woodcuts-msg - 7/5/08 Woodcuts. Printing with carved wood plates. NOTE: See also the files: woodcuts-lnks, early-books-msg, fabric-paint-msg, paper-msg, inks-msg, Blk-Walnt-Ink-art, wood-msg, merch-woods-msg. ************************************************************************ NOTICE - This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday. This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter. The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors. Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s). Thank you, Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous Stefan at florilegium.org ************************************************************************ From: Jan.Wagner at f56.n105.z1.fidonet.org (Jan Wagner) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Sources for Medieval woodcuts Date: Sun, 25 Sep 1994 14:11:00 -0800 You might want to take a look at "the Dance of Death" by Holbein. I can't remember if it was Holbein or Holbein the Younger who did this peticular work in woodcuts. Also, Alberecht Durer's "medium" was primarily woodcuts. He lived during the 15th century. Quite a lot of scientific journals(especially from Germany) display woodcuts. I think I remember seeing some in a traveling exposition from the 11th century, maybe earlier???? Get thee to thy local library and happy hunting! Gytha Woodcut --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The technique of making a print from a block of wood sawn along the grain (the term is also applied to the print so made). It is the oldest technique for making prints and its principles are very simple. The design is drawn on a smooth block of wood (almost any wood of medium softness can be used) and the parts that are to be white in the print are cut away with knives and gouges, leaving the design standing up in relief. This is then inked and pressed against against a sheet of paper. The origins of woodcut are obscure (the principle was employed in fabric printing in the Middle East at least as early as the 5th century AD), but woodcut as we know it appeared in Europe in the early 15th century; the earliest dated print is perhaps the St Christopher (1423) by an unknown artist in the John Rylands Library, Manchester. It was much used as an illustrative technique in the early days of printed books, but in the 16th century it lost ground to line engraving, which could produce much subtler effects. In the late 19th and early 20th century, however, there was a major revival of interest in the woodcut as a medium of original artistic expression, artists such as , and the German Expressionists realizing the potential of the rugged boldness that is characteristic of the technique. The coloured woodcut, using different blocks for each colour, was particularly popular in Japan. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [BoW94]© 17 Apr 1995, Nicolas Pioch - Date: Sun, 08 Nov 1998 00:49:39 -0800 From: Edwin Hewitt To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu Subject: Re: looking for info on woodcuts Stefan li Rous wrote: > I only have one brief message in my Florilegium files. Has anyone done any woodcuts? > Do you have any book recommendations? Did you print on paper? What kind of > paper and ink did you use? I've done wood-block prints, but it's been literally decades ago.I would recommend starting out with linoleum block printing because linoleum is easier to engrave because unlike wood it has no grain. With a sharp enough gouge, honed and stropped, the grain isn't really a problem, but linoleum gives you one less thing to worry about in the meantime. I used printers' ink because it was thick and rolled easily. I don't recall seeing multiple colored prints in period repros, but I've done it and it's certainly possible. Use the same original and trace the design using carbon paper onto a different block for each color. The blocks should be the same size so it is easy to register the image. I used cheap 80 lb. bond if I recall. If I had it to do again, I'd probably go for a nice, heavy deArches watercolor paper like the calligraphers use. A technique which imitates block printing or engraving without the mess is scratchboard - but I know of no period reference to that technique. Scratchboard is basically a white board with a prepared surface which will accept ink. You then scratch back through the ink. Very quick and simple, but you need to find a source for the board. I believe Aaron Bros and Michaels had it out here, but I haven't looked for a while. Edwin, Caid Date: Sun, 08 Nov 1998 23:57:58 +0000 From: "William T. Fleming" To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu Subject: Re: looking for info on woodcuts My Good Lord Stefan li Rous, I have made some woodcuts and am working on more but alas I have not been able to document any of my methods within period. When I made my first set of wood cut illustrations I used pine planks. The detail was not high and the ink had a tendancy to absorb into the wood. I played around with oak and dogwood but the results were not much better. Finaly I followed a suggestion from a master woodworker