
Micro-engraver who works between heartbeats to keep his hand steady - mhb
http://qz.com/645382/inside-the-studio-of-the-micro-engraver-who-works-between-heartbeats-to-keep-his-hand-steady/
======
kidmenot
Wait... this guy _actually_ engraved Leonardo's "The Last Supper" along the
edge of a razor.

At first I was hoping that, being a non-native speaker, I misunderstood
something. But no, it's really the _cutting_ edge we're talking about here.

This is crazy. I mean, the fact that you need a microscope to look at this
kind of art makes it seem more of an exercise in style than anything else, but
it's still awesome that someone is able to carve the freakin' edge of a razor.

~~~
wavefunction
This isn't style, this is actual master-craftsmanship, the marriage of expert
technique with absolute dedication to the craft.

I think it's hard to recognize in this day and age because the quality of so
many mass-produced items is acceptable at best and often quite terrible.

~~~
kidmenot
Absolutely! I didn't mean to be disrespectful, I actually think this is beyond
awesome. I greatly admire an individual capable of perfecting his craft enough
to be able to carve a famous painting on the cutting edge of a razor, as I
admire any craftsman building fine things.

It's kind of sad that he has to take medications to slow the heart rate down
and get botox injections around the eyes to reduce blinking, though. I figure
all of that must be taxing on his body.

------
madaxe_again
Anyone who does fine work does this, I think. I went through a phase of
restoring antique watches, first pocket then wrist - and you get used to
balancing holding your breath and making adjustments between pulses. I think I
first got into the habit painting tiny details on Warhammer figurines as a
kid. Never played, I just painted for other people for the joy of it.

If you work against a plain grey or white background, and you pay attention
(turn off some automatic filtering I'm your brain) you can see your pulse -
dark in between pulses, light during a pulse, which makes timing easier.

~~~
gadders
I believe snipers try to do this also when making difficult shots.

~~~
kitd
Also any target sport too (target shooting, archery, etc). You keep your
heartrate down by slow steady breathing, and always try and pull the trigger
between beats.

The guy in the article is on a completely different level though if I read it
right. Only works at night to avoid lorry vibrations, and sometimes has to
wait for over an hour to get the right moment to make a single notch.

~~~
jotux
>You keep your heart rate down by slow steady breathing, and always try and
pull the trigger between beats.

I used to be very active in competitive freestyle archery (scope and release)
for both indoor and 3D. You do work to control your breathing and heart rate
but I've never heard of anyone trying to time the release to their heartbeat.
Instead many competitive shooters train to disconnect the release action from
conscious thought. You literally stand a few feet in front of a target for
hours, shooting without aiming, and commit to muscle memory the action of
triggering your release. "Back tension" releases are very popular in archery
specifically because there is no traditional trigger and they are instead
activated by tilting or squeezing.

Once you no longer think about releasing you now focus your shooting solely on
aiming. When you're ready to shoot you fire off the muscle-memory-trigger
thread in your brain and your body just involuntarily goes through the motions
of firing the arrow. When done correctly the actual triggering of the shot is
a surprise.

Olympic archery is very similar. Olympic shooters use "clickers"[1] on their
bow that tells you when to release. You pull the arrow back and began to aim,
continue to pull back slowly until the clicker clicks and that triggers and
automatic response to relax your hand and loose the arrow. You practice
shooting over and over again such that whenever you hear/feel the clicker you
release automatically and therefore separate the release process from active
thought.

[http://www.k1-archery.com/images/product_images/original_ima...](http://www.k1-archery.com/images/product_images/original_images/k1clickerpla.jpg)

~~~
kitd
Happy to stand corrected on archery. Very interesting to read your
descriptions!

When I was shooting competitively, I could see the crosshairs move off-target
with each heart beat. Squeezing the trigger during a beat would inevitably
result in failure.

~~~
bpchaps
Sometimes I would actually use my heartbeats to help with shooting. It tended
to do a sideways figure 8 pattern, so it was "just" a matter of learning when
the sights would lead towards a good place and sometimes even pulling the
trigger as it's moving towards the target's center. With my awful trigger
control, it took a long time to learn to do it well.

