Saturday, July 30, 2011

Quick, I Need a Pattern for an Oval!

One situation was making an oval shaped pattern for a mirror frame. Another was an oval that would be the background for a relief carving.
Circles are easy - find the center, jab the compass point in and have at it. But ovals, you get close and then hope the artist or draftsman in you can make it look even.
You can plot them and I remember doing that in trig class but how about a simple solution?

Remember making paper snowflakes - you fold the paper, make a few cuts...? It's like that.

In this case, you figure out how big you want your oval, take a piece of paper that is a bit bigger, fold it in half on the short axis, fold it in half on the long axis, draw 1/4 of the oval, cut it out, unfold, and Voila! There is your template.


As they say, it works every time!


Sunday, July 24, 2011

The Washington State Gourd Festival 2011

For the weekend of July 16 and 17 we went to the gourd festival put on by the Washington State Gourd Society. This was only their second show and was held in the central Washington city of Moses Lake. The economy had an effect on attendance as there were fewer vendors and attendees than last year but we enjoyed it.
At the Grip-All Jaws booth current State Gourd Society president Stacy Annon demonstrates how she makes marbled linings for her gourd purses and bags. They are made of tissue paper and we will have a video on this. BTW she is using the new Orbital Artist's Easel.

When we introduced the Grip-All Jaws Orbital Holding System we had never heard of gourd art. All of Grip-All Jaws products are, or originally were, designed for carvers and sculptors. But we always tell people that literally anyone who needs to hold an irregular shape would find the Grip-All Jaws a great help for that.
But we sell more Orbitals to gourd artists than any other market. Here are some examples from the show.
   

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

A Three-Point Perspective

Sometimes you have a piece of nice wood that is art in itself. This is a slice of burl that wasn’t good for much so I sanded it smooth and finished it with wipe-on polyurethane. It will make a nice display platform for a future piece – a bowl or carving or something. But I didn’t particularly want to make legs or feet because…well, I just didn’t feel like making them.
You don’t need to be a mathematician to know that three legs are more stable than two or four. Three points of contact will not wobble. It's more practicality than Pythagoras.
But while looking for something else in the house one day, I came across these little glass things. They are round-ish – sort of – and have a flat side. Three of these babies and we have our feet and they’re only about a 1/4” high.


I glued them on with clear silicone adhesive. I used Liquid Nails brand but there are others. Put a small dab in the center of each one and press it into place. Place them as far as is practical each from the others. You have lots of room to move around here but, generally spread them wide.
And there you go. BTW I got these glass things at the Dollar Tree and for a buck I got enough to do 32 projects. That's pretty cost effective.

Friday, July 8, 2011

Marking on Dark Materials

I often use dark woods like Walnut and Cocobolo. When laying out and marking on dark woods you can sometimes get away with using a pencil. But I often have to go back and find the mark.

What really drove the problem home was trying to mark a pattern on an Ebony fingerboard. Forget it. I had a white grease pencil but it was too soft and wide. My wife is an artist and often works in colored pencil so I tried that. It worked for a little while but that, too was too soft.

While cruising through the art store I found white charcoal pencils.
That did it! The "lead" is harder than colored pencil and holds a point for a lot longer. Mine set me back under $3.00 and included two pencils PLUS a sharpener. One pencil runs about a buck. Solid, fine, white, opaque, and made in the good ol' USA - General's Charcoal White - give it a try.