[Baren] Daily Digest

Today's postings

[Baren 36666] Re: cooking oil cleanup ( slinders # comcast.net)
[Baren 36667] Re: Sanding blocks (Sharri LaPierre)
[Baren 36668] Re: cooking oil cleanup ("Terry Peart")
[Baren 36669] RE: linseed oil ("Maria Arango")
[Baren 36670] Re: linseed oil (Scholes Graham)
[Baren 36671] Exchange 37 last rites ("Maria Arango")
[Baren 36672] Re: Preston's Work, Sanding, Japan Trip (PLAWING # smumn.edu)
[Baren 36673] Baren Member blogs: Update Notification (Blog Manager)
[Baren 36674] Re: Sanding blocks (ArtSpotiB # aol.com)
[Baren 36675] Re: linseed oil (Shawn + Elizabeth Newton)
[Baren 36676] Re: linseed oil ("Terry Peart")

Message 1
From: slinders # comcast.net
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:59:24 GMT
Subject: [Baren 36666] Re: cooking oil cleanup
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Hi, Debra,

Try using very small amounts of shortening --like Crisco! I
like it even better than cooking oil, because it doesn't 'run'
and it's even easier to control. (Any oil that 'gets away' can
turn rancid....and smells dreadful! It happened in our
classroom studio, and yuck!)

I can clean up all of the rollers on a Vandercook SP15 with a
teaspoon of shortening! And can clean up the inky grease with
less than five Bounty paper towels! Yes, it's Graphic oil-based
ink!

Sharen

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Message 2
From: Sharri LaPierre
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 21:40:34 GMT
Subject: [Baren 36667] Re: Sanding blocks
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Charles,
I second your comments about using toxic materials. I've lost several
printmaking friends and acquaintances – most not old enough to be
leaving of their own accord. We will never know for sure how much
their exposure to chemicals in the lab contributed to their cancers,
but they all worked back in the "good old days" when everything was
kerosene, oil base inks, denatured alcohol and lots and lots of nitric
and hydrochloric acid, xylene (for xerox transfer) or lacquer thinner,
not to mention all the variations of asphaltum. I have long since
switched to veggie oil, soap and water, and rubbing alcohol for clean-
up, future floor wax for a resist when etching, solar plates, and
woodblock. Pretty much non-toxic from here on out. If anything is
suspicious I use it sparingly and out in the open air or with the
proper mask & respirator. And, that is my advice to everyone else,
too! We want to keep you around for a good long time ;-)

Cheers ~
Sharri

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Message 3
From: "Terry Peart"
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 21:59:33 GMT
Subject: [Baren 36668] Re: cooking oil cleanup
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> > I can clean up all of the rollers on a Vandercook SP15 with a
> teaspoon of shortening! And can clean up the inky grease with
> less than five Bounty paper towels! Yes, it's Graphic oil-based
> ink!
>
> Sharen
>
Had to laugh at this! Finally a use for shortening!
Eating it will kill you, but it will be 'non-toxic' for clean-up.

Terry
Seattle

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Message 4
From: "Maria Arango"
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 23:48:29 GMT
Subject: [Baren 36669] RE: linseed oil
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> About Maria using linseed oil.... I wonder about that.... would you
> clarify Maria!
> My suggestion is to use boiled linseed oil as it dries over a short
> period of time Linseed oil takes for ever, and maybe never, to dry.
>
> Regards
> Graham

Yes, it is boiled linseed oil. I buy decent quality linseed oil by the
gallon from my nearest home improvement store and use a recycled mustard
plastic bottle to squeeze onto the block. I use plank cherry almost
exclusively, although I also have a good supply of birch.
I started using it because in 4% humidity (boy that was a humid day!) the
wood surface tends to dry out and gets brittle to cut. I prepare my blocks
by sanding to a 400 grit, scraping lightly, diluted walnut or sumi ink to
darken the block a few shades, let dry and then oil. If I want a lot of wood
grain to show, I end with 320 grit and don't scrape.

I actually don't want the oil to dry out completely because an oiled block
is much easier to cut. The first coat soaks right in and if the block has
been left rough or I'm at a festival (outdoors), then I give it another coat
prior to cutting/carving/gnawing, etc. Another advantage is that it darkens
the block slightly so, if I don't use the walnut ink, I can still see the
cuts as the wood under the oil is lighter. In a pinch, again at an outdoor
festival, I use mineral oil which smells better to the public and leaves my
hands baby soft.

As someone on the list found out, leave an oiled block to dry completely and
you will find a very hard to cut surface, as linseed oil does eventually
form a tough protective film, which is why it is sometimes also used as a
wood finish-coating.

Maria

O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O
Maria Arango
http://1000woodcuts.com
http://artfestivalguide.info
O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O

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Message 5
From: Scholes Graham
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 01:12:58 GMT
Subject: [Baren 36670] Re: linseed oil
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Maria Arango wrote:
> Yes, it is boiled linseed oil.

Thought this would be so.

> I started using it because in 4% humidity (boy that was a humid
> day!) the
> wood surface tends to dry out and gets brittle to cut.

