Its not pointless

[sunnybob]

... its pointillism
You might need to look that up, its a real thing, but its not well known.
This is a crossover collaboration. I cut the shapes from 9 mm ply, 'er indoors covers them with patterned dots (sometimes paint pour),and then I coat them in self levelling liquid glass.

I think we've started a trend, I've made about 200 shapes now, most going to craft and art shops.
The seahorse is A3 sized, the others are A4.

IMG_20220507_104302_hdr.jpg

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[Herb Stoops]

This is all strange to me, even the dimensions as A3,A4, I have never heard before. From What I can determine, A4 is Paper size 81/2"X11", and A3 is somewhat smaller? Or are we talking about women's shoe sizes?
And what are these? Wall and Window ornaments? they look very ornate and artsy.
https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffsb&q=What+i ... 3-3&ia=web
This has been around since 1886.... new to me, Thanks for giving us a jolt to wake us up in the morning.
Herb

[sunnybob]

Herb, standard paper sizes. start with A1, fold it in half you have A2, fold that in half you have A3, half again is A4. I draw all my stuff out on either A4 (usual) or if I want bigger I use A3 (which is 2 x A4)

Didnt realise till I posted that there is a lot of reflection on them. I will get some better pics tomorrow, they really are stunning wall art.

[Stick486]

fold it in half you have A2,

which way???
length or width???

[sunnybob]

A1 is square, dont matter.
Its the full size of the trays that were dipped into the rag mix when paper was first commercialised.

[Herb Stoops]

Is this it?
HErb

[sunnybob]

Yup.
I really thought that measuring system was worldwide. UK and Europe is the only way paper is sold

[Herb Stoops]

It is new to me, but so are a lot of things, learn something new every day. Back to the subject at hand, so is that kind of art/craft. It has a sort of jewelry effect,quite artistic effect in the final product. No limit as what it can express.
Do you cut them out on the band saw, or the scroll saw?
Herb

[DaninVan]

Fine art paper, in this case for watercolour, is sold in 22"x 30" sheets over here in N.A. Arches is made in the UK if I'm not mistaken(?).
Here's some other common artists papers...
https://store.opusartsupplies.com/sagro ... egory=4483
Standard letter size is 8 1/2"x 11" or Legal size is 8 1/2" x14"

[sunnybob]

Not art paper, every day paper as used in an office or a home printer. Its destroyed when you cut the shape so theres no point at all buying anything special.

I find a shape I like on the internet, either in images or clip art, and just print it out. Then stick the paper to the block of wood which I make from three or four pieces of a plank glued together if its a bandsaw box, or plywood if its just a shape like these. I use the bandsaw to cut round the shape. With these shapes I now have about 30 templates of different things. I use a couple of nails to temporarily hold the template to the rough cut shape and use a bearing guided trim bit in the router table to get them smooth.

I'm selling the finished blanks to an arts and crafts shop by the dozens, and they either sell them individually, or hold workshops where people are taught to paint them with various techniques.

[Stick486]

every day paper as used in an office or a home printer.

Standard letter size is 8 1/2"x 11" or Legal size is 8 1/2" x14"...
that makes them rectangles, not squares... that's why I asked if it was a length or width fold..
a square folded in half, once, produces 2 rectangles... so we're back to length or width folds for the 2nd folding.....
are odd numbers squares and even numbers rectangles??? or is the next sequential sheet number always a square and rectangles don't count???

[Biagio]

They are all rectangles, always folded so that the short side becomes the long side of the next size down.
Very difficult to find letter or legal this side of the pond, most of us were caught out at least once in earlier days, setting up one of the MS office programmes or similar, as the paper size defaulted to letter or legal, and messed up the first printout. Better now that apps retrieve the paper size from the printer, but not foolproof.
There used to be a UK standard size called foolscap, which was 8 1/2 by 13 1/2, sometimes still used for writing paper (so-called "examination pads".
A0 and A1 are generally the sizes used for printing plans.

[sunnybob]

hopefully better pictures;

IMG_20220508_101020_hdr.jpg

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[Biagio]

Fantastic, Bob. Do you just brush on the liquid glass? Rustins or some such? Since it is self- leveling, how do you stop it from draining off at the sides? I am not sure how thick one could make the layer, but presumably if one made a close-fitting " negative" of the shape, it might be possible to get a 1 mm thick translucent layer?

[Biagio]

Just thinking, if a thick layer is possible, one could use glass or plastic beads interspersed with the paint dots, as an additional effect.

I am going to use your gecko to nudge/inspire my wife. I welded up a security gate, and added two cast-iron geckos, which she was going to decorate, but has not had inspiration.

[sunnybob]

The shapes are just too complicated to make edge barriers. I just accept wastage. Make sure the shape is completely level in both planes (I have a digital angle finder) I use very small scrap pieces of 9 mm ply to keep the shape above the bench top, and if you want to save the bench lay a sheet of sacrificial plastic dust cover over it first.
I just pour it carefully onto the shape starting along the centre line, and pour until I see the semi liquid has covered the entire shape. Sometimes it will need a helping hand to reach all edges and I just very gently wipe the surface with a sheet of A4
Dont get too involved with this, it skins over quite quickly. Cover to protect from dust and insects for at least 24 hours, leave it another day before handling it by the edges and the stuff I use takes a week before its fully cured.
The run off will drip down onto the plastic sheet, and sometimes I have to use the belt sander to remove the ply scraps and the solidified drips off the back.
On these, the dots are actually raised, and the big dots are raised higher than the small ones, so sometimes there is a pimple that grins through the surface.
If this was a 10.000 dollar bar top it would then take a week to sand down to 2000 grit, but these are fairly cheap fun wall art, so I dont get too obsessive about things.

[sunnybob]

Oh! Damn!
After typing all that I realised youre talking about a front gate in a sunny country. The stuff I use will go a dull brown if left in direct sunlight too long. You would need to make sure whatever you used was UV resistant.

This gecko is about 300 mm long, using metallic acrylic paint with liquid glass over.

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[Biagio]

Great explanation.
Ενχαριστω πολυ and all that sort of thing.

[Cherryville Chuck]

Yup.
I really thought that measuring system was worldwide. UK and Europe is the only way paper is sold

Our most common size is referred to as Letter size, 8.5" by 11'. Probably the next most common size is Legal, 8.5" by 14". Most home computers only have a Letter size paper tray. Businesses will often also have a Legal sized paper tray.
https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/cmofm/9.5.0 ... sa0449.htm

[sunnybob]

I remember many years ago when computers became available that we always had problems with letters not positioning properly on the printer paper and it taking hours to alter all the settings for A4 paper.
I truly had no idea america was still using those size as everyday descriptions.

[sunnybob]

Great explanation.
Ενχαριστω πολυ and all that sort of thing.

parakaló