[Baren]: The mailing list / discussion forum for woodblock printmaking.

Baren Digest            Wednesday, 17 February 1999    Volume 06 : Number 450

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From: Julio.Rodriguez@walgreens.com
Date: Tue, 16 Feb 1999 03:14:10 -0600
Subject: [Baren 3074] Re: new member, I hope! 

Hi Benny, welcome to Baren. I am sure Jean has told you all about us....so just
jump right in.

JULIO   {:-)

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From: Jack Reisland <reislandj001@hawaii.rr.com>
Date: Mon, 15 Feb 1999 22:41:42 -1000
Subject: [Baren 3072] Re: Mounting paper on silk, help! 

Maria wrote:
> I would like to mount a print made with oil based ink on Owara mulberry paper
> on black silk. Any suggestions on marrying paper and silk? Would the
> traditional wheat paste hinges work, or should I paste the whole thing? Help
> this poor lowly rookie, won't you?

  Is your plan to then frame it under glass, or mount it like an Oriental
scroll?

Jack Reisland
Reisland Conservation and Restoration

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From: Jack Reisland <reislandj001@hawaii.rr.com>
Date: Mon, 15 Feb 1999 22:43:55 -1000
Subject: [Baren 3073] Re: Mounting paper on silk, help! 

...also forgot to ask, what is the nature of the silk? Is it attached to
a paper back, or just loose fabric? How heavy a weave is it?

Jack Reisland

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From: ArtSpot@aol.com
Date: Tue, 16 Feb 1999 02:20:55 EST
Subject: [Baren 3071] Re:  new member, I hope! 

Excuse me... I see that I neglected to send a link to my site. This page of
the site is my more recent works:
http://www.netdreams.com/registry/alba/more2.html"   More Benny Alba
while the second one is the whole site 
http://www.netdreams.com/registry/alba/
I hope that you find them enjoyable if you have the time to view them.

I'm looking forward to attaining a woodblock press. Tell me, new friends, how
to source one that will take 18 x 24 blocks the cheapest yet of tolerable
quality? I find myself oogling Dick Blick's little table model out of sheer
frustration!

ArtSpot Out
BA at Omebase

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From: David Bull <davebull@woodblock.com>
Date: Tue, 16 Feb 1999 18:23:38 +0900
Subject: [Baren 3075] Updates, etc. 

Back here in _cold_ _cold_ Tokyo!  I hadn't really thought it was all
that cold here, but after coming back last night from that gorgeous
white sand beach straight to this chilly concrete box ...

Ah well, spring is just around the corner ...

Had a great holiday on the beach, and although the _body_ got
wonderfully relaxed and rested, I wasn't quite able to keep my _head_
quite so still ...

The result is now up and running at:
http://www.woodblock.com

I've learned that new members to [Baren] frequently don't realize just
what resources are on our web site, so I've reorganized the entrance -
it now works more like the 'portal' that it actually is ...   

I think that it might be much easier for people now to get to the
information that they need. Please check it out, and let me know of any
broken links, awkward constructions, or other illogical stuff.

Thanx

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From: "Ray Esposito" <brassring@brassring.org>
Date: Tue, 16 Feb 1999 11:36:42 -0500
Subject: [Baren 3076] Re:  new member, I hope! 

>I'm looking forward to attaining a woodblock press. Tell me, new friends, how
>to source one that will take 18 x 24 blocks the cheapest yet of tolerable
>quality? I find myself oogling Dick Blick's little table model out of sheer
>frustration!

Benny

Welcome to Baren.  I viewed and enjoyed your site very much.

As to a woodblock press, I am not sure what you mean.  I assume you mean an
etching press.  My advice would be to stay away from the Dick Blick presses
and look at Patrick Designs in Canada.  Rather than have you go through the
archive, I suggest you write Dan Patrick at danpat@comox.island.net and ask
him to send you a brochure.  With the exchange rates the prices are
excellent.

Cheers
Ray

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From: Graham Scholes <gscholes@home.com>
Date: Tue, 16 Feb 1999 09:05:55 -0800
Subject: [Baren 3077] Re:  new member, I hope! 

I think I heard here that the Dick Blick press was junk. Someone can
clearify this.

I posted this last summer and since then several members have purchased
this press.

The Info is:

Patrick Designs
426 Torrence Rd
Comox, BC
V9M 3L8

Voice 250 339 3109
Fax    250 339 8196
E-Mail  danpat@comox.island.net

They have a brochure with prices.

I have talked to several owners of these presses.
One person has had 3 of Dan's presses over the years.....she is getting on
in age and has been downsizing....is the reason for owning several.  She
has been very satisfied and can recommend them fully

The other contact is a professor (David MacLean) at North Island College in
Comox who informed me about these presses. They have used them for ..I
think 8 years, in the printmaking dept and recommend them highly.  The kids
have put them the press through the paces over these years and have stood
up very well.  I was talking David M this June and he said they have changed
the bed from the High Density Fibre Board with Melemine Laminate to a steel
bed.  After the heavy use at the college this last 8 years it was time.
Dan offers steel beds....don't know the price. I don't see the need of it
for a personal use situation, unless you are going to do a heck of a lot of
work.

The Canadian $ makes these presses the buy of a lifetime.

James and Ray have purchase one so if you want an endorsement you should
contact them.

Regards,

Graham

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From: Bill Ritchie <ritchie@seanet.com>
Date: Tue, 16 Feb 1999 09:55:16 -0800
Subject: [Baren 3078] Re:  new member, I hope! 

Hi Benny -

Regarding a woodblock press, I recall someone used to make a hydraulic
press--it was a huge and expensive thing! The University of Alaska at
Anchorage bought one. It's actually for any kind of printing block that
can't be put through a roller or scrapere type of system.

