Baren Digest Saturday, 4 October 2003 Volume 25 : Number 2396 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: baren_member#barenforum.org Date: 4 Oct 2003 01:22:21 -0000 Subject: [Baren 22987] Wood Message posted from: Ian Smit What would be the type of wood that is easy to find, easy to cut, but will allow details? Ian ------------------------------ From: Bette Wappner Date: Fri, 03 Oct 2003 21:49:46 -0400 Subject: [Baren 22988] regarding wood question from ian smit Dear Ian....I save previous baren postings that have valuable information, so I found this one for you that Mike Lyon posted to a baren member(from australia) who had a similar question as yours. Basically, if you're doing fine detail work, I personally would not recommend any wood other than cherry. Read on in Mike's suggestions. I also found another posting from Julio that I'll post for you next. Bette Wappner A previous email from Mike Lyon back in March 2003: >*What is the best wood to cut with such fine detail? I have only ever >engraved on end grain hard wood when working small, but would like to try >the 'plank' sometime. > >There probably isn't any 'best' wood. I used Appalachian Cherry because it >is inexpensive and good for my use. I don't imagine that Sydney will have >much Appalachian Cherry (here it's cheaper than the good cherry because it >has lots of knots and wrinkles in the grain making it more difficult to work >for furniture). You'll have suitable cherry there in Australia, too, I >imagine. My detail wasn't really very fine, even though the finished prints >give that impression because of the number of overlapping layers -- there >appear to be much finer details than really exist -- remember that I was >just shaving down the size of fairly large islands for the most part from >one printing to the next, not leaving lots of tiny fine lines or dots... > >Cherry has enough open-grain in plank-cut pieces to allow you to print >wood-grain if you want to and not so much that the grain will print if you >don't (depends on brushing direction during printing, mostly). Cherry is >relatively hard, but it cuts very cleanly and the fibers adhere stongly to >one another so that you can carve very sharp peaks (print very fine lines) >which will hold together during subsequent printing. If I don't require >very fine carving, then I prefer basswood planks (maybe you call it >limewood?) as it is much easier to carve and holds up well enough to allow >me to print more than enough copies for my purposes (usually about 50 sheets >or so)... > >Mike > > > > >Mike Lyon >mailto:mikelyon#mlyon.com > http://www.mlyon.com ------------------------------ From: Bette Wappner Date: Fri, 03 Oct 2003 21:52:30 -0400 Subject: [Baren 22989] Re: wood buying tips (for Ian) Dear Ian - here is a posting that Julio Rodriguez posted to Baren forum back in march 2003. He has some good tips as to where to buy an inexpensive and large piece of cherry. If you have any further questions please ask away. Also try a cabinet maker company or shop. Bette Wappner A posting from Julio - march 2003: >I know purchasing wood for our blocks is a source of frustration to many of >us...what to by, where ?, how much to pay ? >Those that order from catalogs or websites have to pay expensive shipping >and don't really know what they are getting till the package arrives. > >Here is a tip. Look under "hardwood" in your yellow pages, (not Lumber or >Home Centers) and see if you have any stores that specialize in hardwoods. >Home Centers will carry red-oak, poplar and sometimes maple...but not cherry >or basswood which are preferred woods for our stuff. Even if you find some >cherry at your local lumber/home center it will >be so small in width to practically be useless.... > >These specialty "hardwood" stores cater to the woodworker, fancy furniture >maker, hobbyist, specialty home contractor, etc....they have everything in >large quantities (as in wide & long) from your domestic cherry and maple to >your exotic ebony, mahogany and amaranth. The best thing is of course you >can go in and search thru piles of your favorite wood species and pick the >boards YOU want. Some places will also cut it to size for you. > >Living in a big city has it's benefits, I have several such places nearby >and last week I visited Owl's Hardwoods in DesPLaines (Illinois). I went >straight for their