and began to use endcuts of wood. I cut my image, apply laquer to seal the woodcut, and then trim away any laquer buildup with a thin sharp blade. Good luck and please let me know what you come up with, Your servant, Lord Ruaidhri an Cu (Atlantia) Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1998 15:44:09 -0500 From: "Gray, Heather" To: "'sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu'" Subject: FW: looking for info on woodcuts Greetings to the list! Good my Lord Ruaidhri an Cu, I haven't been studying this recently, but I hope I have some information here that may be of use to you. A book recommended to me at one point was one by Hind, published by Dover books, called "An Introduction to a History of Woodcut". I don't think I've seen it yet, although I do have a book from Dover that has lots of woodcut prints in it, in which case this won't help you with your printing difficulties. I have a lovely book at home that I can send you the information on, perhaps tonight or tomorrow. It is a rather thorough history of wood block printing and also engraving. On types of wood, the book specifically mentions Pear wood. I believe pine may have been mentioned, but I don't remember at the moment. I can try to find out more later, but the book is not set up as a technical manual and I haven't had time to read the whole thing yet. On pine, perhaps a printing ink (letterpress or lithographic) might work better, but I haven't tried that. Of course, what you use all depends on how period you wish to be (I mean, I'd like to use the proper wood, but I'm not particularly interested in making my own ink -- to each their own). You might try bass wood if pear wood is unavailable to you; it has a straight, smooth grain, and you can get it at a number of art supply places. As far as I have been able to find out, endgrain is post period -- 18th century. The old way can last for quite a few printings, so I understand, but not nearly as many as endgrain, plus you need to be good about storing it flat so that the block doesn't do nasty things like warp. But unless you're planning on making hundreds of prints, endgrain probably isn't necessary. Another claim of endgrain is more precision in the quality of the line, which is true over time, but some of Albrecht Durer's prints were on wood and the detail is phenomenal. I don't know how many prints were made though, or if they made more than one master from his drawings. Elwynne Rowenna of Wentworth (East) Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1998 19:31:04 -0500 From: Margritte To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu Subject: Re: looking for info on woodcuts When I was researching late-period woodcuts, I found the following book absolutely invaluable. I doubt if it's in print. I got mine through interlibrary loan. _An Introduction to a History of Woodcut with a Detailed Survey of Work Done in the Fifteenth Century_, by Arthur M. Hind , Keeper of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum; in two volumes: Volume I The Primitives, Single Cuts and Block Books. Published by Constable and Company, Ltd., London, 1935. The most popular wood for these blocks was box wood. It has very little grain to interrupt the flow of the carving. However, box grows _very_ slowly, and is therefore very expensive and hard-to-get. Fruitwoods such as pear are a good alternative. -Margritte Date: Mon, 09 Nov 1998 20:14:20 -0800 From: Edwin Hewitt To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu Subject: Re: looking for info on woodcuts Stefan li Rous wrote: > Where would I get this (printers' Ink)? Office supply store? Art supply > store? I think I used to get it at Standard Brands, but I don't believe they are inbusiness - at least not out here. An art store which sells to any printers and lithographers would have it. It is quite thick and rolls on with a roller. One of the other posts mentioned a problem with the wood soaking up ink. This isn't much of a problem with printers' ink. I'm not sure how they would have thickened ink in period. Perhaps the addition of gum arabic? Any suggestions from the calligraphers? > Do you have any suggestions for books that have lots of period woodcuts > in them? I'd like to get a better idea for the period techniques or at > least the end result. First, a book on making wood blocks (skip down for a book of prints).I only have one book dedicated to wood block printing but it is fairly juvenile. It is "Wood Block Cutting and Printing" by Manly Banister, Sterling Publishing Co., NY, and Oak Tree Press Co., Ltd., London, 1976. This book says that just about any wood with a fine grain free of knots and pitch pockets are suitable for block printing. He says there are commercially prepared blocks of fruitwoods such as cherry and pear, but he also suggests the use of pine, basswood, poplar, aromatic red cedar, north hard maple and others. Tools it recommends are a skew knife with a double beveled edge, several v-gouges, and a bent square-ended chisel (to carve away larger areas). This would be a basic set and you can go from there. A lot of this is available from Harbor