Baloo came to live with me 10 years ago today and went over the Rainbow Bridge a year ago tomorrow. I have so many wonderful memories of this sweet boy and I’m still missing him every single day.
So, since I can’t give him a treat today, I want to share one with you in honor of the best dog ever. Today and tomorrow, all Tan-Z Kut is on sale for 10% off.
In keeping with my New Year’s resolution, I am trying to be better about posting on the Stampeaz site and I thought it might be helpful to start from the beginning and show you how I go about preparing a block for carving. There are a number of ways to do this, but my personal favorite is a light sanding. Sanding will take any film from the manufacturing process off the surface of the block, allowing the material to take both image transfers and inks more readily.
As you can see in the block of Firm Kut above, light reflects off the shiny surface. Right off the extrusion machine, carving materials tend to be a moisture resistant, since heat is used in forming the blocks and it creates a film on the surface. Some people like to rub this off with acetone to remove it, but acetone gives me a headache and makes the block sticky for a while. So, here’s my process.
I use several different grits of sandpaper, generally starting with something around 220 and moving up to 320 and finishing with 400 or 600, sanding in all four directions – up and down, side to side and both diagonals. It doesn’t take much, so don’t overdo it. A light sanding with each grit will do the trick. You’re only removing the sheen and making sure not to leave any sanding streaks.
Between each sanding grit, I hold the block up to the light to make sure I haven’t missed a spot – in other words, there aren’t any shiny spots left – and that the surface looks even and smooth.
Here you can see the difference between the shiny, unsanded block on top and the sanded block below. The light no longer reflects off the sanded block and ink will stay right where it’s put. Sanding will also improve image transfer quality, since toner doesn’t stick quite as well to the shiny surface.
This process only takes a couple minutes (and a very small amount of sandpaper, which can be used many times before the grit starts to wear off) and is well worth the effort. I hope this short tutorial is useful and will take the mystery out of block preparation. I find that surface sanding improves every carving material I’ve ever worked with – even linoleum.
I have mentioned this on the general Stampeaz blog, but I thought it would be a good idea to post it here as well. Not only will reach more people, it will help me keep my (early New Year’s) resolution to start posting more regularly on the Stampeaz site to let people know what’s new and maybe I’ll even get around to posting some tutorials and such.
I have generated quite a pile of bits and pieces of carving material over the years. Some of them are material trials that didn’t go into production, others are small pieces cut off my more recent, larger carvings, yet others are pieces of material with images already transferred to them that I have decided I’m never going to carve. Those transfers can be removed with a quick acetone wipe or sanding, or you could simply flip the block over and use the other side. I’ve come to the realization that I am generating pieces like this far faster than I can use them and thought it would be fun to send them out to anyone who might want to try out some different carving media. There’s everything from old PZ Kut (yes, really), OZ Kut, Firm Kut, Tan-Z Kut and trials that didn’t make the manufacturing cut (no pun intended). These are mostly smallish pieces that would be great for anyone carving inchies, small bits of text, fleas, hitchhikers, etc.
So, if you’d like to try a few pieces of something different, just let me know when you place your order and I will make it so. Since I’ll be sending goodies your way, anyway, it won’t cost anything for either of us and seems like a win-win. This offer tended to get lost in the general posts on the other blog, so I thought I would post it here where people might see it when they’re shopping. It stands as long as I have any to share.
I’m not sure why, but the picture suddenly reminded me of a hand of cards. Then, it occurred to me that finding the right density carving material to match one’s hand strength and carving style can be a bit of a magic trick! Hence, the odd title.
I have been asked to put together a sampler package of the different soft block carving materials at Stampeaz and this is what I came up with. Reading the picture from left to right you’ll see:
Yellow Japanese Carving Block – the softest material I carry
Beige Japanese Carving Block – a medium-soft option
Speedball Speedy Carve (the pink stuff) – falls pretty squarely in the medium density category
Stampeaz Tan-Z Kut – is a step further in firmness, making it a medium-dense material
Stampeaz Firm Kut – is the highest density material in the soft block category
As a general rule, the more firm the block, the higher the level of detail a carver can achieve and the longer the block will hold up during multiple printing sessions. That being said, I know carvers who can get incredibly detailed images using softer materials, so the ideal plan is to find the block that feels best under your knife or gouge. That’s the one that will give you the best results (and the most fun!). Hmmm…. Is that a little like the wand choosing the wizard?
So, if you want to try a little of everything, or if you are looking for the perfect gift for someone who is just starting out on their carving and block printing adventures, this sampler set may be just magic trick you’ve been searching for.
Trick or Treat?
A treat for Halloween!
I thought it might be fun to try out the sale feature on the new site, so for today only, Tan-Z Kut is on sale. Spooky, yes?
Happy Carving!!
With great trepidation and excitement, I am hitting the magic button and hoping everything goes as planned.
Many thanks to everyone for your patience while I built this new site out of the ashes of the old one that crashed so spectacularly at the beginning of the year, with special thanks to those who were actually brave enough to buy something from me without a site to browse!
(This is a very old carving, but it seemed appropriate, given how many cups of tea and latte I have consumed as I worked on the new site!)
The plans for this new blog include tutorials, tips, tricks, and best practices. I hope they end up being useful. 🙂
