Baren Digest Saturday, 22 February 2003 Volume 22 : Number 2137 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Jeanne N. Chase" Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2003 11:44:52 -0500 Subject: [Baren 20795] Cherry Wood Georga and Dan Yes, I quite agree with you, cherry wood is so hard to carve that it sometimes seems like you are carving in cement (dry) The wood the wood engravers use is even harder. But the assets outweigh the problem of the difficulty in carving. Cherry wood holds such finite lines. I guess that is why the Hanga prints that Dave does so well have such beautiful detail. I am giving up cherry wood as I have developed tendonitis in my right wrist and find it is impossible to carve anymore. So it is back to the dremel and probably poplar wood. I have to wear a brace now and it is really in the way, but it could be worse. Poplar if used right can give you some nice texture and if careful, some fine lines. I definitely do not intend to give up wood carving. Lino cuts are also an option. Some very fine art work has been done with lino cuts. Picasso did pretty well with that form of printmaking. And Dan Dews work is really wonderful and he does his mostly in lino cuts. Well, back to the carving. I am trying to finish another woodblock print (in oil)!!! Happy Printing Jeanne N. ------------------------------ From: Daniel Dew Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2003 12:02:17 -0500 Subject: [Baren 20796] Coming to Chicago Hey John, Julio and anyone else, contact me off list at either: ddew#tampabay.rr.com (work) ddew0001#tampabay.rr.com (home) I am coming to Chicago for a conference on March 20th through March 22nd. would love to meet up with either of you for a few drinks and a handshake. d. dew ------------------------------ From: Julio.Rodriguez#walgreens.com Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2003 11:03:36 -0600 Subject: [Baren 20797] Re: Sheep/Goats online ! For those that have been asking, the New Year cards for the Sheep/Goat 2003 exchange are up online. My many thanks to Dan Dew for scanning and emailing me the wonderful pics. Hopefully we got everyone that has sent so far....I think 16 or so...please let me know of any spelling or otherwise errors...or if I missed anyone who has sent prints already. Just follow the "Go see the prints" link on the info page. http://www.skokienet.org/bandits/jcrstuff/blacksheep/ thanks...Julio ------------------------------ From: Charles Morgan Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2003 11:01:14 -0800 Subject: [Baren 20798] Re: Cherry Wood Jeanne (and everyone else), What sort of bits are you using for your dremel? The ones I have tried (only a few) tend to leave really fuzzy edges, rather than the clean cuts you get with knife and chisel. Cheers .... Charles ------------------------------ From: "Jeanne N. Chase" Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2003 15:50:06 -0500 Subject: [Baren 20799] Re: Cherry Wood Charles after I make a cut with my dremel , then I go over the top where it looks a little fuzzy , with care. Hardly touching the wood but just enough to get the fuzzy stuff off. It works pretty good. Maybe you have to have a surgeons touch. It will never look as clean as when it is cut with expertise and finesse like David Bull. But it sure saves wear and tear on my less than muscular hands.=20 After I go over the tops to get off the fuzzy part, then I get my x acto knife out and sometimes can make a pretty good clean cut into the already existing one. One nice thing about the x acto knife (I can just hear all the purists out there going "oh, no") I do not have to keep sharpening the blades. I just throw the dull one away and put in a new , fresh blade. It works for me!!!! Jeanne N.