[Baren] the mailing list / discussion forum for woodblock printmaking Baren Digest Monday, 17 July 2000 Volume 12 : Number 1079 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Graham Scholes Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2000 07:41:46 -0700 Subject: [Baren 10482] Re: Sharpening >I am having a hell of a time sharpening my tools. I read up on Graham's >entry (very informative) but the tool i'm having the most trouble with is my >"V" gouge. > >I've got the stone that takes oil. thanks in advance. The use of oil stones is .... well greasy kids stuff .... if I may say. You should have a good set of wet stones as illustrated in my site. They are money well spend and the job they do makes the task of sharpening simpler. The only time I sharpen my tools (using 250 or 1000 grit stone) is if I break a point or edge. All other times I am honing using the 4000 grit wet stone and or water slips. You can see the four I use at http://members.home.net/woodblocks/Sharpen.html half way down the page. If you don't have these I would suggest you ...... can't .... cannot ..... well, almost never and is near impossible to sharpen a V gouge (Sankakuto) tool. These are the most difficult of all our tools to keep keen. Now, having said all that, I will sometime this week put up on my site pics of the shape and sharpening problems and method to overcome. This is going to be a challenge. I have always noted at bootcamp that even when showing the technique in real time the problem still remains. Poor results. If you cannot find wet stones locally .... go to LeeValley and get there catalogue.... it is worth the price of admission. http://www.leevalley.com/lvtmain.htm I could not fine the wet stones on their site. Graham ------------------------------ From: "Maria Arango" Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2000 10:00:19 -0700 Subject: [Baren 10483] Re: Sharpening Perhaps out of naivete, I never quite understood the difficulty associated with sharpening any tool. There is no mystery to achieving a sharp edge: you are simply shaping metal against a surface that is harder than metal or against, in the case of waterstones, a paste that shapes metal, or against (diamond stone) tiny particles that are harder than metal. >From the first time I sharpened the first V and U chisel, I have been following the same procedures and never have any trouble either sharpening or keeping tools sharp, oil/water/diamond/whatever stone. It really doesn't matter what type of tool it is or what stone or whether it was made in the bowels of Mt. Fuji itself or in a small town in Arkansas. I have also found that it doesn't really matter whether you draw towards you, circle around in tiny circles, or, as some eggsperts recommend, push the tool over the stone, away from you. Much tougher than woodcut tools are those pesky burins and scorpers tint tools and such, since the angle is extremely critical, the wood harder, and the tendency to perform idiotic things greater during sharpening. After reading up and practicing, here is what I do (not to knock what anyone else does): 1. PAY ATTENTION to the initial angle of the edge of the tool and always sharpen with that angle in mind. This is absolutely critical to get those V-tools sharpened correctly. There is a jig you can buy for this or you can just dedicate all your available neurons to the task at hand, the entire time you are sharpening. A magnifying glass helps in determining this angle and will also reveal imperfections and burrs in newer and poorly used tools. Notice the angle, pay attention, look at the sheen of a finely sharpened tool and the even sloping edge. 2. As recommended by Graham, for most day to day sharpening, use only the finest grits. Using coarser grits will change the shape of your tools. In fact, if you use care in sharpening, most days I just use an old fashioned strop (read: a leather belt that no longer goes around my hubby's waist), with fine honing compound. 3. If you break your toe, go to the doctor. If you break the tip of your toh or any other tool, or somehow find that a tool is not responding to your finer grits, go back to number 1, look at the darned thing first under your trusty magnifier. Reshape the tool with coarser grits, then finish with finer grits (a good sequence, again, recommended by Graham's post and his website). Wipe the tool between grits to avoid scratching the surface. 4. Make sure you remove the burr caused by sharpening, It looks under the magnifying glass like a fuzzy edge. Simply draw the tool against a leather strop, fine honing stone, or the back pocket of your Levi's (sorry Cowboys, Wrangler's don't work). Sharp as a tick, I mean a tack, Maria <><><><><><><><><><><><> Maria Arango, Printmaker Las Vegas Nevada USA http://www.1000woodcuts.com Follow along! quest1000woodcuts@hotmail.com maria@mariarango.com <><><><><><><><><><><><> ------------------------------ From: "Daniel L. Dew" Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2000 12:51:32 -0400 Subject: [Baren 10484] Japanese Printmaking on National TV! Hey, my wonderful wife found this. Apparently, the Martha Stewart show is going to a museum and having a demonstartion of Japanese Woodblock printing on her show Tuesday, July 18th. http://www.marthastewart.com/television/program_guide/index.asp dan dew ------------------------------ From: Wanda Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2000 11:08:46 -0700 Subject: [Baren 