Freight for very little money if you have one near you. Harbor Freight isn't known for quality, but they can get you started. I know from experience that you must keep your chisels sharp. I take a strip of leather and rouge the flesh side. I then strop the chisels and gouges as I work. There's nothing more dangerous to your work and you than a dull tool! A dull tool will cause you to push harder and increase the likelihood of accidents. I have a lot of books which include wood block prints. My wife has several herbalist manuals with such illustrations. The only book I have which has exclusively wood block prints is "A Pictoral Archive of Quaint Woodcuts in the Chap Book Style" by Joseph Crawhall, Dover, NY, 1974 (originally printed in the 1890's). These are not period but they are of a period flavor. He patterned his work on the "archaizing, thick-lined woodcut style" which illustrated the broadsheets and chapbooks (for children and the semi-literate) in the 17th and 18th centuries. Edwin, Dreiburgen/Caid Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1998 11:55:56 -0800 From: Mary Miller Haselbauer To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu Subject: woodcuts Woodcuts are one of those projects that I've been wandering toward for some time. The books I've collected are Albrecht Durer part of the Great Masters series published by Park Lane 1994. this book appears to have no author or editor Early Low-German Bibles by Kenneth A. Strand 1967 Wm B Eerdmans Pub. Men, Women and God: German Renaissance Prints from the St. Louis Collections ed Barbara Butts et al, 1997 The Printed Word of Pieter Bruegel the Elder by Barbara Butts and Joseph Leo Loerner, 1995 The last two books are from the St. Louis Art Museum and are catelogs of shows I've seen. They both have some technical information about print making. All four books have many examples of period wookcuts. I got block printing ink from the local art supply store. They also had a set of blades made by Speedball specifically for cutting blocks. I got both for less than $10. (That's really good for Art Mart.) I lucked out and found brayers (rollers) at a garage sale. Slaine Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1998 16:55:01 -0500 From: rmhowe To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu Subject: Engraving and Carving Wood and Other Materials (Woodcuts) Stefan li Rous wrote: > I only have one brief message in my Florilegium files. > Has anyone done any woodcuts? > Do you have any book recommendations? An Introduction to a History of Woodcut, Vol I & II, by Arthur M. Hind ISBNs 0-486-20952-0 & 0-486-2953-9 Dover, 1963 with a detailed survey of the work done in the 15th Century by the late keeper of prints and drawings in the British Museum. Dover also has out a current work on Illustrations of Medieval Life (approximate title, someone has mine borrowed) that is all woodcuts. Wood Block Print Primer by Tomikichiro Tokuriki, Japan Publications Trading Co., Tokyo, San Franciso, New York. L.of Congress 79-115844, 1970, 61p., Illustrations covering the Japanese techniques, including multiple block printing techniques. Moku Hanga, How to Make Japanese Wood Block Prints by Keiko Hiratsuka Moore, Acropolis Books Ltd., Washington, D.C. 20009, 1973. ISBN 87491-358-6, L. of Congress 73-16597, 143 p. with biliography and list of suppliers. Hiroshige's Wood Block Prints, by Edward F. Strange, Dover ISBN 0486-24412-1, 1983, 202 pages. Block Prints, How to Make Them, by William S. Rice, Bruce Publishing Co., Milwaukee, 1941. 70 pages, primarily concerned with single block printing but giving a history. Recommends cherry, boxwood, pear, and other smooth grained woods. Also recommends red gum-wood. States the art began in Egypt, and then in China several centuries before the Christian era, then spread to Japan and the West. States the process was introduced to Europe about 1423. Names Durer and Holbein as masters of the art. Wood Engraving and Woodcuts, by Clare Leighton, How to Do It Series No. 2, The Studio Publications, London and New York. 1932, -44, -48. 96 pages, extremely broad and detailed range of very fine illustrations, some looking like metal engravings. This artist uses metal engraving burins in the book instead of chisels, but illustrates the work of many other artists. Burins are obtainable from jewelry supply houses listed in Lapidary Journal. I've used them for many years in metals, horn, ivory, plastics, wood. Much superiour to many types of chisels in terms of control. I recommend sharpening with diamond hones from EZE Lap. I recommend holding the burin blade across the corner of some solid object above the table and sharpening by moving the hone vertically against the face of the burin blade - unless you have an expensive burin sharpening device that holds it for you to move at a precise angle against a stone. Never done much wood engraving for printing but did a _lot_ of linoleum blocks in my teens - animals, club seals, lettering etc. Having used both chisels and burins (and having similar sets of both) I generally prefer a sharp burin where I don't have to worry too