Des804 Report post Posted May 1, 2009 There we go for some odd reason it wasnt letting me Post on here... I have two quick questions if I could please get some answers.. I'm heading out over the weekend to an event of great minds... Ok its mostly people who do jewelery like I do and we mostly just goof off eat food and drink mead... But anyways here are my two questsions 1. Are Plastic Cutting boards a substitute for marble this marble piece is rather long and its going to be a pain to try and take it with me... 2. Craft Aides I have one with multiple flowers on it and was wondering do people cut these up or just try and make it so you dont have another flower get on the finished piece. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
UKRay Report post Posted May 1, 2009 IMHO, marble or preferably granite is the best stuff to tool on. A plastic cutting board is too soft and resilient to resist the pressure when you stamp the leather. Craftaids stay in one piece and you use the chunk of pattern you think fits the job. If you chop 'em up they don't work too well next time you need 'em. Hope this helps. Ray Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
whinewine Report post Posted May 1, 2009 1. I don't know. I would think plastic boards are fine for cutting, but would have too much give/bounce to them to be rigid enough for tooling, especially if you need to get a lot of depth. A piece of metal would be more appropriate I would think, or perhaps a piece of stone tile from lowes or home depot (or even a concrete paver stone from there). 2. I have some craftaids that I keep whole & often I have a duplicate that I cut up into separate pieces. This helps an individual image fit into a tight area, and it allows it to fit without getting on other areas of the piece. Basically, if it is more useable as individual pieces, I'll cut it up. Only if it would be a super-duper-rare-collector craftaid vs a common craftaid (& who cares- craftaids are meant to be used- really!) would I not cut it up. russ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HarryB Report post Posted May 1, 2009 As with other things: the harder the surface, the better. Plastic will bounce around too much and be too noisy. If I need a small portion of a craftaid, I will use painter's tape on the portion I do not want to imprint on the leather. Hope this helps. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
UKRay Report post Posted May 1, 2009 Great idea, Harry. I'm going to try the painter's tape thing tomorrow. It should stop any danger of an 'overspill'. Ray Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Des804 Report post Posted May 1, 2009 Uk YOu arent the only one who likes Harry's Idea... Btw I broke my marble piece up its not that wide anyways so it being longer really didnt do much for me. Now have a piece Ic an easily take with me. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Billy P Report post Posted May 2, 2009 Des, go to a place that makes tombstones and ask if you can get a piece of scrap. They usually have to pay to have that stuff hauled off, and here where I am they have given me several nice pieces for free. I have both marble and granite. when I get me another work table made I'm gonna go back and try and get a big piece that is more square than my present piece of marble. The man that usually helps me out, I'll sometimes take him a small something as a token of my appreciation for helping me out. He gives me a lot for a little, but he appreciates the fact that I don't forget him either. Billy P Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CitizenKate Report post Posted May 2, 2009 Des, go to a place that makes tombstones and ask if you can get a piece of scrap. They usually have to pay to have that stuff hauled off, and here where I am they have given me several nice pieces for free. Billy, some tombstone places may do that, but the majority don't. I once called around to a couple of places near where I live and asked if they had any scrap they didn't want that I could have. They said, sure we have scrap, sell it to you for $50/sq.ft. So much for a cheap place to find a slab. Kate Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CitizenKate Report post Posted May 2, 2009 Craftaids stay in one piece and you use the chunk of pattern you think fits the job. If you chop 'em up they don't work too well next time you need 'em. Ray, I've got a few that have several designs on them, and have been cutting the individual designs into separate pieces and using them for years. Why shouldn't they work more than once? Kate Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DG Leather Report post Posted May 2, 2009 1. Are Plastic Cutting boards a substitute for marble this marble piece is rather long and its going to be a pain to try and take it with me... I will give my 2 cents here for question 1 I used a plastic cutting board from tandy (thinking it was special plastic lol) it turned out this was hoorible to use I tried my one inch thick plywood on my bench i made with 4 x 4 posts for legs and it was to bouncy I then tried 1 inch of steel used tof a surface to tool on and when doing punches and such i used the cutting board on top of my steel this worked amazing well..... but get frustrated with my bevels.... Finally after reading about granite on this site....I went on a hunt I found a wood products store that caries granite for countertops....I bought a remnant (left over piece) 1 inch thick and is polished on one side for 50 bucks......black granite....which i am told the grey granite is even better.... I used this piece of granite to tool on last night and i tell you instantly all my tooling has improved ten fold ....accuracy of tools and the consistancy of the dispersment of of impressions (bevels, matting tools and stamps) has all astronomically made a difference..... So My 2 cents is use 1 inch thick granite....i bought a piece that is 12 inch by 17 inch....well worth the cash...... and it looks flipping fancy dancy pancy..... i love this site! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KWT Report post Posted May 2, 2009 I use a thin piece of cardboard (about the thickness that comes in dress shirt packages) to cover the parts of craftaids I don't want in my project. However; I like the painter's tape idea better. I think it would be more flexible and easier to use. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tkleather1 Report post Posted May 2, 2009 I would get as thick of a peice of granite as you can up to about 3 to four inch. I to started with a peice of one inch and after a long day of basket stamping it broke. I have since (about three years ago or more) upgraded to a peice of 3" smooth concrete and had zero problems and it works great. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jbird Report post Posted May 3, 2009 I can get in to this I have some inside info on the matter, First off I worked with granite and marble a good deal in my work, marble is to soft if it's thin you need I bit of thick piece, as for granite it has a lot of tiny little cracks so a one inch thick piece is ife it might break on you I got a 3 foot by 2.5 foot tomb stone head stone, from a nice lady in the biz the thing is four inches thick I payed $30 for it. Josh Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DG Leather Report post Posted May 3, 2009 I can get in to this I have some inside info on the matter,First off I worked with granite and marble a good deal in my work, marble is to soft if it's thin you need I bit of thick piece, as for granite it has a lot of tiny little cracks so a one inch thick piece is ife it might break on you I got a 3 foot by 2.5 foot tomb stone head stone, from a nice lady in the biz the thing is four inches thick I payed $30 for it. Josh OH NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jbird Report post Posted May 3, 2009 (edited) Oh no is right it takes two strong guys to move it. Josh quote name='ganonymous' date='May 2 2009, 11:09 PM' post='104714'] OH NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Edited May 3, 2009 by jbird Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DG Leather Report post Posted May 3, 2009 well we will see how long this pice will last me for now...alls i know is it is way darned better than any other surface i used...... Oh no is right it takes two strong guys to move it. Josh quote name='ganonymous' date='May 2 2009, 11:09 PM' post='104714'] OH NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
