tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40324036855549920332024-03-06T02:58:39.956-05:00Bumbling along...The adventures of a Southern Ontario letterboxer and stamp carverBumblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757879893200986680noreply@blogger.comBlogger257125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032403685554992033.post-25018014147660004092018-02-04T13:39:00.003-05:002018-02-04T13:40:05.183-05:00Not on Shelves Mini Meet<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin9_bH8DFc6eWH3cqNzaBvLSsMbpcTTnrvBMr_xtQCZTlSmhYj2xGiHklzIP2EWF4t_wNgqnzM2LtFxwYR9wsFD1j1dgl8wWXg8M_HicGu6zJDV7wgy3mbjrIJLCF7D_avDuyqhIZHp0Q/s1600/IMG_0300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin9_bH8DFc6eWH3cqNzaBvLSsMbpcTTnrvBMr_xtQCZTlSmhYj2xGiHklzIP2EWF4t_wNgqnzM2LtFxwYR9wsFD1j1dgl8wWXg8M_HicGu6zJDV7wgy3mbjrIJLCF7D_avDuyqhIZHp0Q/s320/IMG_0300.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
So, a much longer ago time than I care to admit, I came up with the idea of a stamp series that would be a bookshelf with book spines of books that don't really exist. You know, books that exist in fiction that have a fairly recognizable name, but don't actually exist in real life. Example: Hogwarts: a History (<i>well, it doesn't exist at the moment - I don't put it past JKR to actually write it</i>).<br />
<br />
I had even gone as far as creating the design and carving the bookshelf. I had transferred all of the bookspines onto OZ Kut when OZ was a new carving material - to give some of you a sense of the timing ;) And then they sat. And sat. Remaining mostly uncarved. I've changed jobs, moved homes... and those transferred carves sat waiting.<br />
<br />
Finally, at the 2017 Box ON (for which I'm horribly behind in posting about), I decided to get off my butt, finish the series and host a winter mini meet! <br />
<br />
Yesterday, the mini meet took place. It started off with a significant goof on my part: I forgot the event stamp at home and had to run home to get it. Other than that - the event went well.<br />
<br />
Sorta. Philosophical question for you: when is a letterboxing mini meet not a letterboxing mini meet? "Mini" means less than, shall we say, a regular Box ON! meet, right? But how small does it get before you can't call it a mini or even micro meet?<br />
<br />
At one point, there were around 20-23 people signed up, but for various and assorted reasons (I'm lookin' at you, mother nature!) that number dwindled down to 3.<br />
<br />
Don't get me wrong: any time you get to meet up with boxers is a great day. I had a blast, but I'm sad I didn't get to catch up with more boxers or that others didn't get to see the series. (For reasons you can guess, this isn't a series I can leave in the library...)<br />
<br />
It's all done though and would be really easy to re-host next year... I've been known to re-read many a book in my time...<br />
<br />
Happy trails!Bumblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757879893200986680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032403685554992033.post-25083633310505745382017-08-06T20:02:00.000-04:002017-08-06T20:02:14.050-04:00Carving Material Review: PZ Kut White and Orange<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOUt29hSMSI8D-HLZ1REH6ZG9Nhvob6dJNz3h23iGWzpc7MIrK-jQTumx3OF1ZLYaRwbwX70K56lDHjk4y9o4qXf7qZ1gcLDtd8dMGFDaFS2sADrej9D_BhkVA0UHtmjkQCPCd1Gf5ALU/s1600/IMG_7614.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOUt29hSMSI8D-HLZ1REH6ZG9Nhvob6dJNz3h23iGWzpc7MIrK-jQTumx3OF1ZLYaRwbwX70K56lDHjk4y9o4qXf7qZ1gcLDtd8dMGFDaFS2sADrej9D_BhkVA0UHtmjkQCPCd1Gf5ALU/s320/IMG_7614.JPG" width="240" /></a>Well, by popular request, I've decided to take my sharp implements to these two slabs of PZ Kut to bring you a review of both - but have discarded the usual design theme for that series to create something that can be used for this year's Box ON! That's right: if you want to see the following post's result in person (and perhaps whack me across the head in so doing) all you need to do is turn up!<br />
<br />
I have both a piece of white AND orange PZ Kut. I'm going to do a single post for both, but if you're new to this blog or letterboxing, you should know: this carving material is now extinct. You can no longer get it. This carving material
is no more. It has ceased to be. This is an EX-material! I've only come into possession of scraps due to the generous contribution of Fish Below the Ice.<br />
<br />
Oh man. Before I get started on this review, I gotta say, I had some serious angst doing this test. The unfortunate result of this carving review series of posts is that I've gotten <i>super</i> picky about what materials I carve and particular what I like. I had this suspicion that I wasn't going to like these materials because of my current feels about some of the harder-type materials that I had started carving with.<br />
<br />
So, because the resulting stamps are for Box ON!, you should be aware that the review contains spoilers. So, in case you don't want to see the image and design and spoil it for
when you actually see the stamps, I have the rest of this post below - you'll have to come back after the event ;) <br />
<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br /><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Q8ShIjtCmTw31JISvHODxogfkz_XkdjgOspbRU-Pf_92gq_KEZkCsmAi4VYTQN-oR5Od979EyXlfMwbGjqgExBHJzZa-_1Uul_u8R3RQDQDFlk_L6zF9EvATyPbDs16DQxwYN0jCvNw/s1600/IMG_7274.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Q8ShIjtCmTw31JISvHODxogfkz_XkdjgOspbRU-Pf_92gq_KEZkCsmAi4VYTQN-oR5Od979EyXlfMwbGjqgExBHJzZa-_1Uul_u8R3RQDQDFlk_L6zF9EvATyPbDs16DQxwYN0jCvNw/s320/IMG_7274.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<b>Appearance:</b><br />
<br />
Okay, it goes without saying: one is white and the other is orange. The white is a very dense and opaque looking white, a little creamy - not the screaming white of OZ Kut. The orange is slightly translucent - and screamingly orange. It loves to reflect light. It's quite the orange, this material.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFcLICd1uvqsK97pJ90OWkJq4s09Aj6olUDFlcfct1Cjw5k31p-snwuqeodAaSeYU4TZp7nNJSN5UpOPunJf22DtoXvJHRiz9-EgEjnf7grGaN_6bDv-p4cUbB4IKM8nJM6xOfEza7ADM/s1600/IMG_7054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFcLICd1uvqsK97pJ90OWkJq4s09Aj6olUDFlcfct1Cjw5k31p-snwuqeodAaSeYU4TZp7nNJSN5UpOPunJf22DtoXvJHRiz9-EgEjnf7grGaN_6bDv-p4cUbB4IKM8nJM6xOfEza7ADM/s320/IMG_7054.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pretty sure Fish cut this with a hack saw.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_2GkNBMMXdTyIyUA9nc1sXn700NnImsjNByFANshhbRC5s0E9aJ4OH9JQeHOxgv_04EpWBB9V_LoVUGOzLacOuixNH4YxgkVXp_JneLhyphenhyphen8zswLsDEOXcwHUDFb74_HtougtNrDyw0LOg/s1600/IMG_3307.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_2GkNBMMXdTyIyUA9nc1sXn700NnImsjNByFANshhbRC5s0E9aJ4OH9JQeHOxgv_04EpWBB9V_LoVUGOzLacOuixNH4YxgkVXp_JneLhyphenhyphen8zswLsDEOXcwHUDFb74_HtougtNrDyw0LOg/s320/IMG_3307.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's the only explanation, really.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b> </b><br />
<b>Size and Weight:</b><br />
<br />
Size-wise, they are both about 6 mm thick - I'm not sure what size the original blocks came in (these both clearly came fro larger blocks and their edges have been cut oddly).<br />
<b> </b><br />
<b>Crumble Factor:</b><br />
<br />
Neither material pills when rubbed (and no crumbling post-carve), but I did notice on both that one side was more velvety and the other was a little more shiny. I'm not sure if one is considered the "right" side to carve on. <a href="https://www.atlasquest.com/about/wiki/browse.html?gCatId=33#q94" target="_blank">Ye Olde AtlasQuest entry</a> suggests that the grade was written on the "wrong" side. Mine obviously don't have that. Eep. The other note is that you can see extruder marks on the wrong side - I see those on both, on the side I would consider the velvety side. Shiny-side transfer coming up!<br />
<b> </b><br />
<b>Transfer:</b><br />
<br />
I decided to try an acetone transfer - I'm preferring it nowadays on my other carving materials. It transferred... ok. Just okay. The white better than the orange.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3NQHex8woBDr71rufCBgcrLaw0Yfb6MmYcfWBYm8LFfsQKw-5BY7LMtlVqYfFWI1tmahWdGtSmYwUvLBC1slkWzcxcXlRpZDbxrU6la9kuysS1j4iReJYySa-sXbl87wUa2r_rozJtvM/s1600/IMG_3460.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3NQHex8woBDr71rufCBgcrLaw0Yfb6MmYcfWBYm8LFfsQKw-5BY7LMtlVqYfFWI1tmahWdGtSmYwUvLBC1slkWzcxcXlRpZDbxrU6la9kuysS1j4iReJYySa-sXbl87wUa2r_rozJtvM/s320/IMG_3460.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yeah, I know...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnGSulnMxLm91zP2E74rdaw7gBAWZN29AyHvCQ8IumMwhkEyV5tW54Gx7HkdKcZW4V7xrQmMSQrH4VQZBG5zulAuxjhjVECqPwZ6W9zV3uquUw78K97j5eUNG7G-pK8vkVu0O5zhX2HyQ/s1600/IMG_6038.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnGSulnMxLm91zP2E74rdaw7gBAWZN29AyHvCQ8IumMwhkEyV5tW54Gx7HkdKcZW4V7xrQmMSQrH4VQZBG5zulAuxjhjVECqPwZ6W9zV3uquUw78K97j5eUNG7G-pK8vkVu0O5zhX2HyQ/s320/IMG_6038.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">... I'm an idiot.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b> </b><br />
<b>Carving:</b><br />
<br />
I was scared. Super scared. My right hand's bones and sinew were recoiling in terror. Were these going to carve like Firm/MZ/NZ/OZ?<br />
<b> </b><br />
For the white: No. It was delightful. Delightful. I was completely taken aback. They were right. THEY WERE RIGHT! It was certainly harder than some of my other materials, but it was super smooth and the material *wanted* to be cut. When I took a gouge or knife to the material, it sliced very well and did not have any of that horrid elastic feel when taking pieces out. I really <i>really</i> liked carving text in this. Very nice.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i9.ytimg.com/vi/fc-goOwYJWI/default.jpg?sqp=CNDRnswF&rs=AOn4CLD9HCT5rvJkrQ7fMf42QTxFASbFdQ" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fc-goOwYJWI?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
Orange: Meh. Okay, it was harder than the white, but not that great. It had this neat feature that with a knife, the cuts went lighter so that you could see where you sliced. The pieces broke out well, but the colour made things hard to see...<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkUsa8BoD5NFbF1xrTPgWZnMUKFYeM2_FRfAp0nLUHh4EyekcohgCtbh3nWkJ8Vudlcddogotklnfwb8RVYsbZDH-n4IKHi662O_U7_xegVvI1YNv1WaKhBGWox5poRXdeh9aNNIBpGrQ/s1600/IMG_1917.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkUsa8BoD5NFbF1xrTPgWZnMUKFYeM2_FRfAp0nLUHh4EyekcohgCtbh3nWkJ8Vudlcddogotklnfwb8RVYsbZDH-n4IKHi662O_U7_xegVvI1YNv1WaKhBGWox5poRXdeh9aNNIBpGrQ/s320/IMG_1917.JPG" width="240" /></a></b></div>
<br />
<b>Inking:</b><br />
<br />
I'd probably say that the inking was pretty average: the ink beaded up a bit - but not horribly - on the stamp. The ink was pretty even, so it's not too much of a problem, and I know there are ways to get the ink to sit better on the rubber (sanding or acetone).<b> </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoB66_ShaFSDhknsqn9UVunmbYpqgSzpte_HPAb9C6QB0J3rRcU-wOuTqwdQiEoya-c2TCgB4t_yUwJuBNvjdXVk8gFnVtgVQeKX5fR3jc698hyphenhypheneDcrsoJhxawlnieIuPEGbkrd0tFMAo/s1600/FullSizeRender+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoB66_ShaFSDhknsqn9UVunmbYpqgSzpte_HPAb9C6QB0J3rRcU-wOuTqwdQiEoya-c2TCgB4t_yUwJuBNvjdXVk8gFnVtgVQeKX5fR3jc698hyphenhypheneDcrsoJhxawlnieIuPEGbkrd0tFMAo/s320/FullSizeRender+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<b>Conclusions: </b><br />
<br />
Now that I've had the opportunity to carve PZ, I know just how far OZ is from being White PZ. The differences between Firm Kut, MZ Kut, NZ Kut and then OZ... they all seemed about the same difference from one another... As a result, I just assumed based on the reactions of the PZ Kut carvers that came before that OZ was just one more equidistant formulation away from being PZ. It's not. It's a pretty major leap away.<br />
<br />
I can totally understand now why carvers miss both white and orange PZ. If it was back on the market now... to be honest, I'd still go with a couple of the Asian formulations, but this white stuff is leaps and bounds better than most.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZZgt6RAGdITI5Ju0LD1vJc6ruyo2cOuErf5o-PykrGHf8DyOZQgVI0CIKr8fr2JxlmREqjOJyoV4fuCxgHA7xLT4DMSz9xcFQaxETzr5vEi-zz-ReUdXHSoqqkCp9G4nQsTLrOdxerBc/s1600/IMG_3617.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZZgt6RAGdITI5Ju0LD1vJc6ruyo2cOuErf5o-PykrGHf8DyOZQgVI0CIKr8fr2JxlmREqjOJyoV4fuCxgHA7xLT4DMSz9xcFQaxETzr5vEi-zz-ReUdXHSoqqkCp9G4nQsTLrOdxerBc/s320/IMG_3617.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The last 2x2" piece is going to a good home.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Bumblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757879893200986680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032403685554992033.post-68741334917295598542017-06-04T13:19:00.000-04:002017-06-04T13:19:03.932-04:00Hoarding PZ Kut *or* why I owe Fish Below the Ice and apology...
