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Message 1
From: Tim AumAn
Date: Sun, 22 Feb 2004 19:43:31 -0500
Subject: [Baren 24331] question about "cheap" presses
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I know that a cheap press is a bit of an oxymoron, however, I was wondering
if anyone out there would care to share their comments on some of the
smaller and more economical presses such as the Speedball Printmasters
Press or those offered by DIck Blick.

Does anyone have any other presses to recommend for a fairly new and
inexperienced printmaker?

thanks

Tim AumAn

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Message 2
From: Aqua4tis # aol.com
Date: Sun, 22 Feb 2004 19:52:28 EST
Subject: [Baren 24332] Re: question about "cheap" presses
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tim
ive been using a dick blick 906 press for over 10 years now and i have no
complaints (except for its size) it has been wonderful and ive printed
etchings, woodcuts, linocuts, and colagraphs on it it has never let me down
and i would HIGHLY recommend it for beginners
georga

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Message 3
From: Catherine Dreiss
Date: Sun, 22 Feb 2004 18:55:19 -0600 (GMT-06:00)
Subject: [Baren 24333] Re: Birch Plywood
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Steve wrote: >Hi Everyone,
>
>You may know this already. I noticed that birch plywood is much easier to
>carve if you wet the surface and leave it for half an hour. I think that this
>may be in part due to the glue softening so I think you have to use it with
>care but it makes roughing out easier and is gentler on the knives and gouges.
>
>Cheers
>Steve
>
Could you define "wet the surface?" Should I hose it down, or slightly dampen with a sponge, or something in between?

Thanks,
Caye

Catherine Dreiss

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Message 4
From: "Diane Cutter"
Date: Sun, 22 Feb 2004 21:09:00 -0400
Subject: [Baren 24334] Re: question about "cheap" presses
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I've been lurking, but had to answer this one. I have both the Dick Blick
906 and the Master Etch. Both are great for lino, emboss, relief,
monoprint, etching. Get a lot of good pressure. My only complaint......
the gear ratio is not that great so you really have to work to run the bed
through the press. But the tradeoff is spending a lot more money.

Diane Cutter
Ceiba, Puerto Rico

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Message 5
From: Caroline Tigeress
Date: Sun, 22 Feb 2004 17:31:42 -0800
Subject: [Baren 24335] Re: question about "cheap" presses
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Diane Cutter wrote:

>I've been lurking, but had to answer this one. I have both the Dick Blick
>906 and the Master Etch. Both are great for lino, emboss, relief,
>monoprint, etching. Get a lot of good pressure. My only complaint......
>the gear ratio is not that great so you really have to work to run the bed
>through the press. But the tradeoff is spending a lot more money.
>
>Diane Cutter
>Ceiba, Puerto Rico
>
>
Hey Diane (wavies from wetcanvas). I'm considering the Dick Blick
press myself, and am glad to know someone who actually has it.

lilkitten the printmaking kitten ^_^

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Message 6
From: Myron Turner
Date: Sun, 22 Feb 2004 19:46:46 -0600
Subject: [Baren 24336] Re: Birch Plywood
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If you carve while the wood is still damp, it will probably be easier to
cut because it is soft and spongy and possibly, as Steve suggests, because
the glue is wet and so the top ply comes away more easily than dry. But if
you get carried away,. i.e. too much water, you could damage the plywood,
causing the top ply to bubble up, coming unglued from the ply beneath
it. I would also suspect that you might not get as crisp a line when
cutting wood that is wet, since the wood will be spongy. Of course, people
develop their own techniques, but I wouldn't personally recommend wetting
the wood as a general practice. I may be wrong, but it sounds to me like
a work-around for tools that may not be sharp enough. As for roughing out
areas, a mallet and a wide u-gouge should do the trick.

