Grandpa Report post Posted May 13, 2013 This is the tool pair (F912 L&R) used to do larger Fir & Spruce trees as per Stohlman's Pictorial Carving book. I've tried over and over for the last week to get trees to look similar to those in the book with no luck. Maybe its me but it almost seems like the tool impressions in the book are slightly different (yet similar) than the actual tool impressions of the ones Tandy sells and that's why they don't look the same. My local Tandy folks have had the same result as I too. Has anyone used these successfully and if so can you provide some advice, tips, tricks? TIA... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cyberthrasher Report post Posted May 13, 2013 I've never used them, but I know that's one thing you'll consistently find with Tandy's tools. The tools Al was using were a lot different then the tools we have now. The best you'll be able to do is either modify them to match, or try to find some vintage tools. It may also be possible to modify the technique to get the desired outcome using the tools you have. Also keep in mind that Al modified his tools quite regularly. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Grandpa Report post Posted May 13, 2013 Also keep in mind that Al modified his tools quite regularly. Ahh Ha! I wasn't aware of that. As I look at the impression of these, and then those in the book, it seems like he may well have thinned down and curved the bottom side of them removing the distinct sharper edge, which it looks like would account for what the book impressions have. I may do some minor modification experimenting with mine and/or try modifying a veiner as some already have a similar size and curve. Annoying for sure<sigh>. Thanks for the info!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cyberthrasher Report post Posted May 13, 2013 Ahh Ha! I wasn't aware of that. As I look at the impression of these, and then those in the book, it seems like he may well have thinned down and curved the bottom side of them removing the distinct sharper edge. It could also be that somewhere along the line Tandy/Craftool decided that they should redesign them. You might see some difference between old and new by looking at their conversion chart. I don't have my copy of it on this computer, but it's free. https://www.leathercraftlibrary.com/p-1416-craftool-conversion-chart.aspx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Grandpa Report post Posted May 13, 2013 I checked out the chart yesterday and they pretty much dropped the 'tree' tools and retained only the F912's in their place for that work which is what they offer as the replacement. 913's/914's/873/874/921's/922-3 etc are history. The book showing various tools and those tools no longer being available thru them - bummer! I have tha F927 and for the smaller trees it does a super job on the outter edges. I searched the web for the older ones too and no luck but think I may be able to do a little filing to tweak these two I bought so the impressions look better. Never thought a Fir/Spruce could be so hard. Pine is a piece of cake though<G>. I'll figure it out, no danged tree is going to halt my Pictorials and Figure Carving. My poor painting skills might though... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cyberthrasher Report post Posted May 14, 2013 Sign up for the free tutorials on Paul Burnett's site (maintained by his family since his passing) and check out "The F926 Saga". That will give you a lot of clues about tool manufacturing and why we just can't get things like what was available in the past. http://paintingcow.com/content/index.php/publications/free_lesson_sign_up/ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bob Blea Report post Posted May 23, 2013 I checked out the chart yesterday and they pretty much dropped the 'tree' tools and retained only the F912's in their place for that work which is what they offer as the replacement. 913's/914's/873/874/921's/922-3 etc are history. The book showing various tools and those tools no longer being available thru them - bummer! I have tha F927 and for the smaller trees it does a super job on the outter edges. I searched the web for the older ones too and no luck but think I may be able to do a little filing to tweak these two I bought so the impressions look better. Never thought a Fir/Spruce could be so hard. Pine is a piece of cake though<G>. I'll figure it out, no danged tree is going to halt my Pictorials and Figure Carving. My poor painting skills might though... Hi Grandpa, I know what you are going through. The modern Tandy pine tree tools are thicker than the original ones. What Al Stohlman worked with appear to be a bit thinner than what Tandy supplied recently and I found them very hard to work with. I just recently got a set of pine tree tools from Robert Beard and they are 1000% better. Now I can make something that looks like a tree, however they do take practice and skill to make even with a good tool. I was able to talk to Robert Beard about these tools at the Sheridan show and even he admitted they take skill to make a good looking tree, so don't feel bad that your first attempts aren't looking that great. I found there are a lot of subtleties in how you tip the tools to create different lengths of branches, and you also need a small matting tool to get between the branches and matt out the parts that aren't supposed to be part of the tree. I'd keep an eye out for the old craftool pine tree tools. In the meantime practice the the modern ones to try and get the look down. Bob Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