<div>
So it has been a while since my last post about Box ON. But I have a terrible secret... and guilt.
</div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
As a result of a very generous gift from Fish Below the Ice, I am in possession of the following: </div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKfMfQweJzfPVQG4PrAJi88mCesRfltbJr8ILvqZGDT0YVHLME5x0BA9R0jGc9v2TKoxvlVPcwVw22z8w4w8UbFFZp7b-cSL8-53_FFe0LV95nPF3pNSmuO2yHQW7Lk0tw7GPwTXdSp9U/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-06-04+at+1.14.06+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="609" data-original-width="811" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKfMfQweJzfPVQG4PrAJi88mCesRfltbJr8ILvqZGDT0YVHLME5x0BA9R0jGc9v2TKoxvlVPcwVw22z8w4w8UbFFZp7b-cSL8-53_FFe0LV95nPF3pNSmuO2yHQW7Lk0tw7GPwTXdSp9U/s320/Screen+Shot+2017-06-04+at+1.14.06+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
If you're new to letterboxing or stamp carving (ie. post-2010?) you won't have any idea what is in that photo. Maybe even if you are a long term boxer, you won't have seen this in a while... that right there is both white and orange PZ Kut.
</div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
I don't know all the lore of the PZ Kut, but from what I have gleaned over the years, it was a pretty devastating blow to the stamp carving community when it was discontinued. I started boxing and carving *just* after the two formulas disappeared...
</div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
The reasons for its discontinuance also seem somewhat a mystery to me: I think I understand that there was a component of the formulation (unicorn blood?) that is no longer allowed to be used....
</div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
In any event, I've been gifted with this amazing stash that I morally should put this to good use - I should not squander the opportunity. But I am in complete mental deadlock. Part of my concern is that I might like it - but then never have it again! Opposite concern: that I really *won't* like it, and have taken the opportunity to carve it away from someone who does (or face a lynch-mob of people who disagree with me).
</div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
Here are the options:
</div>
<ul style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px; text-align: start;">
<li>Carve both the white and orange to contribute to the carving material comparison reviews (I believe Fish implied that's what they're for).</li>
<li>Regift (I think Fiddleheads would bear me a child for this stuff)</li>
<li>Carve both as contribution carves for this year's Box ON</li>
<li>Continue to hoard them until I have better information...</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So. Thoughts? Advice please!
</div>
Bumblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757879893200986680noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032403685554992033.post-3192248833938479522017-03-20T21:39:00.000-04:002017-03-20T21:39:42.839-04:00Box ON! 2016 <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie_o2hpUI-IIQG-qOS9y0uSBgw7Z3JrpWOrmw46KPd15IlY0lwguDIVlKlWpp1iCmyA9hz0YCVeY9QmXXEPEbLG7drspaAvt15uTkE9_B97IeHcBc521307bzEJVCd5LikIr4DY7R1XNM/s1600/IMG_5487.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie_o2hpUI-IIQG-qOS9y0uSBgw7Z3JrpWOrmw46KPd15IlY0lwguDIVlKlWpp1iCmyA9hz0YCVeY9QmXXEPEbLG7drspaAvt15uTkE9_B97IeHcBc521307bzEJVCd5LikIr4DY7R1XNM/s320/IMG_5487.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Battlefield Park, Stoney Creek, Ontario</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Hello and welcome to my long neglected blog! If you're just joining me, you'll find that you want to bash me in the head sometimes because I forget to post somewhat important things... One of those important letterboxing things is Ontario's premiere letterboxing event: Box ON!<br />
<br />
<br />
Last year was the ninth year of Box ON! and was hosted by a brave letterboxer and his family who have not themselves been to one of these events. I think the established letterboxing community would agree that he hosted a wonderful event that was enjoyed by all! So many thanks and much kudos to Bon Echo for hosting an amazing event!<br />
<br />
For this edition of Box ON!, we all headed to Stoney Creek, Ontario to Battlefield Park, which was (is) located helpfully off of the highway and has direct access to the Bruce Trail.<br />
<br />
<br /><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW-Cz4EcVSpx2GlFviiQRZZjG7HXOXZH9jTYJVnhRDfHIjoh3o-SJPc-TmXlTZzk2gClfRKPqBIYpQfm4Fb_pKGw6RbmD8mFdhWYx2QWDOsPJHrzY0_3Tg09Mk1JF1vkClvpEna21wUlU/s1600/IMG_5485.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW-Cz4EcVSpx2GlFviiQRZZjG7HXOXZH9jTYJVnhRDfHIjoh3o-SJPc-TmXlTZzk2gClfRKPqBIYpQfm4Fb_pKGw6RbmD8mFdhWYx2QWDOsPJHrzY0_3Tg09Mk1JF1vkClvpEna21wUlU/s320/IMG_5485.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
As per usual for these events, it was lovely to reconnect with Ontario
boxers and meet some folks who drove in from out of the Province - the
carvings were spectacular as usual, and Mother Nature held out for us
and only gave us a sprinkle at the end of the day.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwEC3oOdGj5cQuH9vnOu6rekobQRPuWqTAeLEaDGzWzrdI5RpO5YnMKF37H6UB3Ade4wGx6hd0RJO4wyqZXkp1644is4SaLnx8tt_KpsyS_8Yo0d-26PC3wxq3Lm7Bifx2iGMRISLD1Fc/s1600/IMG_5492.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwEC3oOdGj5cQuH9vnOu6rekobQRPuWqTAeLEaDGzWzrdI5RpO5YnMKF37H6UB3Ade4wGx6hd0RJO4wyqZXkp1644is4SaLnx8tt_KpsyS_8Yo0d-26PC3wxq3Lm7Bifx2iGMRISLD1Fc/s320/IMG_5492.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Which way is north? An important question in Hamilton where the lake is north, unlike most of Southern Ontario.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8-zJ-HxsH_im6ZFFBPzYERH643XG9GwuoxfLnZbNh26D6vZEV_i3VxktouTl6feM2Lhfbd13rhx2Z0KZG-DZpMqUie8_N7Hyxm8KkxeOts_ab0K5f23WekcLUC7oEs069tr-shV6LebQ/s1600/IMG_5493.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8-zJ-HxsH_im6ZFFBPzYERH643XG9GwuoxfLnZbNh26D6vZEV_i3VxktouTl6feM2Lhfbd13rhx2Z0KZG-DZpMqUie8_N7Hyxm8KkxeOts_ab0K5f23WekcLUC7oEs069tr-shV6LebQ/s320/IMG_5493.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
Myself, I loved the venue because I am growing every increasingly appreciative of historic buildings and places... I haven't had a chance to visit during the war reenactments, but it's something I may look into.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFAAZcKjwvn_ONc7KWstk-_oGyOnvPU0pQA9AIQAwrJNuSL3VmmbQ2jALkUn02xkD0MSh1zRvFotU2RLrf3ObDNXIsml9ouQxrcv2lokVW7SnQb3EqbROBejnYBqFOqwENqkQp0xD4Itc/s1600/IMG_5491.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFAAZcKjwvn_ONc7KWstk-_oGyOnvPU0pQA9AIQAwrJNuSL3VmmbQ2jALkUn02xkD0MSh1zRvFotU2RLrf3ObDNXIsml9ouQxrcv2lokVW7SnQb3EqbROBejnYBqFOqwENqkQp0xD4Itc/s320/IMG_5491.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
In fact, this place is a bit of a historic letterboxing location for myself. One of <a href="https://www.atlasquest.com/showinfo.html?boxId=160742" target="_blank">Gwynlais' purple-diamond-worthy letterboxes,</a> which has been planted since 2010, is still alive and well. Although I have already found this box, because the folks I was boxing with wanted to claim the find for themselves, I got to see my old log from spring 2011 (now six years ago, what?!) and one of my original signature stamp impressions.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlO5cNZXiY5T0MaJ-fXNIXueMZALKkpy0XezNz8lpeuw81rHDkh06QxBx6hR1uF8OU3Oid-mRJRreQaOTIDosavmYplcEdGQepJMl8fW10LNk4Q2eo10m4mtzFit5ycDOAez_CIqpva6M/s1600/IMG_5495.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlO5cNZXiY5T0MaJ-fXNIXueMZALKkpy0XezNz8lpeuw81rHDkh06QxBx6hR1uF8OU3Oid-mRJRreQaOTIDosavmYplcEdGQepJMl8fW10LNk4Q2eo10m4mtzFit5ycDOAez_CIqpva6M/s320/IMG_5495.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A letterboxing find from 2011.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling so well this day, so I didn't find as many boxes as I would have liked, but it was a lovely visit and a wonderful day to be boxing. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCu663tQQfValOliFUPojj7nAM0icsGkVN3hUc1crquaOshptl1PN9S3OFNntZAovYNZFfOE_1r5dQEjJKCLSata-3jpM5_Z6RY67_7sPWCfVcdwP8-rRcnVHTxOb7_cj0JamSniLpv50/s1600/IMG_5498.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCu663tQQfValOliFUPojj7nAM0icsGkVN3hUc1crquaOshptl1PN9S3OFNntZAovYNZFfOE_1r5dQEjJKCLSata-3jpM5_Z6RY67_7sPWCfVcdwP8-rRcnVHTxOb7_cj0JamSniLpv50/s320/IMG_5498.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thems some boxes in them thar rocks.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So many thanks once again to Bon Echo who did a fantastic job. Fiddleheads has once again taken the chair for <a href="https://www.atlasquest.com/showinfo.html?eventId=3812" target="_blank">Box ON! 2017 - Time Warp.</a> This will be the 10th year of the Ontario event and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again - hope everyone will sign up!<br />
<br />
Happy (Bruce) trails!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhzEuTc1fWfHy8xYykmg5eYvlfIrlurMTF0WYpCHcuRHGR7GPHGRVh3SjobfpsDm02uKL2r5SvMNeUspT19bsYEeqCQ9HVF9F0BujAds6lMslmouPQhQsRztNrcdYhn2obniQiYCaKaFI/s1600/IMG_5503.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhzEuTc1fWfHy8xYykmg5eYvlfIrlurMTF0WYpCHcuRHGR7GPHGRVh3SjobfpsDm02uKL2r5SvMNeUspT19bsYEeqCQ9HVF9F0BujAds6lMslmouPQhQsRztNrcdYhn2obniQiYCaKaFI/s320/IMG_5503.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bruce Trail marker, Stony Creek, Ontario</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Bumblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757879893200986680noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032403685554992033.post-64609153471376169732016-07-18T08:06:00.000-04:002016-07-18T08:06:58.982-04:00Carving, carving, carving... {SPOILERS}Ahoy! I've been having a great, but busy, summer so far and I'm really looking forward to the end of August because I've got some time off and am doing a staycation. Need to get out there and do some letterboxing during that time, methinks ;)<br />
<br />
One of the things I've been working on is helping Bon Echo with some stamps for <a href="http://www.atlasquest.com/showinfo.html?eventId=3655" target="_blank">Box ON! Stoney Creek</a>. {You should come! For anyone reading this who doesn't know where Stoney Creek is, it's just a short drive from the US border if anyone wanted to make the trek} And one of the stamps I just finished is the event stamp... Read on if you don't mind being spoiled ;)<br />
<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br /><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyHHGVGYPGruBuZzpDt1-otK-AM4cXfkiBty_VsbEs46kwOupWTzU5mh3DFjRVeF6IJNWie2DkmnWndVf58V34dkdWiDZHMZfLYTtrTUdkUc_RNUSKwtIIbqIpHYISWRuWlUY3cxB1pKY/s1600/Photo+2016-07-14%252C+6+20+15+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyHHGVGYPGruBuZzpDt1-otK-AM4cXfkiBty_VsbEs46kwOupWTzU5mh3DFjRVeF6IJNWie2DkmnWndVf58V34dkdWiDZHMZfLYTtrTUdkUc_RNUSKwtIIbqIpHYISWRuWlUY3cxB1pKY/s640/Photo+2016-07-14%252C+6+20+15+PM.jpg" width="156" /></a>I'm loving the hard-type Seed material so much, I decided to just carve a whole block of it for the event stamp. If you're coming, make sure you have adequate space in your log book!<br />
