Basket Illusions

[Jean-Louis Meynier]

My first basket illusions following David Nittmann techniques and the YouTube videos of Harvey Meyer. Thank you Harvey for your YouTube videos.
My 3rd and 4th Basket Illusions following Jim Adkins tutorial from 2011. Thank you Jim for a well done tutorial.

 

[Mike Johnson]

Very Nice!

 

[Bill Boehme]

Welcome to the AAW forum Jean-Louis. Your work is quite impressive for a new turner. Unfortunately, in the process of merging your two posts together, I somehow deleted the attachments. My mistake for not first making a backup copy. You can edit your post by clicking the word Edit. If you need more help in editing the post please let me know.

 

[Jean-Louis Meynier]

Welcome to the AAW forum Jean-Louis. Your work is quite impressive for a new turner.

Thank you Bill! Your Gallery is very nice. Thank you for fixing my error. I cannot open the files.

 

[Bill Boehme]

Thank you Bill! Your Gallery is very nice. Thank you for fixing my error. I cannot open the files.

Unfortunately, I tried to do some fine tuning and broke it. See my post above. My sincere apology.

 

[William Rogers]

I cannot open the files. You need to repost them.

 

[Bill Boehme]

I cannot open the files. You need to repost them.

It's all my fault. I accidentally deleted them in the process of merging a couple posts.

 

[Jean-Louis Meynier]

Very Nice!

Thank you Mike!

 

[Jean-Louis Meynier]

It's all my fault. I accidentally deleted them in the process of merging a couple posts.

It's done. Thank you again for your help Bill.

 

[Odie]

Took awhile to find out how to see them on my computer.......very nice work.

Bill does some very nice basket illusions, as well.......

-----odie-----

 

[Jean-Louis Meynier]

Took awhile to find out how to see them on my computer.......very nice work.

Bill does some very nice basket illusions, as well.......

-----odie-----

Thank you Odie! You are right, I saw the ones Bill did, they are very nice.

 

[William Rogers]

Those are beautiful. Very well done.

 

[Jean-Louis Meynier]

Those are beautiful. Very well done.

Thank you William!

 

[Bill Boehme]

I am in the process of making another basket illusion. I did the turning and beading early this year. I am just now starting to do the pyrography. I received a new bead burning pen yesterday to replace one that burned out. If you haven't tried the Optima #21 bead burning pen yet, I feel like it is the best by far.

 

[john lucas]

Bill have you tried pens that Harvey Meyer sells. They may come from Optima I don't remember.

 

[Bill Boehme]

Bill have you tried pens that Harvey Meyer sells. They may come from Optima I don't remember.

Originally the best (probably the only) bead burning pens were made by Detail Master and it was a special design that Jim Adkins had them make. When they went out of business I started a discussion on WoW with Harvey Meyer and several others who did basket illusion pieces. There were some other options that were tried and turned out to be unsatisfactory. Harvey took the initiative and discussed the issue with Pat at PJL (Optima). Harvey sent them a beaded sample that was done with the D-Way beading tool. Pat sawed it in half so that he could get a profile and that is how the Optima bead burning pen design was born. It turned out to be better than the Detail Master design, although not as durable in my experience.

 

[Jean-Louis Meynier]

I am in the process of making another basket illusion. I did the turning and beading early this year. I am just now starting to do the pyrography. I received a new bead burning pen yesterday to replace one that burned out. If you haven't tried the Optima #21 bead burning pen yet, I feel like it is the best by far.

Bill, I used the 3mm bead tip from Razertip (Canada), but I modified it to fit my beads. I am trying to duplicate the Native American Indian basket that are a bit flat on the top of the bead. A tip cost $9.75 and works fine for me, I do not need to press hard to burn.

 

[Bill Boehme]

Bill, I used the 3mm bead tip from Razertip (Canada), but I modified it to fit my beads. I am trying to duplicate the Native American Indian basket that are a bit flat on the top of the bead. A tip cost $9.75 and works fine for me, I do not need to press hard to burn.

