Basket Weave Illusion questions

[William Rogers]

i am going to buy some D-Way beading tools for general use. I intend to buy the 3/16, 1/4, and diamond tool. Some day I would like to try doing basket weave illusion. I have a burnmaster and will need to get the razor tip pens for this. This is about the extent of my knowledge on this subject. What beading tool(s) are used for that? Is there a certain number of divisions? How do you figure out patterns? Any help appreciated.
Edit: dyes or markers?

 

[Dave Hulett]

I bought the D-way tools and found them to be excellent. I admit that I am not very good at coming up with my own patterns, so browsing the net is where I get my ideas. However, I did find that with small platters (8-9") you don't have a lot of options, at least not that appeal to me. the lines get so close together so fast that you don't have a lot of options.

 

[Fadi Zeidan]

I haven’t done any, not sure I would have the patience for it, but I watched some nice videos on the subject. The first two on this search may answer your questions.

https://m.youtube.com/results?q=basket illusion woodturning&sm=3

 

[john lucas]

I have yet to do one although I've watched Harvey Meyer and few other do them over the years. I would suggest dropping Harvey a line and get his suggestions. He also sells the tools I think. http://harveymeyer.com/

 

[Stan Semeniuk]

I would definitely second watching Harvey Meyer,s YouTube. I was able to take a bowl from start to finish after spending the time to watch. Really a great instructor.

 

[Bill Boehme]

i am going to buy some D-Way beading tools for general use. I intend to buy the 3/16, 1/4, and diamond tool. Some day I would like to try doing basket weave illusion. I have a burnmaster and will need to get the razor tip pens for this. This is about the extent of my knowledge on this subject. What beading tool(s) are used for that? Is there a certain number of divisions? How do you figure out patterns? Any help appreciated.
Edit: dyes or markers?

I have made several basket illusion pieces. The style that I make are inspired by the work of Jim Adkins who I consider to be the grand master. I try to create pieces that are true to the work of various Native American people. There are many books available as well as doing web searches to find source material. While I greatly admire the work of Harvey Meyer, it isn't exactly my style of basket illusion work.

I use maple wood for all my pieces and use the ⅛" and 3/16" D-Way beading tools. I occasionally use the teardrop tool. My opinion is that the ¼" beading tool wouldn't be very useful for basket illusion work. The ⅜" tool might possibly be useful for the rim, but I do that with a spindle gouge. The D-Way tools are very good, but it still takes a lot of practice to get perfect beads and in order to use the pyrography bead burning pens with good results, the beads need to be perfect. Getting close is good enough for horseshoes and hand grenades, but not for making basket illusion beads. So practice a lot making beads and burning the details. It's time well spent.

I don't like the Razertip bead burning tips. I think that the design doesn't give very efficient heat transfer to the burning edge and the recovery is slow. In my opinion, the Optima bead burning pens are far superior and were designed to match the curvature of the D-Way beading tools. The pens that I use are the ⅛" and 3/16" Optima pens. I also use Detail Master custom made bead burning pens which are excellent, but unfortunately they are no longer in business. So, if you want to do precise detail burning, I highly recommend the Optima pens from PJL Enterprises.

For inking, I use Copic Classic pens and replace the standard nibs with superfine nibs. I also sand the superfine nibs in order to get a sharper point for some of the detail work. You can get bottles of refill ink for the Copic Classic pens. I recommend getting the Copic ink supplies from Oozak.com because they have a complete selection of Copic products and better prices than Dick Blick.

Here is a link to some of my basket illusion turnings: http://www.aawforum.org/community/index.php?media/albums/bill-boehmes-album.628/

 

[Bill Boehme]

Also, once I decide on a design, I create a template using a CAD program and print it full size on paper. I then use that as a template to lay out the pattern on the actual piece using colored pencils. I can't use the indexing that is built into my lathe because I use odd numbers in my patterns (i.e., 3, 5, 11, 17, 25, etc.). My observation is that the designs used in Native American baskets most often are based on odd number elements.

 

[William Rogers]

I'm watching videos suggested above. Harvey Meyer just has links to D-way and others, no tools.

Bill thanks for the tips. I'll add the 1/8 beading tool to my purchase. I'll need to lookup Jim Adkins for samples of his work. I didn't know there was a second source for the burning pens. I'm guessing I can make Oprima compatible with my burnmaster. I'm a bit down the road to doing basket illusion, but want to start gathering equipment and supplies. Right now I am playing with piercing, doing my third piece. Each piece a bit better. That also takes practice and I still need more. I have a lot of free wood, but it is mostly bland and looking for ways to enhance it.

 

[Bill Boehme]

Jim Adkins has some of his work displayed on the Woodturners Unlimited website. Here is a picture I took of one of his pieces that he had at SWAT last year. It was in the 2-for-1 drawing. I would have been in hog heaven if I had won it, although I was already in a euphoric state after winning a beautiful hollowform made by Andy Chen. This piece is a replica of a Paiute basket that was woven by Carrie Bethel about the year 1927. The actual woven basket sold at auction (Bonhams in San Francisco) for about $216,000 in 2006. Jim is a member of the East Texas Woodturners so you might find some of his work on their web site.




As far as using Optima pens with your Burnmaster power supply, that is not a problem. All that you need is the right interface cable from the pen to the burner. If you aren't sure, talk to PJL and they will get you the right cord.

I am also interested in piercing and have all the stuff that I need except for the dental burs. However, the basket illusion bug sort of pushed the piercing interest aside.

 

[William Rogers]

I now see what you mean by styles. That is a beautiful piece. Makes me wonder how he did the inside. I do want to try this. I lost the 3rd piercing piece I was working on. Chalk it up to learning and start another.