<br />
Here is just a slice of what it looks like and what it stamps like. Did you really think I'd spoil the whole image? Why, cuz I did it before? No worries, this time it's not my event, so I'm happy to just tease it.<br />
<br />
The carving material has this light pink-ish layer on top of a gorgeous chocolate colour with was lovely to carve. Because of the pinkish layer, the design shows in the stamp before you even ink it up, but slightly blurry because the pink is thicker. But when it stamps? It comes out great.<br />
<br />
I was at a bit of a loss to come up with an image for the stamp, and that honestly took me 4-5 times longer than it did for me to carve. I decided on something that was more related to letterboxing, and I'm happy with how it turned out.<br />
<br />
Next, I'm off to start carving some of the stamps to fill in series, help Bon Echo out. If you're interested in donating some stamps, <a href="http://www.atlasquest.com/showinfo.html?trackerId=8965" target="_blank">he's got a tracker </a>up and would welcome any donations :)<br />
<br />
I'm getting excited to see everyone at the event this year!<br />
<br />
Happy trails!Bumblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757879893200986680noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032403685554992033.post-78064003870380098112016-07-16T09:04:00.000-04:002016-07-16T09:04:30.402-04:00Carving Material Review: Daiso's Eraser Stamp<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZB5Z_gqds5zJvd6Fpt6HDaItjgZC6H6_PdqThyuzQBvBQepm6hwWSZyxtIAGlXqgSKLUzHlZ5DCGWqTXhFgglwzLJhw1olHdAmlaCqwfz0thkDXO2DSvIZfy1_r13SbxB6D72YkJx4WI/s1600/Photo+2016-07-14%252C+5+49+47+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZB5Z_gqds5zJvd6Fpt6HDaItjgZC6H6_PdqThyuzQBvBQepm6hwWSZyxtIAGlXqgSKLUzHlZ5DCGWqTXhFgglwzLJhw1olHdAmlaCqwfz0thkDXO2DSvIZfy1_r13SbxB6D72YkJx4WI/s320/Photo+2016-07-14%252C+5+49+47+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a>This carving material review post comes once again from the lovely people in Japan, who clearly know what they're about when it comes to stamp carving.<br />
<br />
I stumbled across this particular carving medium while searching broadly for any kind of carving material that might be out there in the world.<br />
<br />
Daiso itself is a fairly popular 100 yen store and has brick and mortar shops in Asia, as well as Australia and the west coast of the US. They also have an online presence for the US <a href="http://www.daisojapan.com/" target="_blank">here</a>. In essence, they are a dollar store which happened to carry a Daiso-branded carving eraser material. I mean, how good could it be? My expectations were quite low for this stuff, but I did want to try it for the purposes of this blog.<br />
<br />
You won't find this stuff for sale online in their web store. If you Google "Daiso eraser stamp" you'll find some great English blogs talking about stamp carving and such, but you'll notice they just drop off around 2013. I *think* this was a temporary offering by Daiso, and I believe they discontinued it sometime around that period.<br />
<br />
Having said that, slabs still exist, but they are hard to find and will slowly disappear. This obviously has a consequence for trying to get this stuff. So, originally, at 100 yen, you're looking at a cost of C$1.24 or U$0.95. Keep in mind, the block is not 4x6", rather about half that size. However, at that price it's pretty great! Things are never so simple though: because it's no longer being made, you will only find this by resellers and you need to pay for shipping. As of writing this, I could not find any on eBay and the only people selling it are on Etsy, at around C$5 per slab plus shipping. Um. Yeah.<br />
<br />
Is it worth it?<br />
<b><br /></b>
<br />
<a name='more'></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzGgWeFFs8FWctVuRz7KO55peEILENHi_VkRO8BI3MDbvxTCDL-Tae8EZBVa8uUe8k1_vrh5VStAvecn5i0guCARCAePQUbZ-t_jdWvXdV5ZcWSjkja33Hnt37K2V-NTlaBrPbNCJdLs8/s1600/Photo+2016-07-14%252C+5+50+58+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzGgWeFFs8FWctVuRz7KO55peEILENHi_VkRO8BI3MDbvxTCDL-Tae8EZBVa8uUe8k1_vrh5VStAvecn5i0guCARCAePQUbZ-t_jdWvXdV5ZcWSjkja33Hnt37K2V-NTlaBrPbNCJdLs8/s200/Photo+2016-07-14%252C+5+50+58+PM.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Front - Click to enlarge.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Appearance:</b><br />
<br />
Like the other Japanese carving materials, this stuff comes in a bright colourful package with, well, actually quite a bit of English on it, including some fairly decent carving directions on the back.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW5injHAh-65CHJ0pgV5AbIKTZRFvGoEhHlVyZXqA41g9WRzF88tjok8diX_SkmfUpW-LzrS5xDnHEYW7uE68BzGQZ6Ypk5Nk6S50ezaZ8vsw_NFBIlOflX6-PiLb7dR1JYLVs7AJy7RA/s1600/Photo+2016-07-14%252C+5+50+23+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW5injHAh-65CHJ0pgV5AbIKTZRFvGoEhHlVyZXqA41g9WRzF88tjok8diX_SkmfUpW-LzrS5xDnHEYW7uE68BzGQZ6Ypk5Nk6S50ezaZ8vsw_NFBIlOflX6-PiLb7dR1JYLVs7AJy7RA/s200/Photo+2016-07-14%252C+5+50+23+PM.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back - Click to enlarge.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b> </b><br />
<b></b><br />
I've included photos of the front and back here so that you can see/read all of those details, they can be enlarged by clicking on them.<br />
<br />
The material actually has three layers like the Chinese sandwich blocks do, however, this one has three different colours, and bright blue and a bright yellow on the outside, white in the middle.<br />
<br />
The packaging helpfully says that you can carve either side of the block, but also says that "color changes when you rub" which I think is just a bad translation to mean that the colour changes when you carve it (no amount of rubbing changed the colour for me).<br />
<br />
The slab itself feels much nicer than I thought it would, having been specifically been advertised as an "eraser" stamp (which I wrongly assumed to mean that it would be more eraser-like and pill). Instead, this has a shiny/velvety feel that is quite nice and doesn't pill. The material is fairly flexible, but not floppy.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEiQ7zdT7WKRSQIEUQ7hhqOCT1tPuSTzopBGdCOJ23kK3mTSGdDYJ8TDb4SfjiafnJAX9dzu6UJHkdNMCurhs8d9uEIDQnpxpqLl8V6AKmPlx9CECptxl7mXLFTBAO4VZQXTISIbrVtpQ/s1600/Photo+2016-07-14%252C+5+51+53+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEiQ7zdT7WKRSQIEUQ7hhqOCT1tPuSTzopBGdCOJ23kK3mTSGdDYJ8TDb4SfjiafnJAX9dzu6UJHkdNMCurhs8d9uEIDQnpxpqLl8V6AKmPlx9CECptxl7mXLFTBAO4VZQXTISIbrVtpQ/s320/Photo+2016-07-14%252C+5+51+53+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<b></b><br />
<b></b>
<b>Size and Weight:</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<br />
Okay, so the width is about 6 mm, so in and around the usual widths for carving slabs - just thick enough to use unmounted, but a good thickness if you choose to mount it later.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU8HH1Q_rZBbglLefx5jfO8NdfSmepKBnsEjZzPd1EGAgM1h3f4lrqEKS-Ts9bBp3m8_SL38j-5zCxAZnEcnUnp1rM4pBbgmgdoUifDDWYvHqYT_t5SP5UyukL5zw5QiRbF7l-GV7WQDA/s1600/Photo+2016-07-14%252C+5+53+25+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU8HH1Q_rZBbglLefx5jfO8NdfSmepKBnsEjZzPd1EGAgM1h3f4lrqEKS-Ts9bBp3m8_SL38j-5zCxAZnEcnUnp1rM4pBbgmgdoUifDDWYvHqYT_t5SP5UyukL5zw5QiRbF7l-GV7WQDA/s320/Photo+2016-07-14%252C+5+53+25+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Transfer using heat</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b></b>
<b>Transfer:</b><br />
<br />
Perfect heat transfer.<b> </b>At this point, my heart awakened and started to take notice...<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Crumble Factor:</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b></b><br />
None, rubbing this resulted in no pilling, and once carved, no crumbling whatsoever.<br />
<br />
(As an aside: I'm glad no one is around when I'm testing this, cuz I sit there rubbing and otherwise massaging my stamps which just seems like serial-killer behavior to me.)<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Carving:</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<br />
The only way I can describe the carving experience is that I think this <i>must</i> be stuff that is made by Seed and rebranded. Although thinner, the formulation seems <i>so</i> close to that of the Seed block.<br />
<br />
Knife carving the text was an absolute delight. The knife only needed gentle pressure, the rubber wanted to be carved. The knife followed the lines perfectly. My biggest problem with Speedy Carve is that even with a brand new knife, the rubber wiggles around as you're carving it - but not this stuff. No, the block stays exactly where it is and practically welcomes the blade with open arms.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYO7MrdmAoN9TU_3j-yotZ_ZvWfexwFamaWrLrXID__dI57bQcbb1qL0ElKTHPAwVuuSwaEfvpS6Jh3wGQz1pmtghfc2A8NW5pzT3jXe68zD0AELW13ma72RSoX4XbXuVX4YnIfkI_NYg/s1600/Photo+2016-07-15%252C+7+09+13+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYO7MrdmAoN9TU_3j-yotZ_ZvWfexwFamaWrLrXID__dI57bQcbb1qL0ElKTHPAwVuuSwaEfvpS6Jh3wGQz1pmtghfc2A8NW5pzT3jXe68zD0AELW13ma72RSoX4XbXuVX4YnIfkI_NYg/s320/Photo+2016-07-15%252C+7+09+13+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
In fact, see the pillars in the Petra design? Typically, I would need to use a different knife maneuver to make each slice along the length of the cut because once you cut one side, the other typically starts wiggling and bunching. <i>But this stuff didn't.</i> This stuff was magical to carve.<br />
<br />
The gouge experience was just the same. Loved it.<br />
<br />
<b>Inking:</b><br />
<br />
Now, maybe this stuff would fall flat when inking. C'mon! They're selling it for a dollar! It can't be this good! Wrong... Look at those positive areas! The ink, so even and smooth... Not blotchy or missing... Gawd.<br />
<b> </b><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8LxixawvFrYPLjPajVjxXTMDvt8rWiqCFJ5F-XVsWAVhd0iuOw4bxn_HEL2c2hAkjpTR-yc7oGofA_OnNaRFoEMmmb8W7bIuKETFQj7hbCLHzGtvQlbu8LGU0TAuRly4iDe9TI7-h27Q/s1600/Photo+2016-07-15%252C+7+12+07+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8LxixawvFrYPLjPajVjxXTMDvt8rWiqCFJ5F-XVsWAVhd0iuOw4bxn_HEL2c2hAkjpTR-yc7oGofA_OnNaRFoEMmmb8W7bIuKETFQj7hbCLHzGtvQlbu8LGU0TAuRly4iDe9TI7-h27Q/s400/Photo+2016-07-15%252C+7+12+07+AM.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click to enlarge</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b> </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Conclusions:</b><br />
<br />
I really, really like this stuff, and if it were possible to get it at the original price point here it Canada, I'd make a hard switch. However, because it isn't and it is hard to find, it's somehow actually *more* expensive than Seed's carving blocks when you factor in shipping and the reseller's markup.<br />
<br />
So, in the intro, I know I said the material has been discontinued, which I do believe to be true.<br />
