Pear Shader/Cam Help

[Chris B]

Hello All, I have been praticing again, now for about a week. And I have pretty much gotten walking the beveler down. And my swivel knife cuts are looking alot better. But my pear shader is off. I cant figure out how in the books it looks like they are getting a wide stripe while I am only getting a narrow one. Well thats with me assuming that they are using the same tools as supplied in the basic 7 kit. Do you guys just do one pass or make 2 next to each other? Also, how deep do you normally go? And with the camoflauge are you supposed to walk that like the beveler or pick it up and move it your self?

Thanks,

Chris

[Double U Leather]

If you could post some pictures, that would give everyone a better idea of what you've got going on.

[ClayB]

Hi Chris,

There are a lot of different sizes of pear shaders. It is probably easier to have the one that fits the area you are trying to stamp in with one pass. If you don't, you can work the shader from side to side to get it to fill in a larger area. I think that's what you are asking and my answer would be yes, make another pass to widen the impression, but not the full width of the tool. It's probably going to take some practice to make this look nice and smooth.

With the cam, you are going to want to lift it and carefully set it back down between impressions. That'll be slow at first but you want the impressions to be spaced evenly. It'll get a lot faster as you do more of it. You also want to learn to tilt the cam to one side when you are following the edge of a scroll or the center line in some leaves. If you post pictures of what you are having troubles with, I'm sure people will jump in with lots of suggestions.

[hidepounder]

Hi Chris,

There are a lot of different sizes of pear shaders. It is probably easier to have the one that fits the area you are trying to stamp in with one pass. If you don't, you can work the shader from side to side to get it to fill in a larger area. I think that's what you are asking and my answer would be yes, make another pass to widen the impression, but not the full width of the tool. It's probably going to take some practice to make this look nice and smooth.

With the cam, you are going to want to lift it and carefully set it back down between impressions. That'll be slow at first but you want the impressions to be spaced evenly. It'll get a lot faster as you do more of it. You also want to learn to tilt the cam to one side when you are following the edge of a scroll or the center line in some leaves. If you post pictures of what you are having troubles with, I'm sure people will jump in with lots of suggestions.

What he said!!!!!

[Chris B]

Thanks guys. I will put a picture up tomorrow. It seems that my batteries are dead in my camera...SO I will definetly post a pic tomorrow.

[kevinhopkins]

Hi.... You need to walk the pear shader just like the beveler... And it may take a bit of practice, but it might help if you think of your hand as a vice with a tool in it, thats attached to your wrist. I know that might be a stretch, but just might get you over the mental hump! And for what it's worth, you can almost always use a little bigger pearshader than you think you can. Keep pounding! You'll get it!

Kevin@springfieldleather.com

[hidepounder]

Chris,

Shading is probably the next most difficult task to master next to beveling and bar grounding. Probably the most important tip that I ever learned from a master tooler (Ray Pojha) was to fit the tool to the pattern...or...fit the pattern to the tool! In the interim, you can do as Clay described but eventually you'll want to accumulate enough shaders to fit what you're patterns.

Hope this helps...

Bobby

[Chris B]

Ok here we go if I can figure out on how to post pictures. I quit on this one when I realized that I beveled on the wrong side of the stem.. But any way I took pictures of my swivel knife cuts and on through the beveling. Well half way through that lol.

[Chris B]

Ok im going to have to do this in 3 different posts, I dont have a clue on how to resize pics.

[Chris B]

Heres the cam

[Chris B]

And finally half of the beveling lol

[Chris B]

Well I have tried it again, and got the same results. Does anyone have a clue on what I am doing wrong??

Thank You all,

Chris

P.S. sorry that I made those picture so big, I dont have a cluw on how to resize them.

Edited October 11, 2009 by welder5724

[TroyS]

Hey Welder!

Don't get discouraged! Just like welding, or anything else for thatmatter, you have to have the right tools for the job. You'llaccumulate those on an "AS NEEDED" basis. I have about 35-40 pearshaders alone, each one with a different job. You've definitely gotthe right idea, you just need more practice. Here's a few pointers...

