Basketweave Stamp Problems

[WyomingSlick]

Hi PJ. Well you have heard some good advice here,----and some that is not helpful at all. I am not going to claim to be an expert on using the tri-weave stamps, and that is what they are - - - not basketweaves. In fact I have never made an item with them since I bought mine from Hidecrafter a few years ago when they had a nice sale. I have "doodled" around with them a bit. and with my forty years of experiance; perhaps I can give you some pointers in the right direction. Now I don't own any King or Beard tri-weaves, but theirs seem to be pretty much the same tool. I am not sure what the "experts" are talking about when they bemoan the inconsistency of the Tandy tri-weaves. My Hidecrafters are Craft Japan made ones which look the same to me as the Tandy versions. They are consistant in that: if you stamp an impression, rotate the stamp 120 degrees and restamp in the same impression: it fits fine and there is no change in the impression. In that alone; if fits the first desirable characteristic you want in any type of geometric stamp that is used in a repeating pattern (design ); that is that it is even and each half, or in this case-each third is a mirror image of the other(s).

Before we discuss the tri-weave stamping, let's discuss the border. Usually the border is cut and beveled first, then the basketweave or tri-weave stamping is done, and then the border stamping is done to cover the transition area between the ending of your geometric stamping and the border. It is very important to be aware of how much distance out from the border that your border stamp will cover so that you know where to end or fade out your tri-weave or other stamp. You might even trace in a very light guide line for this purpose. Try to make the guide line so that it will be covered by your border stamp later. This line will also give you a good idea where to fade out your tri-weave stamp by tilting it so it doesn't leave a deep impression on the side towards the border. Having beveled the border before hand will make this easier. For some very good examples on how to stamp borders you need to look at pages 11 and 12 of Al Stohlman's book TECH TIPS.

Tri-Weave Stamping

One point I would like to make: Every "Craftsman" I know; uses scrap leather for "doodling" on and learning how to use a tool to it's best advantage. They learn 90% of what they know on inexpensive scraps. The other 10 % of the time they either learn how to salvage and cover their mistakes or "they eat it" and learn from that.

Pic 1 - Left to right - A very light impression of tool, a full depth impression, and an impression where I rocked the tool in each of the three leg

directions to give a more pronounced 3-D effect. This is part of the process of getting familiar with the stamp and how it will be used. So

now I see that the six little pegs will be most useful in lining up one impression to the next. Hmmmm. . .should make it easier to use than

a basketweave which doesn't have them.

Pic 2 - First light impression, and then a few light guide lines. Of course on an actual project, one would determine before the first impression

where to put guide lines first to determine the run of the pattern.

Pic 3 - Next impression made by carefully placing the stamp's pegs into the holes from the first impression.

Pic 4 - Four rows stamped lightly just like you did. No problem so far.

Pic 5 - A couple of full depth impressions

Pic 6 - Two rows done full depth.

Pic 7 - All 4 rows done full depth. I begin to see the problem. You will notice that I experianced the same problem you had with the stamp

impression not matching up so well with the curve of the previous deep impression. From this I determined that it is very important

to place the stamp carefully and strike it straight down so that it doesn't want to skip to the side. Several lighter strikes work better

than one heavy blow. It may also work better for you to tilt the tool in each of the 3 leg directions, being sure the stamp is aligned in

the 2 peg holes, and deepening the impression with several lighter blows than one heavy one.

[Vikefan]

Hi PJ. Well you have heard some good advice here,----and some that is not helpful at all. I am not going to claim to be an expert on using the tri-weave stamps, and that is what they are - - - not basketweaves. In fact I have never made an item with them since I bought mine from Hidecrafter a few years ago when they had a nice sale. I have "doodled" around with them a bit. and with my forty years of experiance; perhaps I can give you some pointers in the right direction. Now I don't own any King or Beard tri-weaves, but theirs seem to be pretty much the same tool. I am not sure what the "experts" are talking about when they bemoan the inconsistency of the Tandy tri-weaves. My Hidecrafters are Craft Japan made ones which look the same to me as the Tandy versions. They are consistant in that: if you stamp an impression, rotate the stamp 120 degrees and restamp in the same impression: it fits fine and there is no change in the impression. In that alone; if fits the first desirable characteristic you want in any type of geometric stamp that is used in a repeating pattern (design ); that is that it is even and each half, or in this case-each third is a mirror image of the other(s).

Before we discuss the tri-weave stamping, let's discuss the border. Usually the border is cut and beveled first, then the basketweave or tri-weave stamping is done, and then the border stamping is done to cover the transition area between the ending of your geometric stamping and the border. It is very important to be aware of how much distance out from the border that your border stamp will cover so that you know where to end or fade out your tri-weave or other stamp. You might even trace in a very light guide line for this purpose. Try to make the guide line so that it will be covered by your border stamp later. This line will also give you a good idea where to fade out your tri-weave stamp by tilting it so it doesn't leave a deep impression on the side towards the border. Having beveled the border before hand will make this easier. For some very good examples on how to stamp borders you need to look at pages 11 and 12 of Al Stohlman's book TECH TIPS.