It would appear however, from the Japan Eraser Stamp Creators Association (JESCA), that a new version of the eraser stamp has already been released or will soon be released that is the full postcard size (4x6"). You can <a href="http://keshigomu-hanko.com/jp/archives/1731" target="_blank">check that post here</a>. Unfortunately, the post also notes that the old version was made in Japan, but the new stuff is to be made in China - so the actual formulation may end up being different. So, if any readers are in the California area where the Daiso stores are, I'd love to know if you're able to find these in store :)<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji3VQj1GdKwkdpUoaZAV-A1tBLPPIy5ViEDGT1UzS9gPsQHfcIrGSCRmbqxUkFjauUUopilF8SHY9aNs1sWoJc731w6jgv3kFKWdO7_shWMxO62WhbWVHT4MYfXcUMQd3YxtCu47LOdO0/s1600/20160414a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji3VQj1GdKwkdpUoaZAV-A1tBLPPIy5ViEDGT1UzS9gPsQHfcIrGSCRmbqxUkFjauUUopilF8SHY9aNs1sWoJc731w6jgv3kFKWdO7_shWMxO62WhbWVHT4MYfXcUMQd3YxtCu47LOdO0/s400/20160414a.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From JESCA - perhaps a new Daiso Eraser Stamp slab will be available soon - old on left, new on right?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Bumblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757879893200986680noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032403685554992033.post-83539360225122903582016-07-15T07:30:00.003-04:002016-07-15T07:30:57.726-04:00Carving Material Review: Butter Kut from Stampeaz <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg7uwSKfnZ084ZuKeq11WwM0UwkVTMMqqmbsm4tppPzIdTvWbJ3PbnE_zKgPTrPtYuqM6s-bTjozBMmXO53gCCLf-VtbvdsFEepOQcWxRRQPcYS7vRH3cRx4_B7wMXuR8LV4LjoOZd74o/s1600/Photo+2016-07-14%252C+5+48+41+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg7uwSKfnZ084ZuKeq11WwM0UwkVTMMqqmbsm4tppPzIdTvWbJ3PbnE_zKgPTrPtYuqM6s-bTjozBMmXO53gCCLf-VtbvdsFEepOQcWxRRQPcYS7vRH3cRx4_B7wMXuR8LV4LjoOZd74o/s320/Photo+2016-07-14%252C+5+48+41+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Butter Kut from Stampeaz</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
By popular request, my next review is of Butter Kut, a material that appears on Stampeaz. I'm not clear if Stampeaz makes it or if they just carry it as part of their offerings, like Speedy Carve.<br />
<br />
(If you want a particular medium reviewed, feel free to send me an email or put it in the comments below - otherwise, I'll just keep going through the materials as I pull them out of my drawer.)<br />
<br />
The price isn't too bad for the size of the sheet, although I'm skewed because of the shipping charges. But heck, I'm a hussy for carving mediums, I'll try anything ;)<br />
<br />
My first thought when it arrived was to be taken aback at how thin it is. I'm so used to all of the other white materials that come out of Stampeaz's shop, that it never occurred to me that it would be any different... On to the review!<br />
<b><br /></b>
<br />
<a name='more'></a><b>Appearance:</b><br />
It's been a reeeeeally long time since I carved on Master Carve by Staedtler (discontinued), but this stuff feels and seems to be a thin slice of what I remember the Master Carve material to be like. The texture is obviously rubbery and almost... Marshmallow-y? <br />
<br />
<b>Size and Weight:</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b></b><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeokiCTu_V6LRh_GKKGWBPYwpIwEUpE6Xg9zv7mkvGhBqj7KX6eEeew7xt3EPdEDsRV6RI0dUiUSRzBIsRLUPEccEFybXW3anN2vM4YgOt29PVVl9SgYzq_vUtcEZ7M0EToXfCn64q5bU/s1600/Photo+2016-07-14%252C+5+54+55+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeokiCTu_V6LRh_GKKGWBPYwpIwEUpE6Xg9zv7mkvGhBqj7KX6eEeew7xt3EPdEDsRV6RI0dUiUSRzBIsRLUPEccEFybXW3anN2vM4YgOt29PVVl9SgYzq_vUtcEZ7M0EToXfCn64q5bU/s320/Photo+2016-07-14%252C+5+54+55+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Transfer using acetone</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The thickness is just shy of 4 mm, so on the thinner end of the spectrum of thicknesses I've tried. However it was juuuust thick enough for me to hold to carve (I'm not a huge fan of having to temporarily mount the thinner materials to carve).<br />
<br />
<b>Transfer:</b><br />
Sigh. No heat transfer, but acetone works. This is not the first material to act like this and I would love an explanation as to why heat won't work to reattach the pigments to the rubber, but acetone can. Whyyy?<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Crumble Factor:</b><br />
I noticed while I was rubbing the acetone over the paper that the material was pilling where the cotton wiped the rubber. Not wonderful. Later, while inking, I noticed more pilling... no crumbling, but this stuff does pill up.<br />
<br />
<b>Carving:</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b></b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw9c4Q8pFphrLhqakdbZVIKdO4IrGB9EAVfZoUbrv5uijjVVKFRJ8eG18eCnmOy5_2o24uuF-FyidLXlW7fSK-cHBlncb4wC5fOGd7eYfNISXhvBHvfHaJDGP-DZNPhY45lzTWg0ZoMKI/s1600/Photo+2016-07-14%252C+7+47+14+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw9c4Q8pFphrLhqakdbZVIKdO4IrGB9EAVfZoUbrv5uijjVVKFRJ8eG18eCnmOy5_2o24uuF-FyidLXlW7fSK-cHBlncb4wC5fOGd7eYfNISXhvBHvfHaJDGP-DZNPhY45lzTWg0ZoMKI/s320/Photo+2016-07-14%252C+7+47+14+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a>Okay, so while the big knife I used to cut through the material went fine, the Xacto blade didn't love to cut through the material. Also, what is tricky is that if I mis-sliced, in other words if I sliced too far away from the design, and needed to shave off a little extra, this was extremely difficult. I really had to make sure I sliced right in the first pass.<br />
<br />
With a knife, it was quite hard to carve straight lines and make perfect corners - which, let's face it, is why you would want to carve with a knife in the first place.<br />
<br />
It also dulled my knife very quickly. When dull, it dragged the rubber, leaving a ragged line and would veer the cut off course. The rubbery-ness of the material pull at the knife while slicing, so you have to really concentrate at making sure your cut is true.<br />
<br />
While knife carving the text, the material broke out quite easily, which is nice. After a bit of rubbing of the text, I was fairly satisfied that the text wouldn't crumble off.<br />
<br />
Gouge carving was a little nicer, and the material seemed to like that better. I think if I had a large piece that I needed to gouge carve, this would be the perfect material.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHe1i_nddTStl9DvwS2C110FzTqQVfsBl8_zfsQQzRyLfguUNFQTwkJw5NG3gzUPMWOOPQiWfa1ObglDEGGlGMHEChVXrNluDmKlOcfSnbc93lBRUmKf-Pi-wDRxUbBkb4dtRjxOx34AM/s1600/Photo+2016-07-14%252C+7+50+24+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHe1i_nddTStl9DvwS2C110FzTqQVfsBl8_zfsQQzRyLfguUNFQTwkJw5NG3gzUPMWOOPQiWfa1ObglDEGGlGMHEChVXrNluDmKlOcfSnbc93lBRUmKf-Pi-wDRxUbBkb4dtRjxOx34AM/s320/Photo+2016-07-14%252C+7+50+24+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click to enlarge</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>Inking:</b><br />
Pretty good and even. Nothing to complain about here.<b> </b>However, if you click on the image and look carefully, you can see how uneven the lines of the bridge are (although from further away, I suppose it's fine).<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Conclusions:</b><br />
<br />
While I like that it's generally soft, I prefer to knife carve these days and there is a pull when trying to slice that I don't like.<b> </b>It's fairly soft though, so I will happily use this slab up.Bumblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757879893200986680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032403685554992033.post-3903085943512146992016-07-13T18:52:00.000-04:002018-02-04T13:07:11.600-05:00Carving Material Review: Unnamed Chinese Carving Material (SLQ)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheNKR7nrMUCXrutXC0Omdzk07CdaLLMjxWLmdINOptGNSJzy63_cJx_CK5M41c7lAobzF27dy0YWLVho6ATaqSFSyqQA0GyrsFkrBPUjGILc5xQeAx2uuJRArptNB33Or2KA_DtSdwgqc/s1600/Photo+2016-07-01%252C+7+32+20+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheNKR7nrMUCXrutXC0Omdzk07CdaLLMjxWLmdINOptGNSJzy63_cJx_CK5M41c7lAobzF27dy0YWLVho6ATaqSFSyqQA0GyrsFkrBPUjGILc5xQeAx2uuJRArptNB33Or2KA_DtSdwgqc/s200/Photo+2016-07-01%252C+7+32+20+AM.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://amzn.to/2ijtrNu" target="_blank">Solid coloured carving material</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So, this continues a series of posts on all of the different carving materials I can find that can be used for stamp carving. If you want to see how each stacks up against the other, you can check out this <a href="https://bumblingacrossletterboxes.blogspot.ca/p/carving-material.html" target="_blank">comparison chart</a>.<br />
<br />
Like the sandwich-style material, <a href="http://amzn.to/2ijtrNu" target="_blank">this slab</a> comes from China with no real explanation of who makes it or any other sort of brand info. If you're a letterboxer, you may have seen on the AQ forums this referred to as SLQ, referring to the Etsy/eBay name of a user that was initially selling it, SweetLoveQiner.<br />
<br />
To be honest, having searched the breadth and depths of various sites for importing this kind of thing from Asia, I think both this and all the other similar solid colour listings each come from the same factory and are essentially the same. Same goes for the <a href="http://amzn.to/2jtDhQq" target="_blank">sandwich style</a> stuff. I haven't been finding great prices, but if I do, I will definitely be buying... cuz this stuff is great.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrsBQCAmnUNUEzlk8m5Fk0_i1xRkqwXEGJiovtJiRJbuTVDrQ_mzGvj9-eSMJgSmRvwaaZxStH8snkrDmPczbkAMXPMYHGND-GerL70HOAOaLdxAXGq0HRfUdFKikhlv2CT0_pOvMGfmM/s1600/Photo+2016-07-01%252C+8+18+14+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrsBQCAmnUNUEzlk8m5Fk0_i1xRkqwXEGJiovtJiRJbuTVDrQ_mzGvj9-eSMJgSmRvwaaZxStH8snkrDmPczbkAMXPMYHGND-GerL70HOAOaLdxAXGq0HRfUdFKikhlv2CT0_pOvMGfmM/s320/Photo+2016-07-01%252C+8+18+14+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Either this is close scrutiny or napping.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a name='more'></a><br />
Cost wise, this stuff is more expensive than I would otherwise want to spend on a pink stuff replacement. It often comes with free shipping, so that helps, but it took a long time for mine to come (I blame Canada Post).<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtfXGup6aaauSk9fwfYtZj-LnOEfOd1Jd-o_kJoAc6HMyLIrd0f5CRw9JSXKtM1TX5LD5mnqye2uwa3H5qhZPlQCgcPkSdrusOTLdOVqnrZ41Qbn8lxe7LPwe8x_LySZ4TLHAMRQjQVso/s1600/Photo+2016-07-01%252C+7+35+01+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtfXGup6aaauSk9fwfYtZj-LnOEfOd1Jd-o_kJoAc6HMyLIrd0f5CRw9JSXKtM1TX5LD5mnqye2uwa3H5qhZPlQCgcPkSdrusOTLdOVqnrZ41Qbn8lxe7LPwe8x_LySZ4TLHAMRQjQVso/s200/Photo+2016-07-01%252C+7+35+01+AM.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Again, no heat transfer, just like the sandwich material</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