much about grain tearing out. I don't do blocks anymore but do various pieces of jewelry out of solid materials and plastic models for casting patterns. (I'm not looking for any work either, sorry.) I often scrape to desired smoothness with honed dental tools, many are like small chisels, and finally sand to about 400 - 600 grit. I recommend making multiple copies of your pattern in various sizes. The multiple copies aid in two things - one being that you can use different sizes to adjust to different purposes, or improve the lines on before you cut; two being that the other can be used as a study model as you work. I find them useful in fitting into borders of various sizes, or making up patterns for various items like dress accessories. Mix and match. Modify into new items. Remember your print will come out backwards. This means doing your letters backwards too. Many copy centers can do reversed copies for you. If you get into Japanese multiple block style printing you will need multiple copies the same size to register and cut a different block exactly to match the others for each color you will be using. Not an easy task by any means. Try it, you'll see. Taking the one you like rubber cement it to your material. Then take an extremely sharp knife and cut through your pattern leaving the lines in your material (works on most metals too). Remove the paper and rub off the cement. With non porous materials (not wood) I generally use magic marker in the lines and quickly wipe away the excess to highlite the lines to carve. Then I take a square bottomed engraving tool usually about 1/8 - 3/16" wide and use the corner to Vee outline my subject. Once this is done I proceed to detail with any necessary tools at my disposal. Finally I scrape to smoothness and sand where necessary. Scraping at diagonal angles aids in smoothing. I do most of my preliminary carving with the square tool. The engraving burins come in many patterns from diamonds, rounds, chisels, sharp edged, and even different widths with many teeth to cut lines. If you are cutting into wood - especially if you are not using end grain then you will need to provide some angled relief to support the edges that you wish to print with. In this case you will need to be very careful how deeply you cut through your pattern as it could damage the grain. I used ordinary block printing inks, inking brayers, and rag paper. Only had a simple press but it was enough to make and sell cards with. Magnus Malleus, OL, Windmasters' Hill, Atlantia; Great Dark Horde. Subject: RE: looking for info on woodcuts - long!! Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1998 09:16:23 -0500 From: "Gray, Heather" To: "'stefan at texas.net'" Good morning Stefan, The book I have is: The Renaissance Print 1470 - 1550, by David Landau and Peter Parshall. The ISBN is 0-300-05739-3, printed by Yale University Press. Although the focus is 1470 - 1550, there is information on printing from earlier, as part of the explanation of how printing came to be where it is by 1470. Bits of that information are scattered throughout the book (under general history, history of formation of guilds, etc.) I was incorrect on one thing -- it's pearwood, not pear wood. This may make a difference in finding it (for search purposes). The book covers so many aspects of printing, from when and where things were printed, to the subject matter printed, the spread of printing knowledge and trade, development of guild structures (printers got put in different types of guilds in different places), how and why printing developed the way it did, techniques, materials, etc. I bought my copy at the store/textbook annex at Stanford in California (I was visiting one of my brothers who works there), but I expect it could be found/ordered other ways. My book cost $35.00, which I thought was very reasonable for the quality of information (and also a rather large book), plus it has a wonderful bibliography. Here is what I've found on wood block materials in the book: "Firm documentary evidence detailing the exact sorts of woods used for blocks is scarce. The earliest reference known to us occurs in Tuscany in Cennino Cennini's _Trattato della pittura_ or ca. 1390, which recomends pearwood or nut wood blocks for textile printing. Especially later on in the sixteenth century one detects a regular preference for pear and boxwood, the latter brought into Europe from Asia Minor and the Black Sea. In 1558 the sculptor Alessandro Vittoria purchased, along with some drawings, a pearwood block for a chiaroscuro print bearing a design by Parmigianino. Vasari speaks of both pear and boxwood in his rather poorly informed discussion of woodcut-making. Jost Amman's _Panoplia_, or _Book of Trades_, prints a verse by Hans Sachs describing the procedures of a professional woodcut designer, a draftman or Reisser. Sachs speaks of him drawing his designs on a limewood plank." Originally some of Albrecht Altdorfer's woodcuts were once first thought to be out of boxwood, then as a species of hard European maple. "Other woods mentioned by modern commentators on early block cutting include various