Casing your leather:

Practice how to properly "CASE" your leather! Properly "CASING" yourleather is the secret to shading! The leather should be soakedthrough, then allowed to dry JUST until the outer skin of your leatherlooks and feels dry, but is still damp on the underside. This is thehardest thing to learn because it varies tremendously. It depends ontemperature, humidity and the leather you use. You can find severalarticles here on the forum that can help you. Proper shading can NOTbe achieved by just spraying the top of the leather with a spray bottlebecause you are NOT soaking all of the fibers of the leather, only thetop ones. If your leather is too WET, then it will not hold theimpression. If you continually spray the leather with a spray bottle,the leather will swell and shrink like a sponge and you will lose allof your fine detail.

Using your Swivel Knife:

Try tipping your swivel knife forward on about a 22 degree angle. Itwill glide across your leather easier as you cut and allow you to makesharper turns. It will also eliminate the "Pencil" shaped cuts (sharppoint on one end of the cut, blunt end on the other). On corners,always start your knife in the corner and pull away from the corner. It'll give you nice clean corners.

Beveling:

Do ALL of your beveling first! This helps you to decide later whichtools will fit inside the areas you want to embellish. It also helps toreduce the "OVERSTAMP" issue. "Over-Stamping" is when your stampintrudes on another area of your design (like the upper right handcorner of your last picture, the beveler OVERSTAMPED into yourborder). In order to achieve proper beveling, ALWAYS bevel the closestobjects first! If the edge of a leaf curls down over the rest of theleaf, bevel the curled area first because it's curled down OVER therest. I usually start my beveling by simply taking a small smoothbeveler and running it along the cut line pressing lightly using just theweight of my hand to make the impression. It helps separate the cut and also givesyou a preview of what it will look like. If you do it light enough,and you think the effect is wrong, then you have an opportunity tobevel the other side of the cut without ruining your project. I liketo do all of my beveling with a smooth beveler at first, then once I'veachieved the depth and shade I'm looking for, go back and finalize itwith a textured tool. It gives it a very clean defined texture alongwith the right shadowing.

Modeling Tools:

Your modeling tool(s) are definitely important tools! You can achieve a LOT of fine beveling work with your modeling tools. You might find that simply running the edge of your modeling tool along a line in your design will give you the look you want. Not all lines are cut into your design. Sometimes, by merely pressing the edge of your modeling tool into the leather, you can achieve a nice subtle detail line without the use of a beveler.

Veiners, Mule's Feet, Seeders and other finish detail tools:

They convey Finesse! These are the details they grab your eyes! These tools are the last tools to be used when doing a project. Using these tools too early in your project will only upset you because by the time you are finished with your project, MOST or ALL of those details will have been worked out of your leather.

Resizing your pictures:

Someone on the forum introduced this link in another post (Thank You). It'll help you...

I REALLY hope I don't come off as trying to sound like an expert because I am NOT! These are things which I've learned from the members of this forum and my own trial and error. I was just like you a couple of years ago. I had a lot of ambition, very few tools, and LOTS of questions! With Leatherworker.net and the vast pool of knowledge it's members bring to the table, this forum is the MOST VALUABLE tool you have!

And remember, Practice, Practice, Practice...

[David Genadek]

I find that the reason most people have trouble with a pair shading and beveling is because theyare not clear on the elements of the design. I have found it to be helpful for many if they trace the design and then shade it with a pencil before they take it to the leather. It might take one or it might take 100 but it doesn't make a lot of sense to start cutting into a piece of leather until you understand where you're trying to go with it. The kits that are designed to teach you to carve have the little plastic rub off templates which are nice for production but when you use them you are not going through the process of creation so the movement and the flow of the design is not always apparent. Just tracing the pattern can help but I find people can learn to carve much easier if they actually draw their own design.If you put your focus on what you're trying to create rather than how you're trying to create it you will end up with a much better result and questions about pair shader size will become much less important. When your focus is on doing the shading you will grab any pear shader you can and use the best that you can to create the results you are looking for.

David Genadek

[ClayB]

Chris,

Another thing that you can do to make sure you get started in the right direction is to check out Paul Burnett's free lessons on his website. Paul goes into a lot of detail on the fundamentals of leather carving, from things like proper moisture content to how to walk tools. If you read through his lessons, I think quite a few of your questions will be answered. You can sign up for the free lessons here

[Luke Hatley]

the book "CRAFT TOOL TECH TIPS" will be very benifical to you. Tandy has it.

[Chris B]

Wow thanks for the info guys. And Im sorry if you writers cramp or carpal tunnel from that post Troy, but thanks for the info. The blade I was using was a 1/4 angle blade. And I did sign up for the free lessons on Pauls site. you guys rock thanks!!!

Chris