My first thought when I pulled it out of its clear, nondescript package, was that it was quite similar to the sandwich material. It has a nice velvety feeling to it and it is much more rigid than the pink stuff. It does not have that wet feeling that the sandwich stuff has, but otherwise, it is almost the exact same.<br />
<br />
<b>Appearance:</b><br />
The material comes in a wide array of colours, and I chose this purple which came just as vibrant as it appeared in the online photos. <b> </b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b></b>
<b>Size and Weight:</b><br />
It's quite heavy- heavier than I expected, while still in the range of thicknesses like the pink stuff (8 mm thick). Interestingly enough, it's the same width as the sandwich material.<br />
<br />
<b></b>
<b>Transfer:</b><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3eJ8DLB2vLUAncfJ0g7YXm_jbjIGmE_gjts09rDq4sHduFKnsM9zIFP_H56-OsRksqUTWsT2sryH1q9zyruKYTAT7vin2bf4AKaZiEqIkpW153404K72bx2oVdGpw0bqkQ3V3yMcij0M/s1600/Photo+2016-07-01%252C+7+39+13+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3eJ8DLB2vLUAncfJ0g7YXm_jbjIGmE_gjts09rDq4sHduFKnsM9zIFP_H56-OsRksqUTWsT2sryH1q9zyruKYTAT7vin2bf4AKaZiEqIkpW153404K72bx2oVdGpw0bqkQ3V3yMcij0M/s320/Photo+2016-07-01%252C+7+39+13+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Acetone transfer worked just fine.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b></b><br />
<br />
Just like the sandwich, it was a no-go for a heat transfer. The more I work with this stuff, the more I think that it is made using the same formulation as the sandwich type - perhaps by the same manufacturer... Too many things in common.<br />
<br />
Acetone transfer worked great (and I didn't muck this one up). It's a little hard to see in the photo because there is glare. Under my light, I can see the contrast really well between the transferred image and the rest, but if I didn't have great lighting, I think I'd want to choose a lighter colour. (But let's face it, I'm simple and like pretty colours). <br />
<br />
<b></b>
<b>Crumble Factor:</b><br />
Again, roughly the same as the sandwich stuff.<b> </b>It will pill up if you rub it too much, but otherwise doesn't crumble away. I'm quite happy with the balance this one strikes.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Carving:</b><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX_TGBtS27_No7GYpTN5xVbE7W6KLiAyO8fmT3pYfSMB5lCvV303hplZlK53xz4DWs6_6zp7hub4JQ6MEHcQW0igKTPDgyAJNsZlgLPRg13edpzb4y_6VZyHCmRmYTaiyiY3P3bVGBEmA/s1600/Photo+2016-07-01%252C+8+56+00+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX_TGBtS27_No7GYpTN5xVbE7W6KLiAyO8fmT3pYfSMB5lCvV303hplZlK53xz4DWs6_6zp7hub4JQ6MEHcQW0igKTPDgyAJNsZlgLPRg13edpzb4y_6VZyHCmRmYTaiyiY3P3bVGBEmA/s320/Photo+2016-07-01%252C+8+56+00+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All carved up.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
What a pleasure. Both knife and gouge carving this were really nice. It strikes a lovely balance between the hardness I want (to keep the material put as I slice into it) with a break-factor to allow the pieces to come out when I want them to. <br />
<b> </b><br />
Gouge carving it is just like the cliche: it carves like butter.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Inking:</b><br />
<br />
Similarly wonderful. Inks well and doesn't bead, great impressions.<br />
<b> </b><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8nhuk1Dce0mJzGX6duFRNqN37whulPtnU3WaKFbaHN386BCo5QHse6qE7sjrlG7hlqJu3MnfhC05X4q6mNvfRkaCvkmy82k-wX4JmwwMxMucpzNlgSGJqMDIGVPa1jb9dWqfCoceOvhE/s1600/Photo+2016-07-01%252C+2+16+08+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8nhuk1Dce0mJzGX6duFRNqN37whulPtnU3WaKFbaHN386BCo5QHse6qE7sjrlG7hlqJu3MnfhC05X4q6mNvfRkaCvkmy82k-wX4JmwwMxMucpzNlgSGJqMDIGVPa1jb9dWqfCoceOvhE/s400/Photo+2016-07-01%252C+2+16+08+PM.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click to enlarge</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b> </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Conclusions:</b><br />
All in all, I love it. I definitely think this is a leveled-up version of the pink stuff. It's what I want the pink stuff to be.<b> </b>Kinda expensive, somehow the sandwich version is cheaper, so I'll likely be using that. If I can find a price-comparable version, I'll be using this :)Bumblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757879893200986680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032403685554992033.post-34786399998415464342016-07-10T18:15:00.000-04:002016-07-10T18:15:56.007-04:00Carving Material Review: Firm Kut by Stampeaz<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVGme7VkV6pM80_V24WSB1W0xsAdRhDD-E4YfB9ricOniD5KzF6-Pom621xHb-tylSma69y2hWLLOdElc6nUem3iypaImcGhjlFtXt2GVuJzmXInwVXL2QLo021FHwk3IMThlz6P06HPM/s1600/Photo+2016-06-03%252C+6+51+54+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVGme7VkV6pM80_V24WSB1W0xsAdRhDD-E4YfB9ricOniD5KzF6-Pom621xHb-tylSma69y2hWLLOdElc6nUem3iypaImcGhjlFtXt2GVuJzmXInwVXL2QLo021FHwk3IMThlz6P06HPM/s320/Photo+2016-06-03%252C+6+51+54+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Firm Kut by Stampeaz</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Back to a real stamp carving material, fingers intact.<br />
<br />
If you're not familiar, Firm Kut is actually a carving material that came into existence just after I started carving. I never did get to try either of the PZ Kut materials, which disappeared before I started carving, but Firm Kut is (was?) Stampeaz's first foray into trying to recreate the material that everyone seemed to love.<br />
<br />
Now, right off the bat, there were concerns that this first formulation was too hard to carve. If my recollection is correct, that is how it took on the name of "Firm".<br />
<br />
I remember agreeing that it was too hard, and was happy when Stampeaz came out with its next formulations (MZ Kut, then NZ Kut), so I gave this one up quite quickly. I ordered this slab a couple months ago for the specific purpose of including it in my reviews, but going back to the Stampeaz site, it looks like it may have gone way of the dodo. The cost was comparable to the other Stampeaz house forumlations, but other than for the purpose of this review, I wouldn't try to track any down ;)<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<b>Appearance:</b><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmcjc9D9X02PuNMNlZ1opFUndkIOlav11H4JcgOpyyu7YOVCYddxsAHHHKnIEXBKFgcLsdSYWbvpQ9hrI79lZ1aJVc_Ub3-X_AbtgWFoq0AC7BHgu7dQPTly7VEEuBPTDtOY4lFN8ivYw/s1600/Photo+2016-06-03%252C+6+54+22+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmcjc9D9X02PuNMNlZ1opFUndkIOlav11H4JcgOpyyu7YOVCYddxsAHHHKnIEXBKFgcLsdSYWbvpQ9hrI79lZ1aJVc_Ub3-X_AbtgWFoq0AC7BHgu7dQPTly7VEEuBPTDtOY4lFN8ivYw/s200/Photo+2016-06-03%252C+6+54+22+AM.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heat transfer on Firm Kut</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In essence, this is just an older model of the now trusty OZ Kut. It is ever so slightly off white, but would be otherwise indistinguishable from MZ, NZ, or OZ. It has a fairly shiny surface and it's generally advised to rough it up a bit to get a better inking - I never got in the habit of this and have nevertheless had good prints.<b> </b><br /><b></b><br />
<b></b><br /><b></b>
<b>Size and Weight:</b><br />
Just like the others, this formulation comes in the same size and weight. About 6 mm thick.<br />
<br />
<b>Transfer:</b><br />
Works fantastically with heat - look at it there, so even and dark, just lovely. I have also used acetone and xylene on this just fine.<b> </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Crumble Factor:</b><br />
None, zero, but that is because it is on the very elastic end of the crumble spectrum.<b> </b><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_OTKO5zdjL-mk560x2-AflpdsYu0gsPRi8K6b02oUmApeGDgPreqsbvdbXwA7oK52LBdS1kUjhPOxAC8H0JtQHAMoRzoaV_0YbDQuydbZ82y9TRytiCIzex3kuqn8qrJB2TYohn8KlCI/s1600/Photo+2016-06-11%252C+11+50+53+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_OTKO5zdjL-mk560x2-AflpdsYu0gsPRi8K6b02oUmApeGDgPreqsbvdbXwA7oK52LBdS1kUjhPOxAC8H0JtQHAMoRzoaV_0YbDQuydbZ82y9TRytiCIzex3kuqn8qrJB2TYohn8KlCI/s320/Photo+2016-06-11%252C+11+50+53+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Final carved image - pre-inking</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b></b><br /><b></b>
<b>Carving:</b><br />
Okay, so it's hard. Like, harder than I remember. However, it carves really nicely as well. With a brand new Xacto blade, I was able to carve the letters quite well. I wouldn't want to have to carve a big project with the stuff, but for this amount of text, I'm quite happy with how well it came out despite the hand cramps. <br />
<br />
Another issue is how elastic it is: while on the one hand it has no crumble factor, it also means that the pieces that you want to break won't. You really have to pull pieces out - so I try not to have this happen by being as precise as I can with the cuts (in other words, make sure all my cuts connect underneath so there is no need to have the material break).<br />
<b> </b><br />
Gouge carving is easier, though it is still a hard slog. The lines turn out great though, so it's worth the effort (unlike others). The texture is plastic-y but smooth, and this material does like to actually be carved. <br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Inking:</b><br />
<br />
Aw, look at that - gorgeous. No beading for me with either Memento or StazOn - I wonder if the heat transfer helps. <b> </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6jN2tRrUDd7TE6XNuGye6HBbq9QRHqdtRzijBEDcRYv84NmmNBHUmfBmhnPaBOFs015TKDcRuRXpZgnb265AoMK7-GK2IXK0P4wf69bwiZi9AncJxuXwinfQxYA8MXRrG2iWsHsTJVWU/s1600/Photo+2016-06-11%252C+11+52+31+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6jN2tRrUDd7TE6XNuGye6HBbq9QRHqdtRzijBEDcRYv84NmmNBHUmfBmhnPaBOFs015TKDcRuRXpZgnb265AoMK7-GK2IXK0P4wf69bwiZi9AncJxuXwinfQxYA8MXRrG2iWsHsTJVWU/s400/Photo+2016-06-11%252C+11+52+31+AM.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Conclusions:</b><br />
<br />
I'll be honest, I felt a little nostalgic carving this stuff - reminded me of my first year after starting to letterbox. However, I got my vintage fix and I'm happy to finish up this slab so that I can move on to materials that are more pleasurable to carve.<b> </b><br />
<br />
Bumblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757879893200986680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032403685554992033.post-65947910902154397602016-07-04T19:04:00.003-04:002018-02-04T13:08:46.173-05:00Carving Material "Review": Jack Richeson's Easy-to-Cut Lino<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXZh26G9xLrneFsMhYBiIerAAenM_fAtYkyA5QByZbWHZRw1Rp77wsHwXAhuXHNBjjrJzJghFVp2IT6MVv7EJLNJWpygATQARjWKeIn0NzgPGvs8QQsb2C-3PxMBvUlHws8c2h-OsMt1M/s1600/Photo+2016-07-01%252C+7+32+29+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXZh26G9xLrneFsMhYBiIerAAenM_fAtYkyA5QByZbWHZRw1Rp77wsHwXAhuXHNBjjrJzJghFVp2IT6MVv7EJLNJWpygATQARjWKeIn0NzgPGvs8QQsb2C-3PxMBvUlHws8c2h-OsMt1M/s320/Photo+2016-07-01%252C+7+32+29+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://amzn.to/2BUdKDl" target="_blank">Easy-to-Cut Lino by Jack Richeson</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The good news is that I'm up to date on my tetanus shots.<br />