(the oily printmaker) hope this is clear, hard to explain exactly. ------------------------------ From: Charles Morgan Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2003 12:59:11 -0800 Subject: [Baren 20800] Re: Cherry Wood Thanks, Jeanne. I have tried using JUST the dremmel tool, without the knife follow-up. Next time I will go back and trim a bit. As for the xacto knife, I use something similar that is available from Lee Valley Tools. It is a nice, fat, plastic handle that takes scalpel blades. They are VERY sharp, readily available, and when they dull, you just throw them away. The handle is wonderful to grip and is hollow ... has a screw in magnetic base that holds extra blades ... keeps them from rattling around and getting dull. I have a book about modern Japanese print makers, and several of them swear by the box-cutter knives with the snap off blades. Soooo, the moral is, whatever works for you is good ...... Cheers ..... Charles At 03:50 PM 2/21/03 -0500, you wrote: >After I go over the tops to get off the fuzzy part, then I get my x acto >knife out and sometimes can make a pretty good clean cut into the already >existing one. One nice thing about the x acto knife (I can just hear all >the purists out there going "oh, no") I do not have to keep sharpening the >blades. I just throw the dull one away and put in a new , fresh blade. >It works for me!!!! > ------------------------------ From: "Maria Diener (aka Arango)" Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2003 13:07:05 -0800 Subject: [Baren 20801] Re: Cherry Wood The sharper the bit and faster the speed of the dremel, the less fuzzy stuff. I'm told that the better rotary tools leave no fuzz at all so it seems a function of the low rotation speed of these less expensive tools. I looked at the Foredom tool and just can't seem to justify forking out $340 for just ocassional use when my trusty Dremel does so well. A while back I picked up around 400 dental drills on eBay for just about $40. I'm saving them for when my hands give out; at the moment I use the dremel marks for "special effects" those random twirls that would take me forever and a day with a 1mm v-chisel. Dull dental drills are still extremely sharp for cutting wood so about 3 eons ago someone suggested contacting your dentist and see if they will save you some. In addition to Charles's suggestion, a quick way to get rid of fuzz is to go over the area with a wire brush; this works well on hardwoods but make sure you test first if using on soft wood. I follow with a plastic bristle brush. Yet another quick way (this would be way #3) to get rid of fuzz is to go over the dremel-ed area with a flat chisel in a caressing motion--bye bye fuzz. Way #4 is to go over the area with 400 sandpaper. Now, how do you get rid of that zzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZiiiiiiiIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGG GGGGGGGGGGGGG buzzing sound? I dunno... Maria <||><||><||><||><||><||> Maria Arango Las Vegas Nevada USA www.1000woodcuts.com <||><||><||><||><||><||> -----Original Message----- From: owner-baren#ml.asahi-net.or.jp [mailto:owner-baren#ml.asahi-net.or.jp]On Behalf Of Jeanne N. Chase Sent: Friday, February 21, 2003 12:50 PM To: baren#ml.asahi-net.or.jp Subject: [Baren 20799] Re: Cherry Wood > >Charles > >after I make a cut with my dremel , then I go over the top where >it looks a little fuzzy , with care. Hardly touching the wood but >just enough to get the fuzzy stuff off. It works pretty good. >Maybe you have to have a surgeons touch. It will never look as >clean as when it is cut with expertise and finesse like David >Bull. But it sure saves wear and tear on my less than muscular >hands. After I go over the tops to get off the fuzzy part, then I >get my x acto knife out and sometimes can make a pretty good >clean cut into the already existing one. One nice thing about the >x acto knife (I can just hear all the purists out there going >"oh, no") I do not have to keep sharpening the blades. I just >throw the dull one away and put in a new , fresh blade. It works >for me!!!! > >Jeanne N.(the oily printmaker) hope this is clear, hard to explain exactly. ------------------------------ From: "lmhtwb" Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2003 13:47:07 -0800 Subject: [Baren 20802] Re: Cherry Wood From: "Maria Diener (aka Arango)" > Now, how do you get rid of that > zzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZiiiiiiiIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGG > GGGGGGGGGGGGG buzzing sound? I dunno... Buy a Gesswein. BTW, all this talk of carving hard wood reminds me a lot of little boys comparing "things" and trying to figure out who has the biggest -- rather silly. It's not about who carves the hardest thing or who has the fanciest tools, it's what you do with them that counts. While it's nice to have fancy (and usually expensive) tools and plates, tremendous work can be done with linoleum and a razor blade, or poplar and x-acto knives, or .... Having expensive toys does not