Today's postings
- [Baren 25707] All about wood (Thomas Davis)
- [Baren 25708] Re: All about wood (Wanda Robertson)
- [Baren 25709] Re: All about wood (Mike Lyon)
- [Baren 25710] Re: All about wood (Thomas Davis)
- [Baren 25711] Re: More Wood Ideas (ArtfulCarol # aol.com)
- [Baren 25712] Re: More Wood Ideas (FurryPressII # aol.com)
- [Baren 25713] Re: New Baren Digest (Text) V28 #2745 (Aug 6, 2004) (juan)
Message 1
From: Thomas Davis
Date: Fri, 6 Aug 2004 12:15:30 -0400
Subject: [Baren 25707] All about wood
Send Message: To this poster
Hi, I am an artist and i have been doing different styles of block
prints, but not wood cuts. I am excited to try this traditional
Japanese method. I am having some difficulty in finding wood blocks
to carve. Where does one find a flat cherry block? Are there other
kinds of woods that work well for people here in the states?
I am very sorry for posting this question as it must have been asked
before. I have searched a great deal online for the information
before i asked it.
Thomas Davis
Apex, NC
--
Art...the new piece of mind.
http://www.sunsetbrew.com/
prints, but not wood cuts. I am excited to try this traditional
Japanese method. I am having some difficulty in finding wood blocks
to carve. Where does one find a flat cherry block? Are there other
kinds of woods that work well for people here in the states?
I am very sorry for posting this question as it must have been asked
before. I have searched a great deal online for the information
before i asked it.
Thomas Davis
Apex, NC
--
Art...the new piece of mind.
http://www.sunsetbrew.com/
Message 2
From: Wanda Robertson
Date: Fri, 6 Aug 2004 10:54:11 -0700
Subject: [Baren 25708] Re: All about wood
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Hi Thomas,
Yes, this question gets discussed quite regularly on Baren. You might
want to check the baren archives http://barenforum.org It has a search
engine & you can bring up every mention of wood from the postings. You
can search for almost anything in the archives of Baren. There are
also many helpful hints, tips, etc. in the encyclopedia section. You
can even download copies of out-of-copyright books from the site.
There is a wealth of information there.
Personally, I like 3/4" all-birch plywood. It is made for kitchen
cabinet construction. Other people have favorites of their own. I'm
sure you will hear from them!
Welcome to baren. It is a great place to learn this wonderful art.
Wanda
baren forum moderator
Yes, this question gets discussed quite regularly on Baren. You might
want to check the baren archives http://barenforum.org It has a search
engine & you can bring up every mention of wood from the postings. You
can search for almost anything in the archives of Baren. There are
also many helpful hints, tips, etc. in the encyclopedia section. You
can even download copies of out-of-copyright books from the site.
There is a wealth of information there.
Personally, I like 3/4" all-birch plywood. It is made for kitchen
cabinet construction. Other people have favorites of their own. I'm
sure you will hear from them!
Welcome to baren. It is a great place to learn this wonderful art.
Wanda
baren forum moderator
Message 3
From: Mike Lyon
Date: Fri, 06 Aug 2004 14:06:27 -0500
Subject: [Baren 25709] Re: All about wood
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Thomas Davis wrote:
>I am excited to try this traditional japanese method. I am having some
>difficulty in finding wood blocks to carve. Where does one find a flat
>cherry block? Is there other kinds of woods that work well for people
>here in the states?
Dear Thomas,
Welcome to Baren!
In larger metropolitan areas in the US they sell cherry planks in specialty
hardwood lumber yards -- check your yellow pages. You will prefer 3/4" or
4/4" thick planks of dark wood (free of white colored sap wood (which is
much softer, more absorbant and prints darker and wetter) 10" wide or
more. They generally come in lengths of 10 to 20 feet -- a 10' length
selling for $60 to $80 around here. But the planks should be surfaced flat
and smooth before carving -- if you're GOOD with a plane, you can hand
plane with a well-tuned and razor sharp plane to leave a shiny surface --
or sand (careful to keep it flat with no dips or gouges) to 400 grit or
higher to remove saw or coarse thickness planer marks. And cherry is quite
hard -- makes it difficult to push the tool through the wood. Why not make
it easy on yourself for your first attempts? Use basswood (available at
the same hardwood lumber yard) which is cheaper and MUCH softer and easier
to carve. The impression made by basswood is coarser than by cherry, no
matter how you plane or sand, but not so bad considering how easy it is to
carve! Birch is in between in hardness, but leaves a pronounced grain when
printed (cherry usually does not leave much grain). Birch plywood is
readily available in all lumber yards as are plywoods with cherry, ash,
maple, and other veneers. Carving plywood is usually not as satisfying or
easy as carving solid wood, but plywood retains most of the printing
characteristics of solid wood without much warping. That's a start,
anyway...
Check http://barenforum.org -- there's a search form at the top of the home
page which will allow you to search the archives (for entries like this
one) or the encyclopedia (more formal and organized accounts).