10485] Re: Japanese Printmaking on National TV! "Daniel L. Dew" wrote: > Apparently, the Martha Stewart show is going to a museum and having a > demonstartion of Japanese Woodblock printing on her show Tuesday, July 18th. > > http://www.marthastewart.com/television/program_guide/index.asp Hmmm.....was Hiroshige a Japanese Buddhist monk? I guess I was so busy admiring his work that I never read about his life-style. Have to read those words in the front of the books, I guess. VCR all tuned up & ready to record! Thanks to your wife for this info, Dan! Wanda ------------------------------ From: "Philip Smith" Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2000 12:34:42 -0700 Subject: [Baren 10488] Re: Sharpening May I add something to what Maria has already said,....pulling that "wire", that little piece of fuzz, is as sharp as you can get on a stone,..but a round strop for your electric drill is that final edge that makes all of the difference in the world,...and you really only need to use that strop mainly to keep that blade continuously sharp,....resharpening is only needed if you drop you tool,......or after a prolonged usage,...anyways that drill strop is a VERY GOOD investment!!! Philip ------------------------------ From: Graham Scholes Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2000 13:38:33 -0700 Subject: [Baren 10489] Re: Sharpening Maria's posting was very good. I would recommend one thing however with regards to..... >I have also found that it doesn't really matter >whether you draw towards you, circle around >in tiny circles, or, as some eggsperts recommend, >push the tool over the stone,away from you. Moving the blade in small circles will soon put bad groves in your wet stones. Use the full length and width of you stone to assure less ware. Pushing causes greater ware on the stone and does not sharpen as neatly. You can accidentally dig into the stone causing a serious dulling of the cutting edge. Alway draw or pull the cutting edge along the stone. Yes this does build up the burr but it so easily removed when you flop the blade and draw it flat across the 4000 grit stone Graham/Victoria BC An Island in the Pacific ------------------------------ From: Graham Scholes Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2000 13:41:53 -0700 Subject: [Baren 10490] V gouge sharpening The 7 grandchildren are away for the day so this was a grand opportunity to put up a new page that answers the question posed by Keri This should help you. http://members.home.net/woodblocks/Sharpvgouge.html Go looky lou. Graham/Victoria BC An Island in the Pacific ------------------------------ From: B Mason Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2000 22:00:35 -0700 Subject: [Baren 10494] Martha Printmaking on Martha Stewart, what will they think of next? Glad to see she has her priorities right and is going to show how it is done. Who is Joshua Rome and is he on the Baren? If not, lets send him a letter and invite him to join. Or should we wait to see the segment first? Just kidding. Thanks for finding this Dan. If I am lucky I can get my husband to tape it for me. Congratulations Jean and Howard, a very nice picture indeed. May you have many happy years together. Wanda and I are taking another woodblock class starting tomorrow from Yugi Hiratsuka who teaches at Oregon State U. It is a summer class in Portland at Pacific NW College of Art. 9-4 all week, so we will let you know if we learn anything new or perfect anything we already are struggling with. I keep swearing I am sticking with oil and keep taking classes in hanga, so go figure. Barbara M ------------------------------ From: David Bull Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 15:00:57 +0900 Subject: [Baren 10495] Re: Who is Rome? Barbara asked: > Who is Joshua Rome ... Joshua is an American living over here in the countryside near Kyoto. He's been here a zillion years, and makes original prints (not reproductions like me). His theme is 'The Disappearing Japanese Countryside' ... prints of old farmhouses, etc. He has a very strong 'patron' here in the person of Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, an actress and TV personality; Joshua himself comes from a New York theatre family, and this connection may perhaps have something to do with his being selected for this show. As for the other program, the one on Hiroshige, the fact that they are listing him as a priest tends to make one suspect that the program may not have been all that well researched. But I suppose it should be interesting anyway ... Dave ------------------------------ From: amoss@mindspring.com (John Amoss) Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 08:45:12 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [Baren 10496] Toshi Yoshida hanga book on eBAY Toshi Yoshida and Rei Yuki's "Japanese Printmaking" hanga how-to book is on eBAY. The starting price is $200US- kinda steep, but the book is rare and very good- especially for Sosaku-style printmaking techniques. Unfortunatly it will be a long time until Dave and company will be able to add this selection to the woodblock.com's encyclopedia... Anyway, here's the address: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AMOSS ILLUSTRATION, INC. (706)549-4662 FAX(706)549-3962 amoss@mindspring.com www.mindspring.com/~amoss 365 Ponderosa Dr.,Athens, GA 30605 USA ------------------------------ End of Baren Digest V12 #1079 *****************************