The pressure comes straight down and lifts straight up. To give enough
pressure evenly over many square inches takes a LOT of power. Hence, the
hydraulics and strong frame--lotsa weight and lotsa money--not to mention
shipping costs!

Then there's the old Franklin Bed Style--really antiques. I wonder if
anyone has started re-manufacturing these. Sometimes you'll find them in
antique stores, in the lobbies or basements of really old printing
companies, etc. They're beautiful--the prettiest one I know of is, I think,
in Canada, British Columbia at a university there.

Most people favor the Van der Cook Proofing press, and there are a lot of
these around for not much money. The shipping and handling can cost as much
as the press, but it's worth it. Small book press people use them. They're
designed for type-high plates and come in varying levels of automation.
They're designed for oil-base ink printing, but a clever BARENer would know
what to do if for some reason they couldn' t crank a baren any more.

But the best deal all around is the baren--IMHO!

Bill H. Ritchie, Jr.

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From: James G Mundie <jimandkatemundie@juno.com>
Date: Tue, 16 Feb 1999 13:12:57 -0500
Subject: [Baren 3079] Exchange 1999 update 

For all of the exchange participants wondering when the complete package
will be in your hot little hands, the answer is: soon!

I hope to have all the packages mailed back by 1 March 1999.  A few of
our participants ran into difficulties with their prints which has caused
some late arrivals, but I think you will all find the wait to be worth
it.  If you doubt my word, just ask Ray!

Buried under boxes,
James Mundie, Philadelphia USA

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From: ArtSpot@aol.com
Date: Tue, 16 Feb 1999 13:44:15 EST
Subject: [Baren 3080] Thanks, Ray (no further message) 

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From: ArtSpot@aol.com
Date: Tue, 16 Feb 1999 13:45:28 EST
Subject: [Baren 3081] Thanks, Graham (no further...) 

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From: Gregory Robison <grobison@swiftuganda.com>
Date: Wed, 17 Feb 1999 00:30:04 +0300
Subject: [Baren 3082] Re:  new member, I hope! 

Kampala, 16 February 1999

Regarding Vandercook presses, you might like to check with Fritz Klinke, NA
Graphics (and the Flat Earth Press), P.O. Box 467, 1314 Greene Street,
Silverton, Colorado 81433, (970) 387-0212, FAX (970) 387-0127, E-mail:
nagraph@frontier.net.  NA Graphics is the company that now services
Vandercook equipment (and supplies other letterpress parts, etc.).  I have a
Vandercook SP-15 (but it weighs about 700 lbs, so I've left it in Seattle),
and these presses, which were originally produced as proofing presses, are
ideal for high quality, short runs of either type or blocks.

Gregory Robison

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From: Jean Eger <jeaneger@LanMinds.Com>
Date: Tue, 16 Feb 1999 18:05:58 -0800
Subject: [Baren 3083] Tomoku Murakami 

Here's a treat.  Tomoku Murakami has a web site.

http://www.grin.net/~yusaifu/

Jean Eger

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From: April Vollmer/John Yamaguchi <jy6@columbia.edu>
Date: Wed, 17 Feb 1999 00:20:56 -0400
Subject: [Baren 3084] Chuckling 

Love the posts today. I promise to delete those old messages before I push
the 'send' button. How's all the wrapping going, James? We feel for you,
dealing with piles of prints! Thank you! Can't wait to see the results of
your labors!

I'm back from California, a welcome vacation from big city life. Thank you,
Dave, for forwarding my post. It was great to meet Andrea and see more of
her prints in person. She has a wonderful feeling for birds in her work,
which isn't surprising, I guess, considering all the birds she keeps.

April Vollmer

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From: Graham Scholes <gscholes@home.com>
Date: Tue, 16 Feb 1999 20:21:25 -0800
Subject: [Baren 3085] Re:  new member, I hope! 

Greg from Kampala wrote....
>I have a Vandercook SP-15 (I've left it in Seattle),

Now that surely is the definition of waste.......

Are you not afraid that it will rust to bits in the humid air of the north west?
Maybe it should be given a home in a warm friendly studio in Sidney BC for
a short while.

Graham

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From: David Bull <davebull@woodblock.com>
Date: Wed, 17 Feb 1999 18:08:39 +0900
Subject: [Baren 3086] Gift ... 

A bit of a follow-up to my post a couple of weeks ago, giving the news
that the block-maker Shimano-san had passed away ...

His wife called me this afternoon, to say thank you for attending the
wake and funeral.  She also let me know that she and one of the carvers
have made arrangements for a carpenter to sort of 'step in' and do some
block planing, using wood that she has in storage.

This is only of passing interest to me, as I intend to do my own planing
from now on (once my wood is 'ready' that is ...), but as we talked
further, I asked if her late husband's tools were going to be donated to
the local museum, as Ito san's will be.

She said that no decision on that had been made yet, but anyway did I
want an 'atedai'.  

(An atedai is the huge slab of wood that acts as the 'bench' while
planing the blocks. A photo of Shimano-san using his is at: 
http://www.woodblock.com/encyclopedia/entries/008_03/008_03_frame.html )

She said there were three of them there, the one her husband used, his
father's, and his grandfather's.  She thought that only one would be
going to the museum, and if I wanted one of the others, it was mine for
the taking ...

It weighs a million tons, and I'll have to rent a truck or something to
bring it home, but I didn't hesitate a second before accepting.  It'll
be a long time before I get good enough with a plane to really be able
to use it properly, but what a wonderful feeling, to be using one of
these ...

And I suppose one day it'll be _my_ turn, to try and figure out what to
do with all these tools and blocks here ...

Dave

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End of Baren Digest V6 #450
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