If you still have questions, ask again -- you'll find a number of people
ready to respond!
-- Mike
Mike Lyon
Kansas City, Missouri
http://mlyon.com
>I am excited to try this traditional japanese method. I am having some
>difficulty in finding wood blocks to carve. Where does one find a flat
>cherry block? Is there other kinds of woods that work well for people
>here in the states?
Dear Thomas,
Welcome to Baren!
In larger metropolitan areas in the US they sell cherry planks in specialty
hardwood lumber yards -- check your yellow pages. You will prefer 3/4" or
4/4" thick planks of dark wood (free of white colored sap wood (which is
much softer, more absorbant and prints darker and wetter) 10" wide or
more. They generally come in lengths of 10 to 20 feet -- a 10' length
selling for $60 to $80 around here. But the planks should be surfaced flat
and smooth before carving -- if you're GOOD with a plane, you can hand
plane with a well-tuned and razor sharp plane to leave a shiny surface --
or sand (careful to keep it flat with no dips or gouges) to 400 grit or
higher to remove saw or coarse thickness planer marks. And cherry is quite
hard -- makes it difficult to push the tool through the wood. Why not make
it easy on yourself for your first attempts? Use basswood (available at
the same hardwood lumber yard) which is cheaper and MUCH softer and easier
to carve. The impression made by basswood is coarser than by cherry, no
matter how you plane or sand, but not so bad considering how easy it is to
carve! Birch is in between in hardness, but leaves a pronounced grain when
printed (cherry usually does not leave much grain). Birch plywood is
readily available in all lumber yards as are plywoods with cherry, ash,
maple, and other veneers. Carving plywood is usually not as satisfying or
easy as carving solid wood, but plywood retains most of the printing
characteristics of solid wood without much warping. That's a start,
anyway...
Check http://barenforum.org -- there's a search form at the top of the home
page which will allow you to search the archives (for entries like this
one) or the encyclopedia (more formal and organized accounts).
If you still have questions, ask again -- you'll find a number of people
ready to respond!
-- Mike
Mike Lyon
Kansas City, Missouri
http://mlyon.com
Message 4
From: Thomas Davis
Date: Fri, 6 Aug 2004 16:28:35 -0400
Subject: [Baren 25710] Re: All about wood
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Thank you both for the help. I opened the yellow pages as suggested
and found several places. I have grown so used to the internet that I
almost never use the phone book.
Thank again!
Thomas
and found several places. I have grown so used to the internet that I
almost never use the phone book.
Thank again!
Thomas
Message 5
From: ArtfulCarol # aol.com
Date: Fri, 6 Aug 2004 19:32:17 EDT
Subject: [Baren 25711] Re: More Wood Ideas
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Hi
This is just my experience:
I started with shina wood. It is soft and easy, doesn't chip readily. I
liked it and it suited my purposes.. I am still working out ideas I have using
shina, so I have not changed wood. In the future I have plans for doing
carving on poplar and with textured wood.
My experiments are with different water media and different paper.
I look to improve my work, but right now my idea is if aint broke don't fix
it.
Everyone has different needs and experiences.
Carol Lyons
Irvington, NY
This is just my experience:
I started with shina wood. It is soft and easy, doesn't chip readily. I
liked it and it suited my purposes.. I am still working out ideas I have using
shina, so I have not changed wood. In the future I have plans for doing
carving on poplar and with textured wood.
My experiments are with different water media and different paper.
I look to improve my work, but right now my idea is if aint broke don't fix
it.
Everyone has different needs and experiences.
Carol Lyons
Irvington, NY
Message 6
From: FurryPressII # aol.com
Date: Fri, 6 Aug 2004 20:00:11 EDT
Subject: [Baren 25712] Re: More Wood Ideas
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well on the wood thingie i use maple and cherry wood mostly. I have
used plywood for very large prints but have too many drawbacks with it. Even
good grades of plywood can have voids which cause major problems with press
printing. I perfer maple because it can give you a great deal of detail either
as plank grain or end grain for wood engraving. Lately i have been doing
wood engraving.
john c.
p.s. welcome to baren
used plywood for very large prints but have too many drawbacks with it. Even
good grades of plywood can have voids which cause major problems with press
printing. I perfer maple because it can give you a great deal of detail either
as plank grain or end grain for wood engraving. Lately i have been doing
wood engraving.
john c.
p.s. welcome to baren
Message 7
From: juan
Date: Fri, 06 Aug 2004 21:55:28 -0700
Subject: [Baren 25713] Re: New Baren Digest (Text) V28 #2745 (Aug 6, 2004)
Send Message: To this poster
>CAROL AND ALL LEFTIES EXCHANGE.
Hi, this is to tell you that I received my beautiful set of prints
yesterday. Thanks for participating and specially to Carol for coordinating.
My dog tried to open the pack, he started to "eat" a little the cover
(recycled envelope must be tasteful), but finally I got the prints with no
damage at all.
Juan Guerrero
Alternative e-mail:
2ojos#ozu.es
www.juanguerrero.tk