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

Baren Digest             Thursday, 5 February 1998     Volume 02 : Number 060

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From: Ray Esposito <brassring@brassring.org>
Date: Tue, 03 Feb 1998 14:35:15 -0500
Subject: [Baren 326] Re: Printing order 

At 10:57 PM 2/3/98 EST,  Matt wrote:

>Julio, I work at a sloping bench, seated cross-legged on a low box. 
>For good concentration and using your body efficiently hour after 
>hour I think this is a great way to go. 

Sounds like great advice but has slight flaw.   The only difference between
me and a Sumo wrestler is they get paid for being so big.  The problem,
once I get my legs crossed and on the floor, isn't that it is comfortable
to sit that way for hours but that it takes hours to uncross them.  Taking
300 pounds off the floor is a chore of monumental proportions :-)

Cheers

Ray Esposito

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From: julio.rodriguez@walgreens.com
Date: Wed, 4 Feb 1998 10:46:34 -0600
Subject: [Baren 327] More on wood sources.... 

Dear Baren,
I was driving home last night thinking about Phil's last posting and his 
discussion of 3-ply vs 5-ply shina when.......wait.... what's that sitting on 
my neighbors trash ?? Could it be ??  
>From far away it looked like old cabinets &  doors in the trash. Closer 
inspection revealed; Yes ! Yes !!!!  Fine crafted cabinet doors made of solid 
poplar inserts with a very fine mahogany (2-ply) outer covering (on both 
sides). The magohany has such an exquisite grain ! No stain, no varnish...it's 
beautiful. I have not seen mahogany this nice since my guitar-making days..... 
(if you have not notice...I get excited about wood very easily !)
The door pieces (my neighbor cut each in half ? I don't know why ?) are each 
about  2' x 3'x 3/4" and I got about 6 pieces.
I ran a straightedge across one of the boards and it's straight as an arrow. I 
can't wait to dig into this find.
I don't mind salvaging wood when I come across it like this. I figure if I 
don't use it...it will end up in a dump somewhere for the next thousand 
years.....I actually enjoy using "found" wood in my projects it gives me great 
satisfaction to know that I have extended the after-life of that tree....it's 
my small contribution to recycling....plus it's great for my budget !

Julio

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From: Graham Scholes <gscholes@islandnet.com>
Date: Wed, 4 Feb 1998 09:26:07 -0800
Subject: [Baren 328] Flattening paper 

Matt wrote,
>To everyone: I am curious of any ingenious methods for drying prints.

> What is the key to drying paper? Giving it time? How important is pressure?
>How are paper makers (hand or commercial) getting and keeping their paper
>flat?

There is not an ingenious method.
Just good old fashion stick 'em betweem cardboard under pressure and leave
them for three days. If you are in a dry or wet climate this time may vary.

The cardboard I use is 1/8" to 1/4 thick actually it comes....get this
David.....60mil up to 120mil.  I have an arrangement that enables me to
inter-leaf them  and place a 1"  or (25mm or 2.5 cm for the young set)
plywood on top that is then held down on a table that allows me to clamp
the assemblage tight.

Whala  in three days flat as the proverbial.

Graham

ps Incidentally...yesterday I mentions something about the use of the
Router.  Well I had intended to clearify that at the end of the posting.
However got caught up in the planned protest about Sensorship of nudes at
City Hall.

Nothing on that yet........ however I really don't use a router.

Was that a sigh of relief I heard.

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From: julio.rodriguez@walgreens.com
Date: Wed, 4 Feb 1998 12:18:04 -0600
Subject: [Baren 329] web site reviews.... 

Dear Baren,
 Well I finally had some time to just mess around and got to visiting the web 
sites of fellow members. Wow ! What a diversity of talent ! What great prints !
It is so interesting to see the artist's output after having had a chance to 
'chat' and get to know a little bit about each one. I am not sure if this is 
what Dave had/has in mind for Baren....but what a wonderful forum for artists 
to get to know each other. I could elaborate on each of the sites but I think 
that I will let each new member discover each artist on it's own......most 
impressive !

For something different... but truly special; be sure to visit Ray's site. 
There is some really great work being done there !

ps. I can't believe it...a whole posting and I did not mentioned the words  
t..ls or w..d !!!! 

Julio

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From: David Bull <davebull@asahi-net.email.ne.jp>
Date: Thu, 05 Feb 1998 14:33:26 +0900
Subject: [Baren 330] Re: Drying prints 

Matt wrote,
> I am curious of any ingenious methods for drying prints.
> I have been having some trouble lately: its very dry in the 
> shop, we are doing a lot of prints and I guess I'm not 
> leaving them between cardboards long enough to
> get down to ambient moisture content.

Matt, I don't quite understand this.  If the shop is very dry, wouldn't
this _help_ the drying process?  

Graham mentioned:
> Just good old fashion stick 'em betweem cardboard under pressure and leave
> them for three days. If you are in a dry or wet climate this time may vary.

... and my method is similar; I use a stack of illustration boards, but
with a bit of a twist.  After the final printing is done, I clean up all
my printing equipment, put away the workbench, and then vacuum out the
room in which I work (and sleep).

I then lay the prints out on the tatami mats - as many as will fit in
the room at one time.  I then watch carefully, and as soon as most of
the moisture has 'flown away', but before they start to get overly
wrinked, I put them in between the illustration boards (two prints
together - back to back - between each pair of boards).  I put a few
woodblocks on top of the pile, and lay out the next group on the floor.

When they're all in the stack, I leave it overnight, and the next
morning take them out, check them, sign them, and call one of my
part-timers to 'come and get 'em' ...   She comes over and picks them
up, and that's the last I see of them.  (I then put the illustrations
boards out on the balcony to dry out (standing up against the balcony
rail)).

The idea of putting the prints out on the mats for a while is to get rid
of the bulk of the moisture before putting them in the stack.  If I put
them directly in there, the boards absorb a whole _lot_ of water, and
end up being warped and unusable.  But if most of the water is gone
before the prints go in there, this system works fine.

You've got to be careful not to forget what you're doing.  I did one
day, and came back a few hours later to find twenty curled up prints on
the floor - they all had to be remoistened, pressed and then redried. 
No permanent damage.   I've also got some cat stories to tell, but I
think you can probably guess those ...!

*****

Graham talked about using a router, and seemed to think that I would
disapprove!   

Not so Graham, and using a router is exactly what I intend to do when I
start doing a lot of inlaying next year.  I think one would be a bit
foolish not to use an efficient tool for a job like that.

I won't start using a laser to do my carving anytime soon, but for a
'background' job like this, I don't have any problem with using a power
tool ...

By the way Graham, will you be posting any photographs of your nude
demonstration at City Hall?  That should be a sight!

*****

Dave


P.S.  Recent updates to the Encyclopedia include: printing bench, a
Japanese glossary, and some small additions to suppliers and the
bibliography ...
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~xs3d-bull/encyclopedia/updates.html

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End of Baren Digest V2 #60
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