<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
So, I actually gave up on carving this material. Jack, who are you and what makes you think that this is good for stamp making? I never thought I'd find something that I liked less than your <a href="http://amzn.to/2E1uxX2" target="_blank">Clear Carve,</a> but you've proven me wrong.<br />
<br />
See that image above with the label on it? It says specifically that this is for stamp making. Not so much.<br />
<br />
I figured this stuff was going to be like the DeSerres stuff. It is roughly the same thickness, same texture, almost the same grey. I thought to myself that it could be that it is actually the same stuff and that it's just labelled under a different brand.<br />
<br />
Um, no. I was wrong. <br />
<br />
For transfer, heat worked, but not great.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk1Jwrvo6R2Ua_d7yNArva1KKvJCg7z-gNUWVV6vtNxsOYXDgZewv7Uzp3zto0PU9BEF8Z8JVy2jLdx9RdO9XwJ2PGDtwCvYiiRjbT3f58kkVU3Ed8L4Tf8dWxhROzALq66TT-yZwVRx4/s1600/Photo+2016-07-01%252C+7+36+46+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk1Jwrvo6R2Ua_d7yNArva1KKvJCg7z-gNUWVV6vtNxsOYXDgZewv7Uzp3zto0PU9BEF8Z8JVy2jLdx9RdO9XwJ2PGDtwCvYiiRjbT3f58kkVU3Ed8L4Tf8dWxhROzALq66TT-yZwVRx4/s320/Photo+2016-07-01%252C+7+36+46+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
And then it pretty much went down hill. The knife carving of the text was super difficult. The brand-new xacto did not want to carve this stuff at all and I really struggled through the text. I just figured that it was a lino-substitute and the gouge would work better. No - the gouge (new and sharp) did not want to go into this material. Well, it is more like the material did not want the gouge in it! And when it finally spewed the gouge tip out, because of the force I was using to get the gouge to go into the material, it jumped out and went straight into my thumb.<br />
<br />
With blood all over my craft desk, I admitted defeat. <br />
<br />
For posterity, here it is (or at least as much as I carved of it) inked and stamped. Look at the lovely beading of ink on its surface! And that's after I had stamped. Uneven, too. Smh.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoUgLAScYi-1Ga7lp8pPyJo9sRr8d3Afakunq_j30kBVnoTrQITDfCqYXYOTvyfh3Y-HuW5iqux5INo_DOnBbW8ARNqChwtixkK1RVraREcfW-AboIS-GZDN4aAX37NoRsbxDM1UOEFvU/s1600/Photo+2016-07-03%252C+8+38+09+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoUgLAScYi-1Ga7lp8pPyJo9sRr8d3Afakunq_j30kBVnoTrQITDfCqYXYOTvyfh3Y-HuW5iqux5INo_DOnBbW8ARNqChwtixkK1RVraREcfW-AboIS-GZDN4aAX37NoRsbxDM1UOEFvU/s320/Photo+2016-07-03%252C+8+38+09+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
I like my fingers, I won't be using this stuff again.<br />
<br />
<br />Bumblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757879893200986680noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032403685554992033.post-16958593254320101472016-07-01T08:00:00.000-04:002018-02-04T13:09:59.568-05:00Carving Material Review: Moo Carve by NCTC Inc.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Gu6Iu67BvPS0ZfCaxmTq5GElc7tl3yFq3qehhijvHZll9v_CM7SJSk7GX6Zli92Rqyf79Kr88QeXQIMA79hXkdL78aQ-kWMpw-3K5v8Ed2qSwb2RxsQ0iKcdFFzfFVNdzujN_hYPwjE/s1600/Photo+2016-05-29%252C+7+48+55+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Gu6Iu67BvPS0ZfCaxmTq5GElc7tl3yFq3qehhijvHZll9v_CM7SJSk7GX6Zli92Rqyf79Kr88QeXQIMA79hXkdL78aQ-kWMpw-3K5v8Ed2qSwb2RxsQ0iKcdFFzfFVNdzujN_hYPwjE/s320/Photo+2016-05-29%252C+7+48+55+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://amzn.to/2zIFYn9" target="_blank">Moo Carve carving material</a></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Happy Canada Day! Just a reminder: for all of my carving material review posts, I've been adding all of the results in a summary format - and ranked in terms of my preference - in the "Stamp Carving Material Comparison" link on the right side of my page.<br />
<br />
My next review is finally of the <a href="http://amzn.to/2zIFYn9" target="_blank">Moo Carve</a> that has been sitting on my desk for a while. This Korean carving material has some pretty nice reviews online, but one that alarmed me: that it was just like Staedtler's now-discontinued Mastercarve. I couldn't stand that stuff, it was like carving a big stale marshmallow. Ick. As a result, I've never actually used this stuff before. <br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Unlike some of the other carving material from Asia, this one is actually fairly available in North America. You can buy this at some US-based craft or art supply places, and pretty frequently it is available on Amazon or other places online. Having said that, I think the cost has already been built in, because this stuff is fairly pricey.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">
</div>
<br />
<a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: left;">
<b>Appearance:</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
This stuff comes plastic wrapped with its distinctive royal blue cardboard wrap. Inside, I was disappointed to see one of surfaces of the material looked like this:</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgraWzVAMIRnkd4D4jXD0o7URyiky_dzb_JoR__WblN2bPnjL0_k2YPUd3Bn8Enc7TK4bHtsGBbH0w98raVqOQTAbhK-X2vOWuWRT5dMXy_R5Ww6HV2Wn_Am8ae3cVd4Ra2RuZ4_ruXDmo/s1600/Photo+2016-05-29%252C+7+49+50+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgraWzVAMIRnkd4D4jXD0o7URyiky_dzb_JoR__WblN2bPnjL0_k2YPUd3Bn8Enc7TK4bHtsGBbH0w98raVqOQTAbhK-X2vOWuWRT5dMXy_R5Ww6HV2Wn_Am8ae3cVd4Ra2RuZ4_ruXDmo/s320/Photo+2016-05-29%252C+7+49+50+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The contrast is up on this so you can see all the ripples.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I wouldn't want to carve anything that had a lot of positive areas on it because I would be worried that the ripples would print. The other side was a lot better, but certainly not perfect.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
It's fairly firm and not really floppy (the piece I had was about 4x6"). It certainly had a lot of give and could be bent if you pressured it, but as I said, it wasn't floppy. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><br /></b>
<b>Size and Weight:</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The material is about 11 mm thick and pretty average in terms of weight/density.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><br /></b>
<b>Transfer:</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I was very pleased with the heat transfer on this - it came out really clear and gave really nice lines.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyTqCWRPoFLTmXmunsTf1tqzXaycbuSBa8p7-h1xoiuRMdcYxO5GGwUDVMySr06n-bRGkX-ftCz64G8M4UNWuwgK76KciPm_mf-9VT4czcFHfJzvK3xRlit3Tnbl2G-UQepS2jCy6M_4g/s1600/Photo+2016-05-29%252C+7+57+40+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyTqCWRPoFLTmXmunsTf1tqzXaycbuSBa8p7-h1xoiuRMdcYxO5GGwUDVMySr06n-bRGkX-ftCz64G8M4UNWuwgK76KciPm_mf-9VT4czcFHfJzvK3xRlit3Tnbl2G-UQepS2jCy6M_4g/s320/Photo+2016-05-29%252C+7+57+40+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A nice heat transfer onto <a href="http://amzn.to/2zIFYn9" target="_blank">Moo Carve</a>. Ignore the splotch on the sail boat - user error.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b> </b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><br /></b>
<b>Crumble Factor:</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Very low - I wouldn't worry about pieces breaking off either... It has enough of the rubbery factor that things do stick together quite well.<b> </b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><br /></b>
<b>Carving:</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
It wasn't until I started carving that I got a good sense of this material. While overall I quite like it, it was a little too much like I imaging carving skin would be like, so, well, there's that.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b> </b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
As always, I started carving the letters and the material took to the knife really well. Not a lot of pressure needed for the carving, but the skin-like factor means that the material moves quite a bit around lines so there is the possibility of uneven cuts (I say possibility because I was quite pleased with how the lettering turned out).</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Gouge carving wise, this stuff was a pleasure. It really does fall into the carving cliche of "carves like butter!". Again, there's the possibility of wibble because the material flexes when you're carving into it, you can see it in the image below - see the print to the left and the wibbly border? That should have been a nice straight line...</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuLupl-B7VqvXrKPD_Td9Qhh8kVjTKv60eBng7pyrsm_L70e4yPl5oruHggObpvLkQFm5X_eFELZG0g-x2zswvt2tv_CQ_O1as8eDb1yEmMrAQiQfmASRquB4MConAhwU1m-HXbovdb9I/s1600/Photo+2016-05-30%252C+6+59+25+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuLupl-B7VqvXrKPD_Td9Qhh8kVjTKv60eBng7pyrsm_L70e4yPl5oruHggObpvLkQFm5X_eFELZG0g-x2zswvt2tv_CQ_O1as8eDb1yEmMrAQiQfmASRquB4MConAhwU1m-HXbovdb9I/s320/Photo+2016-05-30%252C+6+59+25+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oops, forgot to take a picture of the clean carved stamp...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><br /></b>
<b>Inking:</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b></b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b></b></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE6_amvDPjJ7DqY_U9H4BXUhTkh8SNGXa6wmCsGecxGisUi6kO063YY2tignVyD_6Dh4Z2Tzt2XFJBlPCzz4q4jdnfnKNfdVPsU3QUxYhgQQCMMr1wiQumcYLWMWNeIHpT8_eGa3MixVY/s1600/Photo+2016-05-30%252C+6+59+17+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE6_amvDPjJ7DqY_U9H4BXUhTkh8SNGXa6wmCsGecxGisUi6kO063YY2tignVyD_6Dh4Z2Tzt2XFJBlPCzz4q4jdnfnKNfdVPsU3QUxYhgQQCMMr1wiQumcYLWMWNeIHpT8_eGa3MixVY/s320/Photo+2016-05-30%252C+6+59+17+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click to enlarge: from right, the printer, StazOn, VersaMagic, and the stamp.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b></b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
No complaints - I would be concerned if I used the wrong side of this to carve with though!</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<b>Conclusions:</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
This is a great middle of the road carving medium. I like that it isn't hard on my hands to carve, but wish the surface was a little more reliably even. Depending on whether you can get it for a good shipping cost, it might be worthwhile to try out!<b> </b></div>
Bumblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757879893200986680noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032403685554992033.post-16726314085736516862016-06-13T11:00:00.000-04:002016-06-13T11:00:09.133-04:00Carving Material Review: Studioworks Easy-Cut Lino<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWK33FLNczdmF3M41UDMzElT3Hx74vyvUWP73j3UdFW1ErcutgYBvzYFy22Gt57cuztqyApkeIOPmCoVQtlwfY7jQk9YbagBeCwiFLKZLO9hAKjxXPrrV-FvHs8zvv-cCfrxCY63JCDMU/s1600/Photo+2016-06-03%252C+6+46+25+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWK33FLNczdmF3M41UDMzElT3Hx74vyvUWP73j3UdFW1ErcutgYBvzYFy22Gt57cuztqyApkeIOPmCoVQtlwfY7jQk9YbagBeCwiFLKZLO9hAKjxXPrrV-FvHs8zvv-cCfrxCY63JCDMU/s320/Photo+2016-06-03%252C+6+46+25+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Above Ground - Easy-Cut Lino</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It's time for yet another thin-type of carving material, this time locally sourced at Above Ground Art Suppies in Toronto. If this is your first time seeing one of my carving material reviews, click on the link to the right for a spreadsheet of all of a summary the materials I've reviewed with links to the full review.<br />
<br />
I found this new material at Above Ground when I was wandering the city with my sister. The cost per sheet of this was fairly low - and because there's no shipping cost because it is locally available, it's quite inexpensive to use.<br /><br />
My first thought was that this stuff was going to be just like the DeSerres dark grey or the Dick Blick blue material, given that it appeared to be the same thickness. I couldn't feel the material because of its packaging, but it's a vibrant green that was begging to be picked up...<br />
<br />
So, how did it fare?<br />
<b><br /></b>
<br />
<a name='more'></a><b>Appearance:</b><br />
<br />
Vibrant green, thin and flexible. When I see lino in printmaking sections nowadays, I sort of turn a blind eye to it because I feel that the material they make for lino prints needs to be quite hard to be used in a press. However, when I looked at this particular material, I couldn't help but see that Above Ground is advertising it as being perfect for making stamps. <b> </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4ATKEbbv9xrT9ffHkEgvleGxjSjTixFKl7AkSr9n6oZe1RBbXzue59dpzCDxzF5jflAR4Trn-4vNtxa5bez4bQKtWVcCcB0wzAvSqrGa9nRb9yhVXheZTa2oLaJkFMb8t3UfdpfrECKo/s1600/Photo+2016-06-03%252C+6+46+42+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4ATKEbbv9xrT9ffHkEgvleGxjSjTixFKl7AkSr9n6oZe1RBbXzue59dpzCDxzF5jflAR4Trn-4vNtxa5bez4bQKtWVcCcB0wzAvSqrGa9nRb9yhVXheZTa2oLaJkFMb8t3UfdpfrECKo/s320/Photo+2016-06-03%252C+6+46+42+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See? Above Ground Studioworks specifically says that this Easy-Cut Lino is "perfect for ... making stamps"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b>Size and Weight:</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b></b><br />
<br />
Like the Dick Blick blue and the DeSerres grey, this is a thin-type material coming in at a mere 3 mm thick. This means that like those other two, I needed to temporarily mount this on an acrylic block in order to carve with it - it's too thin for me to hold in my hand and cut.<br />
<br />
<b>Transfer:</b><br />
<br />
This stuff took a heat transfer quite well, and I was really happy with the result.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxzq-Ucb8dPS4ZwAbtmx_A7J8yJ1lLhnQNIcRxz3UVDgOT2xIVYkt7GuuSJh3zFf123r50h795b6SGg98H14J7U9YTlVhcU2_YeU4_MlgfijUWx6SVZGh_bxlAz6ojXNCralQi7cHP36M/s1600/Photo+2016-06-03%252C+6+49+22+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxzq-Ucb8dPS4ZwAbtmx_A7J8yJ1lLhnQNIcRxz3UVDgOT2xIVYkt7GuuSJh3zFf123r50h795b6SGg98H14J7U9YTlVhcU2_YeU4_MlgfijUWx6SVZGh_bxlAz6ojXNCralQi7cHP36M/s320/Photo+2016-06-03%252C+6+49+22+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The text came out clear - the glare makes it look otherwise.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b> </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Crumble Factor:</b><br />
<br />
Next to none - this doesn't pill and has a good balance of breaking inside when you want it to. After I had printed with it, I took it to the sink to clean and gave it a vigorous scrubbing - no damage the the stamp, I was impressed!<b> </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Carving:</b><br />
<br />
My fav of the thin materials, I was quite intrigued to feel how different this stuff carved compared to the thin blue and grey stuff I had tried previously. This stuff carves with much less force, and in fact, I performed the knife part of this carve with a fairly dull knife. Nevertheless, the knife carving of the text on this was quite nice to do and in result, the gouge was equally soft and fun to do. A+ for both!<br />
<b> </b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b></b><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmLRYyrgn6k-xJdL4Lx2K_jjWagjudUtu4NXGC4uEV3wvORq_kNT1yURAqjaaPlr6HvfTU3yO3IrNPj_RJle78x3sXRr_LKInpROk8Al5MH-ztd6wtCH8JaGYcaHNvjF4Y3FM15X_uwyI/s1600/Photo+2016-06-11%252C+10+29+43+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmLRYyrgn6k-xJdL4Lx2K_jjWagjudUtu4NXGC4uEV3wvORq_kNT1yURAqjaaPlr6HvfTU3yO3IrNPj_RJle78x3sXRr_LKInpROk8Al5MH-ztd6wtCH8JaGYcaHNvjF4Y3FM15X_uwyI/s320/Photo+2016-06-11%252C+10+29+43+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Text and design were quite nice to carve!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b><br /></b>
<b>Inking:</b><br />
<br />
Okay, so this needs to be mounted to get a proper impression. Because I had merely taped this to an acrylic block, the print came out uneven a couple times before I got it right. I really like unmounted stamps myself, so this is a disappointing factor of this otherwise great material.<br />
<b> </b><br />
The inkings came out great. The surface isn't as velvety as others, but there isn't a shine that would case the ink to bead. As a result, the positive portions of the design evenly printed. I particularly like how the StazOn impression came out.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTkfKvwGxIKRASbKOTw_-GMy_GH3hewhjIulbvTw9TddUaqeIRwkxqO54QpgV2SiKz00j_0NV8HJa8Iglm8XC6s9paxQYlQU9QFyDbpvFRSBo74b8_6SitlOTkS3JQQXWG2EoqLjoFeDM/s1600/Photo+2016-06-11%252C+10+30+19+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTkfKvwGxIKRASbKOTw_-GMy_GH3hewhjIulbvTw9TddUaqeIRwkxqO54QpgV2SiKz00j_0NV8HJa8Iglm8XC6s9paxQYlQU9QFyDbpvFRSBo74b8_6SitlOTkS3JQQXWG2EoqLjoFeDM/s400/Photo+2016-06-11%252C+10+30+19+AM.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Print from Studioworks Easy-Cut Lino looks great - click to enlarge.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b> </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Conclusions:</b><br />
<br />
I really like this stuff and will happily use the rest of the material. Unfortunately, it needs to be mounted, but really that's the only drawback for stamp making :)<br />
Bumblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757879893200986680noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032403685554992033.post-67469567655046234362016-06-06T09:33:00.000-04:002018-02-04T13:11:17.294-05:00Carving Material Review: Speedy-Cut Easy by Speedball<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbobd03avVbxQcJsX0FxO7Xo1DULlqwXKfoJc-82P9TMhyphenhyphenJLCiSw4BysRKUzJrjoQ9y_UwDV27VPbnCWOupP95kUq4Qp8EA1e7rlSngTv5xmWqbPlDkHrzqNwEtK6AGFqkf_Iza5QruqM/s1600/Photo+2016-05-29%252C+7+45+57+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbobd03avVbxQcJsX0FxO7Xo1DULlqwXKfoJc-82P9TMhyphenhyphenJLCiSw4BysRKUzJrjoQ9y_UwDV27VPbnCWOupP95kUq4Qp8EA1e7rlSngTv5xmWqbPlDkHrzqNwEtK6AGFqkf_Iza5QruqM/s320/Photo+2016-05-29%252C+7+45+57+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://amzn.to/2il6x8i" target="_blank">Speedy-Cut Easy by Speedball</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I had been warned. I knew it would be bad... But I could never have appreciated <i>how</i> bad until I got my hands on this <a href="http://amzn.to/2il6x8i" target="_blank">blue stuff</a>. <br />
<br />
The cost was fairly average, again being unbalanced by the shipping costs to bring it up to Canada across the border. I'm sure some craft or art supply store is carrying this stuff, but I won't be hunting that shop down to buy this stuff.<br />
<br />
<br />
Speedball: you have such an opportunity and almost a cornered market in North America. Why oh why would you do this to us? Why?<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><b>Appearance:</b><br />
<br />
My first thought when I opened the package was actually
optimism (oh, to go back and regain my innocence). When touching the material, it didn't actually have the
immediate crumble/pilling that regular Speedy Cut has. The surface was
nice and smooth and I liked the colour (easier on the eyes than the pink
stuff).<br />
<br />
<b>Size and Weight:</b><br />
<br />
Fairly average size and weight - this one is about 7 mm thick.<b> </b><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHvS7bLc7tdjtum36ni_876-MJTa5U6ciM3J38B6kBtFs3TwFp8yn8jxzgO2C4U-zwjELRfwdOeFm86wgz7fQIHLSXJHOQAfONbCHMOfixhtAK91uMnIut7BCzSTetZk1L_-RT5iWgsJ0/s1600/Photo+2016-05-29%252C+7+37+56+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHvS7bLc7tdjtum36ni_876-MJTa5U6ciM3J38B6kBtFs3TwFp8yn8jxzgO2C4U-zwjELRfwdOeFm86wgz7fQIHLSXJHOQAfONbCHMOfixhtAK91uMnIut7BCzSTetZk1L_-RT5iWgsJ0/s320/Photo+2016-05-29%252C+7+37+56+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Smeared acetone transfer on Speedy-Cut Blue. Wtf.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b></b><br />
<b></b>
<b>Transfer:</b><br />
<br />
It doesn't heat transfer!! What? How is that even possible. I just don't understand. And then my back up go-to, acetone? Look what it did! Smearing it all up as if I am just a learner. Jeez.<br />
<br />
While this is not the first material I've had to not take a heat transfer, I will quote from the <i>actual</i> <i>packaging: "</i>Use slightly warm iron to transfer ink-jet and laser-print images." Uh, no. Based on that alone, Speedball should be refunding my money on this one. You can't be advertising this as being able to heat transfer - oh, Speedball, what are you thinking?<b> </b><b></b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Crumble Factor:</b><br />
<br />
<b></b><br />
<b></b><br />
Oh, how I was wrong. This stuff is <i>far</i> worse than the <a href="http://amzn.to/2yKHNwI" target="_blank">regular Speedy-Cut</a>. This stuff pills <i>while you are carving it. </i>Literally, whether the blade or gouge, the metal running along the material causes it to pill along the cut of the material. Wut??<br />
<br />
Also, once you cut into the material, it starts <i>expanding</i> into pills. Double what??!? It's bonkers. This stuff crumbles like that's its job.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Carving:</b><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGOlijzJPuI8PIvq3qV3yDI9P26LSDx5BSxkl7xB7mnsTRS7nZruFWGmAIu5vd8WGY7IjspSfXaJHLaMHLYzyMJVojosR2nBsTv2-XOFgKFeGQT4SDTenLMwd20ZNAlQkEfcsdiPT07aw/s1600/Photo+2016-05-29%252C+7+47+58+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGOlijzJPuI8PIvq3qV3yDI9P26LSDx5BSxkl7xB7mnsTRS7nZruFWGmAIu5vd8WGY7IjspSfXaJHLaMHLYzyMJVojosR2nBsTv2-XOFgKFeGQT4SDTenLMwd20ZNAlQkEfcsdiPT07aw/s320/Photo+2016-05-29%252C+7+47+58+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Speedball Speedy-Cut Blue - knife carved letters...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