sorts of nut and fruit wood including beech, cherry, and apple. Yet the identification of ancient woods is a highly specialized undertaking, and none of these initial speculations was substantiated by sound scientific investiation." They finally did a lab analysis on an Altdorfer collection in Berlin and the best they could come up with was that the blocks were "among the fruit woods in the family Rosaceae including the common pear (Pyrus communis L.), apple (Malus sp.), and medlar (Mespilus germanica L.)" -- and they were able to tell that all the Altdorfer blocks were of exactly the same type of wood, whatever it is. The most important thing is that the grain must be regular, free of knots and splits, and finished to a very smooth, flat surface. "Imprefections in the plank were frequently overcome by cutting them out and inserting plugs. (Over time these plugs often contract, making the slight gap inthe design visible in late impresions.) It was typical for two or more planks to be joined together to make larger blocks, always with the graines running parallel to one another. The larger of Durer's survising woodblocks usually have metal cletes fastening the joined planks together." They don't know for sure if the cletes were added before or after the carving (may have been added later to help the blocks last longer). Many Renaissance woodblocks show that the surface was covered with "a thin ground of white paint, the better to recive the draftsman's design." Carboning, incising and pouncing, or pasting a design on paper onto the block may have also been used (the book has a descrip. of the last one). According to this book, endgrain may have been used in the latter part of the 16th century, but the proper term for working endgrain is wood engraving, not woodcut. It's supposed to be easier because you don't have to deal with the grain when cutting, and can do some really fine detail. Boxwood, one of the densest woods used, "approaches this property even on the plank surface". However, the book says that if it was used, it was probably mostly for things like "decorative initials or border panels used repeatedly by book publishers and conseqently subject to very heavy wear." The disadvantage of endgrain is that the pieces cut are generally smaller than plank cut, and so for a large piece would have to be clamped together. There isn't really evidence for endgrain being used, because different tools are needed for working endgrain (engraving tools versus carving knives). On ink: probably usually applied with a dabber (soft leather ball stuffed with rags). You dip it in the ink and then apply it to the print. Important to make sure there are no impurities in the ink that will clog the design. Also the viscosity is important. Must not be too sticky, or it will clog the design and you'll lose detail. There are some products on the market for cutting viscosity. I guess you have to experiment and find out what works. Having read the above information on wood, I suspect that pine may be too open a grain? But while boxwood is not particularly attainable (I did see one source on the Net a while back, at a lumber web site), cherry and maple should be. Basswood you can get at art stores. I've never tried looking for pearwood -- maybe I will this winter. What is your opinion on starting with linoleum blocks first? I've >had one person suggest it for beginning and another saying don't >bother because it carves too differently. On linoleum. Well, it is different from wood, but I suppose if that's what you can get, at least you can learn something about using the tools and the basics of printing. But since linoleum generally comes in thinner pieces, it won't feel the same when you're printing it (learning the amount of pressure to apply). While it may not be the best quality for printing, you're probably better off with a good quality pine. It isn't too expensive for learning on, you can get a general feeling for working with wood, and, if you don't actually print with it or can clean it really well, you can always throw the scraps on the fire to keep you warm :) There's also info on the paper, tools, presses, etc., but I haven't had time to read all that yet. Elwynne Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 18:09:30 EST From: froggestow at juno.com (Roberta R Comstock) To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu Subject: Re: looking for info on woodcuts On Wed, 11 Nov 1998 11:57:12 -0500 Margritte writes: >>Pearwood is one of the woods that was used -- is it fairly easy to >get? >> >>Elwynne > >Well, you probably aren't going to find it at Lowe's or Home Depot, >but it isn't impossible to find. I don't know where you live. Are there >any specialty wood or hardware stores around? If not, >woodworking magazines often have listings for mail order sources, >and many of these will offer what you need. > >-Margritte I haven't had time to do a web search, but I know Paxton's Beautiful Wood has stores in other cities besides Kansas City, MO. Paxton's is a woodworker's dream store (I think it's their equivalent of The Yarn Barn in Lawrence, KS - a fiber