JohnBarton Report post Posted May 2, 2009 (edited) The case speaks for itself but I want to thank everyone here for all the wonderful, truly wonderful inspiration. There are a lot of things on this case inside and out that come from the great things you all do. Edited May 2, 2009 by JohnBarton Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rdb Report post Posted May 2, 2009 Yep, John, that one's a Doozy! It's got everything...color, construction, inlay, carving...sheesh. I was making dog collars today...lol Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Luke Hatley Report post Posted May 2, 2009 that is one fine cue case.............. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Razz Report post Posted May 2, 2009 That is one heck of a nice piece of work. What is the time frame on a piece like that. Georgous. I have too many how questions, so I won't even attempt to ask. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
twinklestarchild Report post Posted May 2, 2009 Beautiful work! The nicest cue case I've ever seen. I really enjoy the multi-colored flowers. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnBarton Report post Posted May 2, 2009 I wanted to post the last four pictures. This is my team and everyone worked really hard on this (including me for those who think I don't "do" anything) It took all of us to squeeze the interior into the case because I wrapped the extruded tube in foam rubber to fill out all the spaces so as to protect the leather from bumps. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TwinOaks Report post Posted May 2, 2009 Just ....wow! I'll break out a thesaurus and see if I can find enough words to describe this, John. I've never seen it's equal. I hope this was a custom ordered case, because I don't see how you could price it otherwise. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Casey Jordan Report post Posted May 2, 2009 You can call it a cue case if you want, but I willl call it what it is........ A MASTERPIECE! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DG Leather Report post Posted May 2, 2009 This made me wonder how a collaborated piece from all members on here would go...every one get a task to contribute and send it to a coordinator and everyone put something on it/..... that cue case is the first flower piece i actually liked it is amazing....was the maker in the pic? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
whinewine Report post Posted May 2, 2009 WOW! I can't add anything except russ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OutBackP Report post Posted May 2, 2009 An inspiration, that is beautiful. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnBarton Report post Posted May 2, 2009 This made me wonder how a collaborated piece from all members on here would go...every one get a task to contribute and send it to a coordinator and everyone put something on it/.....that cue case is the first flower piece i actually liked it is amazing....was the maker in the pic? I profiled the tooler on here a week or so ago. It's Zhen Hai Lee and he is in the picture. The "maker" however is really all of us with me being the primary designer. Zhen Hai comes up with drawings based on my design ideas. When he does the drafts we discuss it and I make suggestions and changes until it comes together as I envision it. I think anything made in a collaborative format would totally rock. Imagine Ed Santoro's briefcase with tooling or overlay/inlay by many folks here. I could see him sending panels in two directions with each person getting a corner - that would be wild to see how each person did their corner and tied it in to the others. Or something like that :-) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnBarton Report post Posted May 2, 2009 That is one heck of a nice piece of work.What is the time frame on a piece like that. Georgous. I have too many how questions, so I won't even attempt to ask. Thanks! I lost track of the time. The customer and I exchanged around 50 emails in the preliminary design and then once we had the basic design we spent about two to three weeks researching orchids and went through dozens of them, probably close to a hundred, before settling on the ones we used. I directed that no two orchids should be the same and also that no two flowers in the western floral/Sheridan style be the same. So all the western florals were drawn freehand. The tooling and painting took three or four weeks from start to finish. We also had some complicated construction techniques and custom parts that took us several days to work out how to do. All together I'd say that this case probably represents about for weeks of solid work for Zhen Hai and about two weeks for me and about a week or so of construction time for everyone else. I could not imagine how long it would take if one person had to do everything. Probably the same amount of man-hours but for one person that would probably translate into a couple months at least. Feel free to ask whatever you want to - I will be happy to answer whatever I can. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnBarton Report post Posted May 2, 2009 From left to right: Miss Chen, John Barton, Miss Zhang, Long Wei, Zhen Hail Lee (tooler), Yue Wei. Miss Chen does hand stitching and construction prep work. John Barton does nothing :-), Miss Zhang does machine stitching and hand stitching and construction work, Long Wei does construction and stamping, Zhen Hai does design and tooling, Yue Wei cuts parts, stamps, and engraves using the laser. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hilly Report post Posted May 2, 2009 That is a wonderful work of art! I love the mix of antique and color! I've been raising orchids in my home for years, so have a soft spot for them. Thank you for sharing! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DG Leather Report post Posted May 2, 2009 For what ever reason I thought it would be the man in BLACK...... From left to right: Miss Chen, John Barton, Miss Zhang, Long Wei, Zhen Hail Lee (tooler), Yue Wei. Miss Chen does hand stitching and construction prep work. John Barton does nothing :-), Miss Zhang does machine stitching and hand stitching and construction work, Long Wei does construction and stamping, Zhen Hai does design and tooling, Yue Wei cuts parts, stamps, and engraves using the laser. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RustyMelton Report post Posted May 2, 2009 That's a great case, lots of cool stuff on it. The painting on the flowers is a nice touch, does Zhen Hail Lee do that also? I think the one in the center of the lid is my favorite. Congrats to all involved on a job well done! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DG Leather Report post Posted May 2, 2009 I am left to wonder what it would cost to buy somthing like this....I am guessing about 2000.00 canadian....so whats that in yankee dollars? 20 bux? hehehehe that is a little canuck humor. seriously though would 2k cover that? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnBarton Report post Posted May 3, 2009 I am left to wonder what it would cost to buy somthing like this....I am guessing about 2000.00 canadian....so whats that in yankee dollars? 20 bux? hehehehe that is a little canuck humor.seriously though would 2k cover that? Let's just say that you are getting in the right neighborhood for what I would charge if we did another one at this level. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Johanna Report post Posted May 3, 2009 John, that is one good looking cue case! I especially want to thank you for introducing us to your team. We are fans of your whole team, and we love seeing what you folks are doing. Thank you for sharing! Please tell them all that we appreciate the hard work and skill that goes into their creations, and that they rock, however you say that in Chinese idiom. Johanna Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AndyL1 Report post Posted May 3, 2009 Man, that is gorgeous. Aside from all the intricate dimensional tooling I really love the simple and elegant swivel knife work on the handles and the inside rim of the lid. That's just a beautiful detail in my book. Thanks a lot for sharing this and all the other cases you do. Truly inspiring! Cheers, Andy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnBarton Report post Posted May 3, 2009 Man, that is gorgeous. Aside from all the intricate dimensional tooling I really love the simple and elegant swivel knife work on the handles and the inside rim of the lid. That's just a beautiful detail in my book. Thanks a lot for sharing this and all the other cases you do. Truly inspiring!Cheers, Andy Thank you and it's my pleasure to share these with you. The tooling on the inside of the rim was inspired by Peter Main's belts where he tools the inside of the belt. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnBarton Report post Posted May 3, 2009 John, that is one good looking cue case! I especially want to thank you for introducing us to your team. We are fans of your whole team, and we love seeing what you folks are doing. Thank you for sharing! Please tell them all that we appreciate the hard work and skill that goes into their creations, and that they rock, however you say that in Chinese idiom. Johanna You are welcome. I will tell them what you all have said, I might even make a poster and put everyone's encouraging comments on it and have them translated. I want to tell you all another story that is dear to me. Since I started this workshop three of my employees and the pattern maker in the bag factory I consult for have taken up leather working. All of them make small leather goods and sell them on the Chinese version of Ebay and Taobao to supplement their incomes. I have banned the word "might" in my shop. The Chinese are quite fond of refusing to do things because they fear what "might" happen. In my shop I have told them that they should always follow their ideas and try it - build a sample, work it out, revise and then they can see if their idea works or not. I firmly believe that it's because I promote this attitude of being creative and innovative that has inspired the fledgling leather workers to start making things on their own. I am so proud of my people and how they have grown to be able to build to my standards. Now if I can just master the many things to learn here and convey it to them......who knows what we will be able to do? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sdkid Report post Posted May 3, 2009 (edited) I have banned the word "might" in my shop. The Chinese are quite fond of refusing to do things because they fear what "might" happen. In my shop I have told them that they should always follow their ideas and try it - build a sample, work it out, revise and then they can see if their idea works or not. I firmly believe that it's because I promote this attitude of being creative and innovative that has inspired the fledgling leather workers to start making things on their own. Good advice for all of us to follow when we're not sure how it will turn out. I can't add to what has been said before, except...Thanks for sharing this beautiful piece of art with us. Truly a treasure to be passed down to the next generation. Edited May 3, 2009 by sdkid Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnBarton Report post Posted May 4, 2009 That's a great case, lots of cool stuff on it. The painting on the flowers is a nice touch, does Zhen Hail Lee do that also? I think the one in the center of the lid is my favorite. Congrats to all involved on a job well done! Zhen Hai did all of the tooling and painting. Originally we had planned to use only spirit dyes but we went with acrylics because we need another 10 years to absorb Peter Main's lessons on coloring with spirit dyes :-) and we also felt we could make the details on the orchids stand out more with the ability to contrast that we get from using acrylic paint. The flower in the center of the lid is a lotus and is very special to my customer. This one was taken from a tattoo that he has on his neck. We were able to reproduce it fairly accurately and he was well pleased with it. He has sent me a long letter explaining the meaning to him and it makes me feel really good that we were able to capture the feelings he has about this in the case. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