The first basket illusion piece that I made after attending a David Nittmann demo had flat top beads and I did all the burning with a skew tipped burning pen. That was a lot of work and discouraged me from doing any more illusion pieces for several years.

If you try the D-Way beading tool and the Optima pen I think that you will be very pleased with the realistic end result. I use Copic inks which is what Jim Adkins uses. I don't recall what ink Harvey Meyer uses. I like the Copic inks because they aren't completely opaque.

 

[Jean-Louis Meynier]

The first basket illusion piece that I made after attending a David Nittmann demo had flat top beads and I did all the burning with a skew tipped burning pen. That was a lor of work and discouraged me from doing any more illusion pieces for several years.

If you try the D-Way beading tool and the Optima pen I think that you will be very pleased with the realistic end result. I use Copic inks which is what Jim Adkins uses. I don't recall what ink Harvey Meyer uses. I like the Copic inks because they aren't completely opaque.

I use Faber Castell PITT artist pen: Black-M,F,S,XS, Sanguine-B,M,F,S and Sepia-S,B.

 

[Jean-Louis Meynier]

Bill, I used the 3mm bead tip from Razertip (Canada), but I modified it to fit my beads. I am trying to duplicate the Native American Indian basket that are a bit flat on the top of the bead. A tip cost $9.75 and works fine for me, I do not need to press hard to burn.

 

[Bill Boehme]

I'm familiar with the Razertip design, but wasn't very happy that it was the only thing available for a while after DetailMaster went out of business. I viewed the Razertip as less than satisfactory because most of the heat is dissipated in the wires rather than in the tip which makes it uncomfortable to use for any extended length of time. The cross section of the Optima (and the DetailMaster) tip is such that the greatest electrical resistance is in the arc of the tip which means that is the part that will get the hottest. I was elated when Harvey told me that Optima was able to make a satisfactory pen for him. Initially, it wasn't in their product list, but you had to call them and ask for Pat and say Harvey Meyer sent me ... sort of like going to a speakeasy.

 

[Jean-Louis Meynier]

I'm familiar with the Razertip design, but wasn't very happy that it was the only thing available for a while after DetailMaster went out of business. I viewed the Razertip as less than satisfactory because most of the heat is dissipated in the wires rather than in the tip which makes it uncomfortable to use for any extended length of time. The cross section of the Optima (and the DetailMaster) tip is such that the greatest electrical resistance is in the arc of the tip which means that is the part that will get the hottest. I was elated when Harvey told me that Optima was able to make a satisfactory pen for him. Initially, it wasn't in their product list, but you had to call them and ask for Pat and say Harvey Meyer sent me ... sort of like going to a speakeasy.

I will call them. I am still please with my modified tip. It can be hot after 3 or 4 hours of use as I do. I decided to reduce my burning time: SPEED vs QUALITY....

 

[Jerry Maske]

You take your inspiration from whence it comes. The people you've mentioned are, certainly, the giants upon who's shoulders us rookies stand. And I refer to them regularly. One point you and Jim spoke of is design. I think it's great to honor a specific tribe, or even a specific basket maker, by replicating their baskets. However, no where is it written you must do such a thing. In fact, the Native Basket Makers didn't follow specific patterns. They did have a design idea that seemed to show up regularly, but they were pretty creative based on material and colors available. We should do the same.

I'm blessed to live with a wonderful artist. I do all the wood turning, put in the beads and the radial lines. Then I design a Herringbone rim and do all the wood burning. At that point, my eyes are crossed and I hand it off to her. She's usually watching what I'm doing anyway and already has a pattern in mind that may, or may NOT resemble an old basket. From there on, it's her show. We like working that way. I usually have a platter inside drying or in the process of getting wood burned, so she's always got a pattern in mind.

Keep at it and don't be restricted by specific designs. Those old designs ARE worth copying, or at least incorporating into new designs, but don't let them limit you. Here's my latest Herringbone rim example. Maple from our property and Designed by my crazy bride.

 

[Jerry Maske]

I'm a fan of these tips. They match the D way bead making tools and make burning those beads pretty simple.

http://www.carvertools.com

Little pricy but you get what you pay for.

Jerry