cherry "cutoffs" bin and picked myself a dozen or so >"small" pieces ideally suited for woodblocks. Because they were in the >"cutoffs" bin (wood left over from cuts on larger boards)...they were >discounted at 25-50% off the marked price. > >I came home with several cherry boards 3/4 X 8 X 15-18" for about $1.50-2.50 >a piece. A substantial savings from paying full price. The widest board I >got was 9.5" wide by 19" long and it ran about $4.00. A nice little 5X7" >cherry block..2" thick !!! cost me only .80 cents. Got me some maple too. > >Now...our domestic cherry is probably not the same quality carving wood that >they have over in Japan....but it sure beats >that other junk I been working on. So look in the yellow-pages or stopby a >specialty tool store and ask for local sources of hardwood. > >thanks....Julio Rodriguez (Skokie, Illinois) > ------------------------------ From: Bette Wappner Date: Fri, 03 Oct 2003 21:56:23 -0400 Subject: [Baren 22990] Re: cherry vs basswood (for Ian) Hi again Ian - I think this will be it. I'm sending you these previous postings just in case the more experienced don't answer right away. So this should do for now. Enjoy this very interesting information regarding wood choices. All the best to you, Bette Wappner A previous posting from Mike Lyon - August 2003: >Any opinions on the merits of basswood over cherry? >Or vice versa... Basswood and cherry are both classed as hardwoods (as >opposed to fir or pine which are classed as softwoods). Basswood is much >softer, lighter weight and much easier to carve than cherry. Cherry is >about half-way between basswood and oak as far as open fiber-bundles in the >grain go -- so the grain of cherry usually prints in a more pronounced and >'clearer' way than basswood. Basswood's usually less expensive. Cherry >can potentially hold a much finer carved line than basswood, and will also >stand up to more printings (although for most of us that won't be an >issue). For water-based inks, basswood is more absorbent than cherry and, >under pressure, that water squeezes out more from basswood than cherry >which can be undesirable. >-- Mike > >Mike Lyon >mailto:mikelyon#mlyon.com >http://www.mlyon.com > ------------------------------ From: Myron Turner Date: Fri, 03 Oct 2003 21:21:49 -0500 Subject: [Baren 22991] Re: Wood Try birch plywood. But avoid plywood in which the birch is basically a paper thin veneer. There are 5' x 5 ' baltic birch panels in which the birch is about 1/32'' on both sides. Myron Turner from: Ian Smit >What would be the type of wood that is easy to find, easy to cut, but >will allow details? >Ian ------------------------------ From: Artsmadis#aol.com Date: Fri, 03 Oct 2003 22:22:20 -0400 Subject: [Baren 22992] Exchange 17 Received the Exchange 17 War and Peace prints today. Well worth waiting for, some great prints. And many thanks to Jeanne Norman Chase for coordinating, which is a big job. Darrell ------------------------------ From: FurryPressII#aol.com Date: Sat, 4 Oct 2003 00:24:13 EDT Subject: [Baren 22993] Re: Wood well it depends on what you call detailed? I like cherry for some kinds of cutting but when i want really detailed work esp with fine lines away from large areas of detail or black i want to use maple. Plank grain maple can give you almost as much detail as a course wood engraving. And thin lines will hold up and not splinter when you cut even better than cherry. The draw back with maple is that it is so hard and tough that for some cutting you will need a set of wood carving tools that you need a mallet to cut with instead of just a palm held cutter. I am rather unhappy with plywood for a number of reasons one the glue and the fact that the grain goes in a number of different directions is rather rough on my tools and does not give as good a detail as plank wood. Thin lines want to pop off is they are isolated. The third problem is hidden voids such as knot holes and other kinds of spaces don't print or carve well. If the plank grain board is not wide enough at a hard wood lumber yard most will sq the edges of the board so you can glue them together and get a wide enough board one advantage of glueing narrow boards is that lessens the problem of warpage. john (we got wood-kerry wood of the cubs that is) center ------------------------------ End of Baren Digest V25 #2396 *****************************