium Cobalt, Ceramic, or N50/N52 the strongest "Rare Earth" material. As an example a 1/2" x 1/4" disc in Neodymium 42 has a pull force of 14lbs, while the same size in N50/N52 will have a pulling force of 17lbs. Compare those to a regular cast iron, or nodular iron magnet, which will have a pulling force of less than 5lbs. If you want more info,,, you can find it here: https://www.magnet4less.com/ I hope this helps some,,, Ed

Hi, I looks like you are doing just fine. I believe one of the best things you could do, is look into a photo tent. That way, your pictures will do a lot better for you. You can get one at Harbor Freight for about $30.00. I hope that helps... Ed

Hi Ferg, Yes, I use only spirit dyes, that I have reduced in varying degrees. I have some colors that are blends of two or more other colors also. Ed

Good Morning everybody, John, Tina, Katie, & Biggundoctor, Thank you soooo much!! John,,, I'm affraid I already have Toooo many people on the list already!! hehee Tina, that's something we share,,, I'm at a loss for words on your stuff too!! Biggundoctor,,,the reason I started cobbling up knives was when I was making some sheaths for Randall knives. I soon realized that I could get really hooked on making knives, but that would mean that I'd have to get a lot more specialized equipment than I had room for. Soooo I just get the blades already ground & shaped, & then do the bolsters/guards, add some file work on some, make some mosaic pins for some, & add the different handles. Then I have something to make the sheaths/scabbards for. Thanks for all the wonderful complements,,, Ed the"BearMan"

Good Evening, Thanks Eric, Ben, & Corey,,, I guess it's a good thing I only have about 10 more Christmas Presents to make,,, hehehe Thanks again,,, Ed the"BearMan"

Hi Everybody, Here is another Christmas present I just finished. It's a Knife Sheath & Knife, for my Brother. I know that when I can't think of anything else to make him, he always likes knives. This is a 12" Coffin handle knife, with a 7 1/2" blade. The knife was made using a blade from either Jantz, or another supplier,,, I've had it for quite some time. The Sheath, is made with a swivel. I started making thes swivel types of sheaths about 20 years ago. The "D" ring part of the swivel, is covered with some burgundy upholstry leather, stitched into a tube, & slipped over & sewn together. It's all sewn together with 7 stitches per inch. This Jesse Smith type of tooling design, is something I drew up, with some of my usual coloring. The finishing process: after tooling, & allowing to completely dry, a fair amount of oil was applied, & allowed to sit over night. the next day, it was put out in the sun for about 1 1/2 hours. I then applied all the colors, & let it sit overnight again,,, I always let things I color like this to sit overnight, because a lot of the time, I will need to re-adjust the colors before I apply a finish. Once the colors were done, I applied a NeatLac type finish. The edges were done, almost exactly the way that Bob Park describes in his "Edges" tutorial. Please let me know what you think,,, & Thanks for looking!! Ed the"BearMan"

Good Morning Tina, Looks like I'm getting to your posts kinda late. I'm a big fan of all of your work & original designs!! It's creat to have you back pounding leather again!! You have inspired Lots of people,,, Thanks for sharing,,, Ed the"BearMan"