artisan's Mecca)! I go to Paxton's with my brother the woodworker when he comes to visit me. They have an amazing array of woods, tool, books, finishes, and more woods. There may be other wood specialty stores, but this is the one I am familiar with. When my son & daughter were little, their Grandpa went to a church pew company in Omaha and bought a gunny sack full of their hardwood scraps (mostly black walnut) which he made into a magnificent set of building blocks by merely sanding them and slightly rounding off the sharp edges and corners. You may be able to find a similar treasure trove in your area by looking for makers of wood products or local saw mills. I know Missouri has a number of Walnut Bowl stores and Oak Furniture manufacturers. There's also a place near Stockton, MO that specialized in walnut gunstocks. Cabinet makers may also have scraps of desireable woods, such as ash or birch, that would be good for woodcut block printing. Some butcher-block type cutting boards I have seen might be suitable for woodcut blocks. Check out your local thrift stores for great bargains on these. In a pinch, see if your local orchards sell the old trees they take out as firewood. You could cut decent blocks for end grain carving from some of the unsplit chunks. Or watch for neighborhood tree removals, city park clean-ups of storm damaged trees, and other serendipitous opportunities. Hertha Date: Sat, 14 Nov 1998 22:53:12 -0500 From: rmhowe To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu Subject: Woodblocks A few thoughts here. Pardon the rambling. Folks are talking about using endgrain and buying scraps to use. Why don't you just buy a turning square? A turning square is usually 2-4 inches square and long enough to make a table leg out of on the lathe. If you have a friend with a motorized miter saw, or even the supplier of the wood, they can cut it into a number of pieces according to your preference. Squares are available in many different woods. Cut to thickness you have your endgrain in convenient sizes. As to non exotic, easily found woods: Poplar is an extremely finely grained wood. It takes the best painted finish of any wood. It may not carve as easily as Pear but it sure is more common. (I'm making an assumption here as to what pear may carve like.) I can tell you pecan is very dense and warps easily. Some maples are fairly adaptive, although I certainly wouldn't want Curly Maple to carve in - Soft might not be too bad. Rock Hard maple is very descriptive. Basswood or most conifers (pines, spruces, firs) are too soft. You can stick your fingernails in them. Yellow pine alternates hard and soft grain too much. Stick with (deciduous (leafy)) hardwoods (a descriptive term, they come in many densities). I should stay entirely away from open grained wood like ash, or oaks. Walnut can be either fairly tight grained or somewhat porous. It is very hard and carves very crisply but it takes pressure and sharp tools. They sell fillers to fill the pores in such woods for a very good reason - they suck finish like sponges otherwise. But I don't think filler is the answer to the problem. It comes like a paste you rub in. On the other hand sealers aren't either. They are usually a cellulose filled paint or spray base, soft and made to be sanded before finish coats. They simply provide a smoother surface for the finishes to bond to. I liked the idea of finishing with something prior to inking. Shellac is usually a good sealer in many woods, for example it prevents bleed through of resins in coniferous woods, but is in turn easily affected by alcohol - which disolves it. I should think that a plastic finish such as a polyurethane might be a good choice - appropriately thinned before use so that it can sink into the wood grain. At this point it should be fairly impervious. To prevent warping, I should recommend treating all sides of your block. If you only treat one side, then the other will be subject to shrinking and swelling with the weather and will not remain as flat as you may prefer it. It may take more than one coat. Please consider this an opinion. My block printing experience was with linoleum - at the time I did it. However, I have had very many years serious experience working with various woods. At some point you are going to have to clean the ink off with some sort of solvent. Keep this in mind. Wood is composed of cells like a rather square honeycomb. Unfinished it is going to absorb the solvent and probably swell, especially if it is water based. If you GLUE UP blocks into your endgrain piece then I suggest you use one of the newer _waterproof_ glues like Titebond II. Water resistant glues _aren't_. Titebond II, resourcinol, or the newest glues (water activated, like Gorilla Glue) are water proof. Ordinary white or yellow carpenter's glue is not. Resourcinol is going to take 24 hours to set. It is also usually purple in color and gets quite hard. You don't want to get any of the waterproof glues on your clothes, if not washed out immediately they won't be once they set. Hide glue can harden enough to damage the edge on your tools once it is set, so