[Baren]: The mailing list / discussion forum for woodblock printmaking. Baren Digest Friday, 6 March 1998 Volume 02 : Number 087 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: julio.rodriguez@walgreens.com Date: Thu, 5 Mar 1998 11:13:51 -0600 Subject: [Baren 459] bare:wood-storage/misc. There is a technique I have been playing around with which involves a combination of plywood & hardwoods (maple, cherry, walnut, dogwood, etc.). You use a thick (3/4-1" ) plywood block as your base and then you glue harwood cutouts (1/4-3/8" thick) for your raised areas. This is most beneficial for the secondary color blocks. If you are accurate in tracing your drawings & careful in cutting out each piece...you should be able to obtain a very tight fit & very accurate results. This way you are combining the best of two woods...plywood & hardwoods. Because you are using thinner hardwood....you should be saving money yet retain the delicate printing qualities of cherry or dogwood. Of course this requires the use of a scroll saw or a fine toothed jewelers hand saw rather than the traditional carving techniques. I saw this demonstrated by at least one contemporary Japanese printmaker. Because of my wood working....I have quite a bit of this thin hardwood in stock...this seems really appealing to me. what do you guys think ? Is anybody else out there doing this ? ps. Wood warps because of CHANGES in humidity. There are some clever little devices used primarily for musical instruments (guitars) that keeps them at a constant humidity.....they allow some water to escape to keep the instrument from drying up....perhaps these humidifiers are worth investigating..... if you wrap your blocks in plastic with one of these gizmos inside....it might do the trick....JULIO ------------------------------ From: Graham Scholes Date: Thu, 5 Mar 1998 14:01:24 -0800 Subject: [Baren 460] Re: bare:wood-storage/misc. Julio wrote: >There is a technique I have been playing around with which involves a >combination of plywood & hardwoods ...etc. Hi Julio. This may save money and some time as well as not requiring the same carving skills. But...... to me it is short term because what you save today you will probably loose tomorrow. I have had some interest in my plates which are considered by some as works of art. They are this, because of the craft and skill required to achieve the end results. Would a scroll saw cut a paste plate have the same value? I sure would thing long and hard about this. Graham ------------------------------ End of Baren Digest V2 #87 **************************