Tri-Weave Stamping

One point I would like to make: Every "Craftsman" I know; uses scrap leather for "doodling" on and learning how to use a tool to it's best advantage. They learn 90% of what they know on inexpensive scraps. The other 10 % of the time they either learn how to salvage and cover their mistakes or "they eat it" and learn from that.

Pic 1 - Left to right - A very light impression of tool, a full depth impression, and an impression where I rocked the tool in each of the three leg

directions to give a more pronounced 3-D effect. This is part of the process of getting familiar with the stamp and how it will be used. So

now I see that the six little pegs will be most useful in lining up one impression to the next. Hmmmm. . .should make it easier to use than

a basketweave which doesn't have them.

Pic 2 - First light impression, and then a few light guide lines. Of course on an actual project, one would determine before the first impression

where to put guide lines first to determine the run of the pattern.

Pic 3 - Next impression made by carefully placing the stamp's pegs into the holes from the first impression.

Pic 4 - Four rows stamped lightly just like you did. No problem so far.

Pic 5 - A couple of full depth impressions

Pic 6 - Two rows done full depth.

Pic 7 - All 4 rows done full depth. I begin to see the problem. You will notice that I experianced the same problem you had with the stamp

impression not matching up so well with the curve of the previous deep impression. From this I determined that it is very important

to place the stamp carefully and strike it straight down so that it doesn't want to skip to the side. Several lighter strikes work better

than one heavy blow. It may also work better for you to tilt the tool in each of the 3 leg directions, being sure the stamp is aligned in

the 2 peg holes, and deepening the impression with several lighter blows than one heavy one.

Very nice tutorial on the Tri-weave... By the way; what brand stamp is utilized in the pictures you have posted? Doesn't look like a Tandy tool to me...I have a couple.

Thanks,

Vikefan

[scottyslife]

Hi PJ. Well you have heard some good advice here,----and some that is not helpful at all. I am not going to claim to be an expert on using the tri-weave stamps, and that is what they are - - - not basketweaves. In fact I have never made an item with them since I bought mine from Hidecrafter a few years ago when they had a nice sale. I have "doodled" around with them a bit. and with my forty years of experiance; perhaps I can give you some pointers in the right direction. Now I don't own any King or Beard tri-weaves, but theirs seem to be pretty much the same tool. I am not sure what the "experts" are talking about when they bemoan the inconsistency of the Tandy tri-weaves. My Hidecrafters are Craft Japan made ones which look the same to me as the Tandy versions. They are consistant in that: if you stamp an impression, rotate the stamp 120 degrees and restamp in the same impression: it fits fine and there is no change in the impression. In that alone; if fits the first desirable characteristic you want in any type of geometric stamp that is used in a repeating pattern (design ); that is that it is even and each half, or in this case-each third is a mirror image of the other(s).

Before we discuss the tri-weave stamping, let's discuss the border. Usually the border is cut and beveled first, then the basketweave or tri-weave stamping is done, and then the border stamping is done to cover the transition area between the ending of your geometric stamping and the border. It is very important to be aware of how much distance out from the border that your border stamp will cover so that you know where to end or fade out your tri-weave or other stamp. You might even trace in a very light guide line for this purpose. Try to make the guide line so that it will be covered by your border stamp later. This line will also give you a good idea where to fade out your tri-weave stamp by tilting it so it doesn't leave a deep impression on the side towards the border. Having beveled the border before hand will make this easier. For some very good examples on how to stamp borders you need to look at pages 11 and 12 of Al Stohlman's book TECH TIPS.

Tri-Weave Stamping

One point I would like to make: Every "Craftsman" I know; uses scrap leather for "doodling" on and learning how to use a tool to it's best advantage. They learn 90% of what they know on inexpensive scraps. The other 10 % of the time they either learn how to salvage and cover their mistakes or "they eat it" and learn from that.

Pic 1 - Left to right - A very light impression of tool, a full depth impression, and an impression where I rocked the tool in each of the three leg

directions to give a more pronounced 3-D effect. This is part of the process of getting familiar with the stamp and how it will be used. So

now I see that the six little pegs will be most useful in lining up one impression to the next. Hmmmm. . .should make it easier to use than

a basketweave which doesn't have them.

Pic 2 - First light impression, and then a few light guide lines. Of course on an actual project, one would determine before the first impression

where to put guide lines first to determine the run of the pattern.

Pic 3 - Next impression made by carefully placing the stamp's pegs into the holes from the first impression.

Pic 4 - Four rows stamped lightly just like you did. No problem so far.

Pic 5 - A couple of full depth impressions

Pic 6 - Two rows done full depth.

Pic 7 - All 4 rows done full depth. I begin to see the problem. You will notice that I experianced the same problem you had with the stamp

impression not matching up so well with the curve of the previous deep impression. From this I determined that it is very important

to place the stamp carefully and strike it straight down so that it doesn't want to skip to the side. Several lighter strikes work better

than one heavy blow. It may also work better for you to tilt the tool in each of the 3 leg directions, being sure the stamp is aligned in

the 2 peg holes, and deepening the impression with several lighter blows than one heavy one.

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Edited May 31, 2014 by scottyslife

[scottyslife]

Actually didn't mean to post on this topic twitchy fingers on a kindle fire lol but I did learn a lot the basket weave tool came in the mail yesterday now to practice what I just learned

Thanks for the help,

Scott