~~~
modoc
Yes!! I also have a sideways figure 8 sight "drift". It's just a matter of
timing the trigger pull at the right point of the movement. Granted, it would
be great if I didn't have the movement at all... but...

~~~
bpchaps
Tell me about it. Then there's the incredible feeling of frustration when
you're close to the perfect shot... and then your muscles start to run out of
oxygen and build up lactic acid..... 7 seconds in.

I've never had to walk off the line because of it (too stubborn), but everyone
else on the team did, every other competition.

------
daveguy
... which he keeps artificially low by taking beta blockers. He is also a
lifelong swimmer which is how he kept his heart rate low before the beta
blockers. Additional performance enhancing drug : botox to prevent blinking
too much.

Even with that, the stuff he creates is pretty amazing. It is done under a
microscope and I bet it rivals physical micro-machining techniques by CNC
(light exposure is obviously on a different level).

------
dekhn
The difference between me and this guy is that I'd spend 20 years developing a
micro-engraving machine to automate this.

~~~
LeifCarrotson
It wouldn't be 20 years, [http://hackaday.com/2015/01/13/cheap-diy-microscope-
sees-ind...](http://hackaday.com/2015/01/13/cheap-diy-microscope-sees-
individual-atoms/) describes making an electron microscope from a piezo buzzer
and a needle which achieves atomic resolution.

But the existence of the bicycle does not make the marathon any less an
accomplishment.

~~~
dekhn
No I mean it would take _me_ 20 years. I'm sure people who make their own
scopes for a living could hack one up fast.

(BTW I make microscopes for a hobby and the cheap EM scopes blow me away)

------
antoniuschan99
Willard Wigan does this too, but makes micro sculptures:

[http://teamcoco.com/video/micro-sculptor-willard-wigan-
pt-1-...](http://teamcoco.com/video/micro-sculptor-willard-wigan-
pt-1-11/06/12)

~~~
unwind
Cool.

Fun quote:

 _It 's a nightmare when I start, and a dream when I finish._

That made me think "so, it's like any large software project in reverse,
then". :)

~~~
mbrock
The nightmare of programming is that nothing is ever finished... endless
horror.

There is also something deeply Lovecraftian about the way programmers use the
word "logic" as some ominous mass noun of unspeakable complications and
strange causality... unfathomable abstractions... like the "alien geometries"
of the Elder Ones.

~~~
jdmichal
Reminds me of Peter Welch's "Programming Sucks" rant from 2014:

[http://www.stilldrinking.org/programming-
sucks](http://www.stilldrinking.org/programming-sucks)

------
nightbrawler
"He has dropped completed works and been unable to find them again on the
greasy carpet of his studio."

That could be rather disappointing!

~~~
aab0
If nothing else, you would think after the first time he would have replaced
the carpet with some sort of flat lining which would make finding objects much
easier.

------
Cookingboy
Skills like this astonish me. It's kind of sad when I realize that I'll never
be as good at anything as he is at this. The kind of talent and dedication
involved is tremendous.

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mdlowman
This reminded me of In the Reign of Harad IV[1].

[1]: [http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2006/04/10/in-the-reign-
of...](http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2006/04/10/in-the-reign-of-harad-iv)

------
userbinator
I thought he'd be using something like a pantograph[1], but doing it fully by
hand is even more amazing. Any idea what sort of resolution he's achieved?
10um? 1um? 100nm?

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantograph](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantograph)

------
HNaTTY
[http://grahamshortart.com/](http://grahamshortart.com/) He has this website
which hasn't been kept up to date but shows some of his work

------
maxxxxx
Pretty amazing stuff. But he is paying quite a price with taking all the drugs
and having to use Botox for his eyes.

~~~
adrusi
Beta blockers aren't particularly bad for you, and as for the effects, from
what I've heard, it's probably slightly more comfortable to be on them than
not. As for the botox, that can be removed whenever, although removing your
ability to blink is not a the most health-oriented response to eye-strain
related over-blinking. He's old though, there's a good chance he won't live to
see that decision bite him.