guarantee great art. Linda ------------------------------ From: Julio.Rodriguez#walgreens.com Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2003 16:13:22 -0600 Subject: [Baren 20803] Re: Hey, have you heard the one about.... I know there are lot of reasons for why our exchange prints sometimes run a little late....but have you heard the one about .... "the dogs chewed up my prints !!!!!" Last year I had an exchange package that open...and the prints and the box went their separate way....thanks to a personal check that was inside the prints, the usps got then back to me a week or so later. In the meantime I had gone ahead and reprinted the edition and express mailed another package to the coordinator. Now I always include name & address and phone number inside the package itself....... Anyways...back to the dogs....I got a call from the Tuczon Arizona police (as in bomb squad !)...wanting to know the contents of a box I had Fedex....they wanted to know who it was going to (Kat Pukas) and what was inside (#15 prints of course).... I guess something with my box set the canine unit on it's heel and the security sniffing dogs went for my box like crazy........oops......"officer, just prints, I swear, nothing to fear, please feel free to open the box...." I must have done a good job convincing him (or maybe because officer Rodriguez thought it was funny that the package was from another Rodriguez !)...anyways he let the prints go on their way.....and no...I did not try to explain the difference between a hand-made print and a reproduction gliclee {;-) Anyju...is a good thing I had my phone number in the mailer otherwise....who knows what may have happened to my box of prints....perhaps blasted away into a zillion tiny pieces of hosho by a bomb robot ???? As to what triggered the dogs to go after my box, I have an idea, but I'll have to wait till David wakes up in Japan to confirm my suspicion!!!! thanks....Julio Rodriguez (Skokie, Illinois) ps. If any of the #15 participants gets my print and it has dog bite marks, please send me an email and I'll be glad to replace the damaged print. {;-) ------------------------------ From: Milky Scarabs Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2003 15:15:59 -0700 Subject: [Baren 20804] MY #15 COLLATING BIRTHDAY PARTY! It's my birthday today and the last batch of #15 Exchange prints arrived just today too! THE #15 COLLATING BIRTHDAY PARTY HAS BEGUN!! :D (Guess my age and win a prize: milkyscarabs#earthlink.net) - -- Love <3 & Lint * ! Kat Pukas, birthday girl / Exchange #15 coordinator http://www.thepiz.org/milkyscarabs ------------------------------ From: barebonesart Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2003 14:47:07 -0800 Subject: [Baren 20805] Re: Baren Digest V22 #2136 Georga, Sorry about laughing about your bandaided hands, but loved your comments about the puzzle wood. I didn't mind the top layer, but hated the way it splintered on subsequent layers. Maybe if I didn't think I had to clear away 1/4" deep it would have helped! I was sure glad I proofed, though - as I found I had to clear even more away. Sharri ------------------------------ From: Charles Morgan Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2003 15:51:00 -0800 Subject: [Baren 20806] Re: MY #15 COLLATING BIRTHDAY PARTY! Cheers ..... Charles At 03:15 PM 2/21/03 -0700, you wrote: >It's my birthday today and the last batch of #15 Exchange prints arrived >just today too! >THE #15 COLLATING BIRTHDAY PARTY HAS BEGUN!! :D >(Guess my age and win a prize: milkyscarabs#earthlink.net) > >-- >Love <3 & Lint * ! >Kat Pukas, birthday girl / Exchange #15 coordinator >http://www.thepiz.org/milkyscarabs > ------------------------------ From: Cucamongie#aol.com Date: Sat, 22 Feb 2003 00:46:47 EST Subject: [Baren 20807] cherry wood Hi folks, just have to say that I approached my little cherry puzzle piece with some trepidation, having never cut cherry wood before, but if you use the Japanese tools and sharpen them up before cutting, it should be no problem. I don't think you can get as good a cut with American tools, at least not as far as I've seen. Happy cutting! Sarah ------------------------------ From: Aqua4tis#aol.com Date: Sat, 22 Feb 2003 02:43:17 EST Subject: [Baren 20808] Re: MY #15 COLLATING BIRTHDAY PARTY! happy birthday kat ------------------------------ End of Baren Digest V22 #2137 *****************************