The making of tools alexander weygers java
Alexander Weygers
Modern Renaissance Man
Now you can design, forge, and fix your own tools, hardware and household accessories with master craftsman and teacher Alexander G. Weygers. For the first time ever, Weyger’s three classics, The Making of Tools, The Modern Blacksmith, and The Recycling, Use, and Repair of Tools, have been brought together in The Complete Modern Blacksmith, a book filled with scores of time-honored techniques, clear step-by-step instructions, and hundreds of the author’s detailed drawings. The Making of Tools teaches the artist and craftsman how to make exactly the tool he or she needs: how to design, sharpen, and temper them, using only basic shop equipment and scrap steel. Dozens of tips and techniques are covered, from setting up a beginner’s workshop and learning to temper steel to making simple tools such as screwdrivers and carving, cutting, and sharpening tools. The Modern Blacksmith demonstrates, with lucid text and beautifully clear illustrations, the basic tools and techniques that are available to the modern blacksmith. This fascinating book covers everything from developing the correct hammer and body motions for forging to creating tools such as pliers and shovels and hardware such as hinges and door latches. The Recycling, Use, and Repair of Tools stresses the creative reuse of old materials, and features a wealth of easy-to-follow procedures for making, repairing, and maintaining a great variety of equipment and parts, from shovels and chisels to washers and bearings. The Complete Modern Blacksmith is a unique resource for any serious artist or craftsman, or for anyone interested in the making, repair, maintenance, or arcana of tools. Alexander G. Weygers—scientist, inventor, artist, author, and raconteur—was a true modern Renaissance man. He was born in Java and educated in Holland as an engineer, a profession he practiced for some years in Indonesia and the Unite Dutch-American artist (–) Alexander George Weygers (October 12, &#; July 23, ) was a polymath Dutch-American artist who is best known as a sculptor, painter, print maker, blacksmith, carpenter, philosopher, mechanical engineer, aerospace engineer and author. Weygers was born in Mojokerto, Dutch East Indies, where his Dutch parents, Albert Weijgers and Johanna van Leenhoff, owned and operated a sugar plantation and a hotel. His mother taught literature and several languages at a high school in Surabaya. Alex inherited his mother's linguistic talents and his father instilled a deep love of nature, design, and ecology into him as he accompanied his father on botanical explorations in Indonesia. In , his prosperous parents sent him to the Netherlands to study. First he attended a secondary school where, among other things, he studied the discipline of blacksmithing—which he often referred to as the "mother craft" of all civilization. He graduated from Groningen Politechnicum in mechanical engineering and from a Dordrecht vocational university in shipbuilding. He also briefly attended the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague. Weygers returned to Java in , and his fiancee, Jacoba Hutter, joined him there from the Netherlands in , where they married. Jacoba could not adjust to the tropical climate, and in November they immigrated to the United States to take residence in Seattle, where he was employed as a mechanical draughtsman. In September , Jacoba died during the stillbirth of their only child due to hemorrhaging following a Caesarean section. Devastated by the death of his wife, Weygers decided to abandon engineering for art. In July , Alex took a summer class organized by the Art Institute of Seattle (the precursor of the Seattle Art Museum and unrelated to the identically named for-profit institution), studying sculpture under Avard Fairbanks. He created one of h
Alex 's profile was a true modern Renaissance man: artist, mechanical engineer, inventor, blacksmith, tool maker, sculptor, wood engraver, author, industrial illustrator, photographer, and teacher. All of these disciplines (and i'm sure I have forgotten a few) he developed to a level of excellence. There truly was much more to the man than just being one of the fathers of modern blacksmithing.
When I first met Alex I was a 15 year old high school art student. After a tour of his house, studio, and rambling shop area quickly discovered that he was a fascinating and profound person. I personally fell in love with his stone sculpture, his studio that contained it, and his environment that revealed fascination and wonder around every corner. His environment (house, studio, and workshops) were all entirely created by himself and his loving wife Marian from recycled materials long before such concepts were part of the common knowledge of today. In fact Alex was a man who was ahead of his time like so many other visionaries throughout history.
He was born and raised in Java, Indonesia in His father ran a sugar plantation and a small hotel and his mother was a school teacher with a talent for languages and literature. Alex 's father instilled in him an enduring love and fascination for nature as he took him on many excursions through the tropical jungles and mountains of exotic Java. Also his father's long interest in tropical plants I believe influenced Alex in his later years to develop a passion for close-up photography of flowers and plants. Ultimately all of this early experience with nature strongly influenced Alex's keen interest in ecology that he expoused and lived by both in his books and his life.
Alex 's life seemed to be shaped by fortunate and unfortunate circumstances. His childhood was nurturing and i About the Author
>>>>San Francisco Chronicle, once said, &#;It was only after the Chronicle, apaper never given to idle flattery, described Alexander Weygers as a modern Leonardo da Vinci He commands attention because he is a success by any standard of excellence in half a dozen professionsa sculptor of heroic dimensions, an inventor, a marine, mechanical and aeronautic engineer, an artist with a camera, a designer and illustrator, and a virtuoso practitioner of endgrain half-tone wood engraving. He is also blacksmith, machinist, carpenter, electrician, plumber, toolmaker and beekeeper. He is further a teacher and a reluctant prophet upon whom the admiring descend.&#;
>>>>With such wide-ranging wealth of talent it&#;s not surprising that throughout his life Alexander Weygers was pursued for his expertise.>>>>The opportunity to learn from an artist of his caliber is rare. It&#;s even rarer that a master artist puts pen to paper to describe in detail his theory of and approach to art. Sculpture, Form, and Philosophy is an extraordinary treat, a glimpse into the mind and technique of a true artistic genius. Weygers&#; hands-on instructional aid encourages students to delve into the philosophy behind their art, and delivers a personal, practical, and philosophical guide to the fine art of sculpting.
>>>>From studio setup, materials, and tools to applied theory and technique, Sculpture, Form, and Philosophy walks artists through the creative process enabling the student to aim for that highest attainment: becoming a complete sculptor and free thinker in the arts. Featuring detailed descriptions for clay modeling, plaster casting, and direct carving in wood and stone, as well as a complete analysis of 19 of Weygers&#; sculptures, this fascinating study is as comprehensive as any beginning or seasoned artist could want.
>>>>With Weygers&#; clearly defined Form Theory artists can control every phase of the creative proces Alexander Weygers
Biography