Gosh.... Usin’s guys.... Sherri and Barbara and me in Victoria BC (I
know there some others)
live in the Garden of Eden.
We can print any time ..... as the humidyty is perfect.... even beyond
perfect
in the winter.... Actually I don’t print in the summer ... too dry
thank you.
I draw and push oil paints around.

> I actually don't want the oil to dry out completely because an oiled
> block
> is much easier to cut.

Yep that’s what I have been preaching .... been using it for 15
years....
with a chaser of Varnish for strength.

Using this on softer (more porous woods) you have more latitude in
terms of
the amount you put on as it does absorb more.... On the harder woods
cherry
and Maple (Ugh) one has to be a little careful of how much you put on.

> In a pinch, again at an outdoor festival, I use mineral oil which
> smells better to the public and leaves my hands baby soft.

> As someone on the list found out, leave an oiled block to dry
> completely and
> you will find a very hard to cut surface, as linseed oil does
> eventually
> form a tough protective film, which is why it is sometimes also used
> as a
> wood finish-coating.

If you have not used tung oil.... give yourself a treat.
It is the only stuff I use to do my blocks.... It is much better than
Linseed.
Actually that is wrong.... it is much much much better.

And if your looking for a finish on furniture.... this is the best for
that purpose.
Hard work to buff it on but it is fabulous stuff. I would give you the
formula but
this is not the time or place. (

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Message 6
From: "Maria Arango"
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 02:47:59 GMT
Subject: [Baren 36671] Exchange 37 last rites
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Exchange 37 and 39A are coming to their happy ending.

This is it, the very last day to mail your prints to me via Priority Mail
for the last happy tortoises is Wednesday, August 20, 2008 to assure they
get here on Saturday, August 23. I collate on Sunday and mail out on
Monday/Tuesday.

Lester Dore (mailed)

Jean Womack (burnin' the midnight oil.)

Julio (mailed)

Cyndy (mailed)

If a tortoise were to mail prints after Wednesday, Express Mail would be the
choice.

Almost of all you have mailed already, I have yet to hear a peep from:

Mariana Bartolomeo Brooks-Muller

Who is now sadly dropped from the exchange.

Sorry, I wish I would have caught this sooner. My superior organization
skills were distracted by the Olympics.

Too bad because it's too late for substitute prints and I had some willing
last minute volunteers. Sigh. One set short out of 60 participants isn't a
terrible thing.

COLLATING ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 24!!!

Finito, no mas!

Maria

O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O

Maria Arango

http://1000woodcuts.com

http://artfestivalguide.info

O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O

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Message 7
From: PLAWING # smumn.edu
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 03:31:27 GMT
Subject: [Baren 36672] Re: Preston's Work, Sanding, Japan Trip
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Thanks for the kind words. The site is dreadfully outdated, but at least whets the appetite.
I will add two years of NEW stuff shortly. The large woodcuts are 8' x 8', hand pulled, most
others are 24 x 36", or 18 x 24". I used a Foredom on several of the larger ones. I just completed
a 8'x 8' commission of a contemporary Mary, with almost 25,000 cut lines (9,000 square inches x 30 cuts per inch).
I will add several detailed photos as well.

Vitreography uses glass instead of zinc or copper as the matrix, can print editions with no plate wear,
colors are pure since there is no chemical reaction with the glass plate. I worked with Harvey Litteton
as his master printer for several years in his collaborative studio, before branching out on my own.
(http://www.littletoncollection.com/) prints can look
like lithographs, watercolor, etchings aquatints, woodcuts, silkscreen...all on the same print. Very neat,
but a little off topic. Feel free to contact me off forum for more info.

Thanks again.
Preston

Preston B. Lawing
Chair, Department of Art and Design
Saint Mary's University of Minnesota
700 Terrace Heights
#1421
Winona, MN 55987
(507) 457-1701
plawing#smumn.edu

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Message 8
From: Blog Manager
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 03:55:34 GMT
Subject: [Baren 36673] Baren Member blogs: Update Notification
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Message 9
From: ArtSpotiB # aol.com
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 07:09:36 GMT
Subject: [Baren 36674] Re: Sanding blocks
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Sharri.

Please tell us more about using Future floor wax. This one is a new one for
me!

Thanks.

ArtSpot Out
Benny Alba at OMebase

Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength. -Eric Hoffer, philosopher
and author (1902-1983)

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Message 10
From: Shawn + Elizabeth Newton
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 11:05:53 GMT
Subject: [Baren 36675] Re: linseed oil
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Wow, it was 98% humidity here in arkansas yesterday. i expect the same for the next week or so too.

:-)

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Message 11
From: "Terry Peart"
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:35:48 GMT
Subject: [Baren 36676] Re: linseed oil
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>I prepare my blocks
>by sanding to a 400 grit, scraping lightly, diluted walnut or sumi ink to
>darken the block a few shades, let dry and then oil.

What exactly does "scraping" mean? How do you go about it?

Thanks!
Terry
West Seattle

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[Baren] - the International Forum for Woodblock Printmaking

Volume: 44 / Number: 4493

Wednesday, 20th of August, 2008

Today's postings

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