don't use it. I've sealed some molds with resourcinol coats. Probably a bit thick for woodblocks though. It comes as a powder and a resin and you mix it. There are also plastic powder glues one can mix with water that become waterproof. One way to get things very flat if you don't have access to expensive equipment is to take a sheet of sandpaper and carpet tape it down to a flat surface like plate glass or a machined surface (sawtable, etc.) and carefully move your workpiece back and forth across it keeping in mind _where_ you are placing your hand pressure (It makes a big difference). It is quite possible to sand closer than a few thousands of an inch by hand. (I used to do half a thousandth's as a modelmaker). Use a reliable surface or straightedge to check by and check often. You could clip your sandpaper down to a _flat clipboard_ if you have to and use it on a hard surface like a table. I've seen some folks use clips at either end of a board to keep the paper from buckling. Another method to obtain a flat surface is to take a flat and straight piece of metal (aluminum extrusion) or heavy plastic and tape your sand paper to it - leaving part of it bare. Then one supports that bare end on a piece of material as thick as one wants the workpiece to be and moves the rough end over the workpiece. (There is a slight difference here to account for in the thickness of the paper and tape - you can shim your support with tape under it - but it sets you up for a parallel surface to attain.) Using this method is a bit harder but more accurate for parallelism. Magnus Subject: Exploding shields Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1998 09:29:15 -0500 (EST) From: David KUIJT CC: Merry Rose > However, this would have no connection at all with the "exploding" shield > design -- from memory, those designs have more in common with truck > leaf-springs and car-door hinges than a glued mosaic of parts. They > weren't designed to be ablative (destroyed gradually), either; if hit > correctly they were designed to shatter dramatically and completely. > There are a number of books with diagrams of the exploding shields; I > believe that the most easy-to-find illustrations are by Du"rer. I was close, but not perfect -- the woodcuts are not Du:rer, as it turns out, but his contemporary, Hans Burgkmair. At least two different shields of this spring-loaded exploding type are illustrated in _The_Triumph_of_Maximilian_I_, 1526, a long series of woodcuts by Hans Burgkmair and Albrecht Altdorfer (and possibly others). One such illustration is in "A History of British Wood Engraving" by Albert Garrett (London: Midas Books, 1978) ISBN 0 859360776, page 57. There are good pictures of the surviving trigger mechanism in "Arms and Armour of the Medieval Knight" (don't have a citation with me), and in the Osprey Elite series 17, "Knights at Tournament" Christopher Gravett, page 29. The Osprey also has an illustration from The Triumph of Maximilian I on page 49 showing another type of exploding shield, different from the one shown by Garrett in "A History of British Wood Engraving". Dafydd From: SabineKdL at yahoo.com (Sabine) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: ISO information about hand-tinted woodcuts Date: 11 Jul 2003 12:23:51 -0700 Gretchen Beck wrote > I'm looking for information about hand tinting woodcuts in the 15th-16th C. > I'm particularly looking for materials and colors, but technique > information would be useful as well. A google search turned up not much of > anything. > > toodles, margaret Bonjour Margaret! It sounds like you're looking for woodcuts that have been colored after printing -- is that correct? There was some printing with colored blocks that took place during the time period you mentioned, but as I understand it that wasn't as common a technique. After a bit of searching, I think that what you may want is Arthur M. Hind's _An Introduction to a History of Woodcut_. Unfortunately, I only have the second volume handy, and it's the first one that's described as discussing color. I can point you to a few examples on-line... Hand-colored woodcut ca. 1440: http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/wxyz/woodcut.html Another, from 1489: http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/world/human.html (scroll about halfway down) Early 16th-c hand-colored Dance of Death: http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/dres/dre014.jpg Hope this is at least moderately helpful! -Sabine Kerbriant Barony of Bhakail East Kingdom From: Mike Vincent Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: ISO information about hand-tinted woodcuts Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 10:59:25 -0500 I've done a bit of research on Woodcuts. It would help a bit to get a little more info in what you're trying to do? (cards etc) Offthe cuff, prints were hand "painted" as an extra service. You could buy a b and w print for one price or for quite a bit more a hand colored one. paints were simple cheap gum arabic thin solutions. Stenciling was real common. mighel of Calontir Edited by Mark S. Harris woodcuts-msg