Myron

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Message 7
From: Jsf73 # aol.com
Date: Sun, 22 Feb 2004 20:58:21 EST
Subject: [Baren 24337] Re: question about "cheap" presses
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Tim,

I am having decent success with a lino-scribe showcard press. You can find
them on ebay for around 75 bucks. They are good for small engravings... but not
enough pressure for large black areas... they will print woodcuts oban sized
if you dont have large areas of solid black too. For an entry level press they
are pretty good. Of course I had to totally rebuild mine and replace the
tympan on the frisket and rebuild the rollers which were rusted and seized just
about.

JOhn F

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Message 8
From: "Maria Arango"
Date: Sun, 22 Feb 2004 18:57:35 -0800
Subject: [Baren 24338] RE: wet wood
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One downside of dampening plywood besides the plys coming apart can be
registration problems down the road. Of course if you are only cutting a
one-block print and dampen only the surface, probably won't harm
anything.
I do agree that sharp tools make all the difference in cutting any type
of wood. Certainly birch shouldn't give a self-respecting carving knife
any problem at all. Honing often during carving eliminates much of the
effort.
Softening the wood without dampening with water can be achieved with a
light linseed oil or mineral oil (baby oil). Carving is much easier, the
wood won't expand and ply glue will stay put.
Also, fine lines while the wood is damp may become less detailed when it
dries.

Just my .02c, try the oil instead.
Maria


Maria Arango
www.1000woodcuts.com
Las Vegas Nevada USA

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Message 9
From: Charles Morgan
Date: Sun, 22 Feb 2004 19:31:20 -0800
Subject: [Baren 24339] Re: question about "cheap" presses
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Tim AumAn wrote::
>I know that a cheap press is a bit of an oxymoron, however, I was
>wondering if anyone out there would care to share their comments on some
>of the smaller and more economical presses such as the Speedball
>Printmasters Press or those offered by DIck Blick.
>
>Does anyone have any other presses to recommend for a fairly new and
>inexperienced printmaker?
>
>thanks
>
>Tim AumAn

Have a look at Thomas Presses http://www.thomaspresses.com/

Note that the prices quoted are in Canadian dollars. $1.00 Canadian is
about $0.75 US, so these presses are quite a bargain. I know several
artists who use these presses, and they are used in several schools and
universities. I am highly satisfied with mine.

Cheers ...... Charles

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Message 10
From: Jsf73 # aol.com
Date: Sun, 22 Feb 2004 23:07:57 EST
Subject: [Baren 24340] Re: question about "cheap" presses
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While the presses from Thomas are very affordable in comparison to other
presses, you can build your own of the same quality cheaper...

Another Canadian has plans for sale to make a press. I bought a copy myself
and have started to acquire some of the parts necessary to build a press. It
does not appear to be too complicated for those with average skills and the
ability to use a phone book to find a machinist to help make some of the parts
such as the rollers.

http://www.dougforsythegallery.com/Press.html

The projected costs for a 24 inch wide gear driven press are about 750 bucks
Canadian. That is pretty accurate if you want to use particle board for the
bed as the thomas press does. Judging from the picture the thomas press is not
gear driven and would be harder to roll the bed thru the press....

I hope to have my first press completed before July of this year... i hope...


John F

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Message 11
From: Wanda
Date: Sun, 22 Feb 2004 22:13:09 -0800
Subject: [Baren 24341] Re: New Baren Digest (HTML) V26 #2558 (Feb 22, 2004)
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Sharri, will this class be at Sitka? That would be well worth the trip for
anyone interested in any of the many subjects offered. Wonderful place!

Wanda

on 2/22/04 3:42 PM, Barebonesart@comcast.net at Barebonesart@comcast.net
wrote:

> Currently the
> notebook is available through the above mentioned program when you take the
> workshop, which incidentally offers grad. credit through Portland State
> University. If you are interested in the course, let us know and we will get
> you signed up. It will be held at the Oregon Coast this year in July/August.
> Y'all just might want to come out! I'm assuming the info. is on the PAN
> website - http://www.printartsnw.org. If it isn't there it will be there
> shortly!
>

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