Keeping Basketweave Straight

[KY23]

No matter how much I try and practice I don't get those nice straight lines when I'm using my basketweave at an angle. I start out good but seems to just start curving. Here is an example. What am I doing wrong?

[JLSleather]

Starting at the wrong angle. I'll have to see if I can find that very simple way of setting the angle (you can search and find things around here about making a "template" but that's unnecessary and frankly wouldn't be much use on a strap anyway).

Are you left handed? My basketweave generally runs the "other way", so I'm stamping away from me. No matter, whatever works for you!

[TinkerTailor]

Here is a thread where i posted some really good videos of basketweaving a few months ago.:
http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=66417&hl=

[KY23]

Thank you guys. I normally stamp right to left with my light on my right.

I read the link and here is my attempt after. Better for sure.

[JLSleather]

Okay, gotcha. I generally lean my tool the other way -- not that it matters most of the time.. just didn't realize I had a "habit"! Some of the angled tools may matter, though.

If you put in your borders, then you can lay the tool along the border straight (bottom of teh tool right ON the border) and make a light impression with just teh corner of the tool. Then angle your tool so that one tip is on the border, and the other tip is on the edge of this mark, and you WILL have the correct angle to keep it from "bleeding" off the project.

[KY23]

Okay, gotcha. I generally lean my tool the other way -- not that it matters most of the time.. just didn't realize I had a "habit"! Some of the angled tools may matter, though.

If you put in your borders, then you can lay the tool along the border straight (bottom of teh tool right ON the border) and make a light impression with just teh corner of the tool. Then angle your tool so that one tip is on the border, and the other tip is on the edge of this mark, and you WILL have the correct angle to keep it from "bleeding" off the project.

0501.jpg

Thank you. Beautiful work. Hope to have straight lines like your example. Do you find that larger basketweave's are easier or harder?

[JLSleather]

I don't know that one is "harder" than the next. I try to match the size of the stamp to the size of the project. Not that it's always worked -- I have made a number of projects where I pretty much immediately wished I had used a different stamp! As a rule, I think less than 3 "rows" doesn't look wonderful (personal preference, maybe?). On the other side of the coin, guy could go nuts trying to cross an 11" wide binder with a stamp that's 1/4" high!

[Thornton]

You don't appear to be placing the end of your stamp in the impression left from the previous stamp.

[plinkercases]

I concur with Thornton. You aren't setting the stamp corners consistently in the existing adjacent stamps' corner impression. That will help prevent drift as it "locks" the rows together to keep the rows both parallel and the weave line (the over under impression) straight.

Still not as easy as it sounds but that should help a lot. Use a big stamp and just practice that on a wider field of leather. Newer Tandy stamps have lousy definition on the edges and corners and that make it harder to index them. older or better made stamps are "crisper" will almost find their place in the existing impression.

Also I use my old deck builders trick which is set a very light line at the original guide line angle ahead of the stamp row every now the then and measure to it then slowly make any correction to get back on track.

..... and finally as people here have told me repeatedly the 3 best things you can do are practice, practice and practice.

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress. You are already getting better results and glad you asked the question.