This is kind of crazy. It crumbles so badly that you can't carve any detail because the detail crumbles as you carve it. Ridiculous.<br />
<br />
Look at that image to the right of the text having been knife-carved. It's terrible. Can you read it (backwards, obv, but still)? It was disintegrating while I carved it. Bah. <br />
<br />
Gouge carving is the same. Crumbles and pills as you are making cuts. And massively jagged lines. Click on any of the photos on this page and they'll enlarge for you to see.<br />
<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Inking:</b><br />
<br />
It inks fine, no issues, though I have this suspicion that it is actually sponging up some of the ink. For example, my new StazOn midi inks are realllly juicy - so juicy that sometimes the ink is too much and I end up with over inked<b> </b>impressions. Check out the violet impression below; it almost looks like the pad is drying out. I think the material may be soaking it up...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrnR0ewFzylonutJIkRhD1Vdd-W6tWa0rpf5pjA6NT5Mc4UxBeUXA1waKM4M_Cs2f_B-CbRgt3fshI3jeqqTxKhcyzxZ7yWhVv6GFmhzJpG5AzNUjiOU2AXH2q7lEq-Y2sMvZ9XW39ac4/s1600/Photo+2016-05-29%252C+8+04+10+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrnR0ewFzylonutJIkRhD1Vdd-W6tWa0rpf5pjA6NT5Mc4UxBeUXA1waKM4M_Cs2f_B-CbRgt3fshI3jeqqTxKhcyzxZ7yWhVv6GFmhzJpG5AzNUjiOU2AXH2q7lEq-Y2sMvZ9XW39ac4/s320/Photo+2016-05-29%252C+8+04+10+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<b><br /></b>
<b>Conclusions:</b><br />
<br />
I think Speedball may be trolling the stamp carving community with this stuff. Either that or they just want us all to stop complaining about the regular Speedy-Cut. Avoid if at all possible.<b> </b>Bumblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757879893200986680noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032403685554992033.post-17109548501906027722016-05-30T08:19:00.001-04:002016-05-30T08:19:34.779-04:00Carving Material Review: Oz Kut by Stampeaz<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmOSLb9AEKVWK5T0w9Tlq8lC2xv2HD0GS_Mu68tN2bdYGNEi5p3S94XIyvgaEP4DcGCF8myFlZ2u2hmgjamxcQrV32Ys1kzS6mj3CFEbzBL7mWBC7TXWKn-Pp1mfG2jdvo1cNJ5wgFueI/s1600/Photo+2016-05-08%252C+7+22+03+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmOSLb9AEKVWK5T0w9Tlq8lC2xv2HD0GS_Mu68tN2bdYGNEi5p3S94XIyvgaEP4DcGCF8myFlZ2u2hmgjamxcQrV32Ys1kzS6mj3CFEbzBL7mWBC7TXWKn-Pp1mfG2jdvo1cNJ5wgFueI/s320/Photo+2016-05-08%252C+7+22+03+AM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Transfer using hot iron on OZ Kut</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I considered not actually doing a review of this material since this blog is essentially an endless series of posts of carving with it. But, I decided to include it out of fairness and out of my compulsive need to have things be symmetrical.<br />
<br />
If somehow you don't know, OZ Kut is the current reincarnation of the long passed PZ Kut, on offer from a fellow letterboxer at the US-based <a href="http://www.stampeaz.com/" target="_blank">Stampeaz</a>. Not affiliated with her or Stampeaz in any way, but I'm not aware of any other places dedicated to stamp-making like her shop is and she is lovely to order from, with excellent service (given all my quirky asks to try to get the carving material to Canada as cheaply as possible).<br />
<br />
The cost for the material is relatively inexpensive - before shipping, of course. For anyone reading from the US of A - you are very lucky and privileged to have such an inexpensive postal system. And no risk of customs/duties at the border. Sigh. You are truly living the dream.<br />
<br />
Anyway, there is massive benefit in having a fellow letterboxer be
involved in the carving material creation process, this stuff is
all-around great... <br />
<a name='more'></a><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBXUnCgGyPLn1vNzEpsAY6Bb9i7yjpi4JJ7DAY7m1Ez3-n1dkS0T3COaNxzGGlQxOFS__PlAzhGEUaUxI1C7pXA922zgpUJxppnM3XnfcbWTIfZqZB21g7FPMqp_UT71FXUZuh5Kr4uEY/s1600/Photo+2016-05-08%252C+7+27+44+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBXUnCgGyPLn1vNzEpsAY6Bb9i7yjpi4JJ7DAY7m1Ez3-n1dkS0T3COaNxzGGlQxOFS__PlAzhGEUaUxI1C7pXA922zgpUJxppnM3XnfcbWTIfZqZB21g7FPMqp_UT71FXUZuh5Kr4uEY/s320/Photo+2016-05-08%252C+7+27+44+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Step 1 in the carving process: remove cat from lap.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>Appearance:</b><br />
<br />
Classic and opaque-white. Both of the surfaces are smooth and even... Diana suggests that the material has a "side" and marks the piece as "OZ" on the backside. I have inadvertently carved both sides and don't see a difference myself...<br />
<b></b><br /><b></b>
<b>Size and Weight:</b><br />
<br />
The material comes in a number of different sizes - I try to order it at the largest size and multiple slabs in order to get the best price-per-sq-inch because I carve so much.<b> </b><br />
<b></b><br /><b></b>
<b>Transfer:</b><br />
<br />
Fantastic and clean<b> </b>- you can see the top photo in this post what it looks like with a hot iron. However, in my past, I have also used this very successfully with pencil, acetone and xylene - and have observed it used properly with wintergreen (that smell haunts me, Fiddleheads!). I have never seen or used it this way, but I understand that people are able to successfully do inkjet/parchment transfers as well.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Crumble Factor:</b><br />
<br />
None. I guess on both ends of the spectrum there is the problem of crumble and the problem of the elastic hold. It seems to me (not being invovled with any of the chemistry of making any of this stuff) that on this spectrum, as you move farther and farther away from the crumbly end, you move toward the elastic hold end. The minor criticism I would make of this stuff is that it has a firm elastic hold - you have to be precise in your carving because this stuff doesn't break when you're taking pieces off of it.<br />
<b> </b><br />
However, ignoring the minor irritation of trying to pull those pieces out, the benefit is that if you gift these stamps or have a really detailed stamp that you're worried about pieces breaking/tearing, this stuff holds up like a champ. <br />
<b></b><br /><b></b>
<b>Carving:</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b></b><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEBRdpOpGejZGuXTFZ4rBhTV0jF7mN9K1TCL2KWuKIO8cNTx7ZfelfO22ZOARD28gmcncRBYLBe_6iodMIoCDFt5dXgwIljeJ60SAMhQpgT3U-VprjvK_70ubxI4wCaS1V8MuFDio7yd8/s1600/Photo+2016-05-22%252C+8+57+01+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEBRdpOpGejZGuXTFZ4rBhTV0jF7mN9K1TCL2KWuKIO8cNTx7ZfelfO22ZOARD28gmcncRBYLBe_6iodMIoCDFt5dXgwIljeJ60SAMhQpgT3U-VprjvK_70ubxI4wCaS1V8MuFDio7yd8/s320/Photo+2016-05-22%252C+8+57+01+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finished carving of OZ Kut. Note that "of Piza" is missing...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Although I've seen others disagree, I think this stuff is great for both gouge and knife carving. In the formulations leading up to this one (so, Firm Cut, MZ Kut and NZ Kut), the materials seemed to work great with a gouge but were literally <i>hard</i> to knife cut.<br />
<br />
With a sharp blade, this material is great to carve with a knife. However, it still is quite hard. You will go through blades and gouges quite quickly with it.<br />
<br />
I never really noticed the effect of that until I started carving so frequently (averaging about three stamps a day at the moment). I started really feeling it in the bones in my carving hand at the pointer finger joint and in the middle of my hand between the bones for the middle and ring finger. Ow. So both consciously and subconsciously I started leaning to other carving mediums... To be honest, it was the reason I started aggressively looking at different carving materials in the first place (and hence this series of review posts).<br />
<br />
In this carving, you'll notice that the words "of Piza" are missing. I was finished the basics of the carve and was clearing out the spaces that should be negative. Even with the gouge, the hardness means that I'm using more force than I should and a minor slip of the gouge ruined the letters so I had to essentially take all of those out. :/<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Inking:</b><br />
<br />
Inking can be tricky if you have large positive areas because the material allows some inks to bead up a bit so you don't get even impressions. The easy fix to this is to take some acetone and wipe down the carved surface when you finish carving (others like to take sandpaper to do the same thing, but I can't bring myself to mechanically do the same thing as the acetone, despite my faith in the material).<b> </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnNOhS7vjajMyy6i2MhdWGX_KFLH2RCGmup2UODE7d9xkux2NryU1M_I4q9-gs0vOW6ax-SVtxYT0uivBZRzgZrkS3vnm2cMHp_jfvLStuoZrddyUxXdEUlpZf08-K668muI2HCAeJGCM/s1600/Photo+2016-05-22%252C+8+59+25+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnNOhS7vjajMyy6i2MhdWGX_KFLH2RCGmup2UODE7d9xkux2NryU1M_I4q9-gs0vOW6ax-SVtxYT0uivBZRzgZrkS3vnm2cMHp_jfvLStuoZrddyUxXdEUlpZf08-K668muI2HCAeJGCM/s320/Photo+2016-05-22%252C+8+59+25+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<b><br /></b>
<b>Conclusions:</b><br />
<br />
This is still one of my favourite materials. While I do hope for a slightly softer formulation one day, this stuff is a <i>beast</i> that you have to very aggressively try to damage. This stuff will last forever and is my go-to material when I have a very difficult carve or have something that needs to stand up to a lot of stamping.<b> </b>Bumblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757879893200986680noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032403685554992033.post-86592673462255044562016-05-05T06:41:00.001-04:002016-05-05T06:41:17.570-04:00Carving Material Review: Speedball Speedy Carve (2013)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbE5jDnjfMeg7-td63cJWkW_Lg2nx5uOCAUpsoVN4Rr2RHX9LvRb8w0jKLln1IIOHKUNa6wIAEh_-N_4C8Edyezl_8vujEQBc68LrNvK42DK7196ijui-rJ-C0Hnjf1dW2b-G-KdUR8pI/s1600/Photo+2016-05-02%252C+11+13+11+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbE5jDnjfMeg7-td63cJWkW_Lg2nx5uOCAUpsoVN4Rr2RHX9LvRb8w0jKLln1IIOHKUNa6wIAEh_-N_4C8Edyezl_8vujEQBc68LrNvK42DK7196ijui-rJ-C0Hnjf1dW2b-G-KdUR8pI/s320/Photo+2016-05-02%252C+11+13+11+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Speedball Speedy Carve (2013 formulation)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So, Speedball Speedy Carve. The ubiquitous "pink stuff". If you've ever carved a stamp in North America, you have probably been pushed in the direction of this material. In fact, all over this blog you'll find pink stuff. The tricky part is that even in the seven years that I've been carving, there have been three different formulations of this material. The stuff that I originally started carving with was great, all purpose stuff. And I think that's pretty much the case now - it's good all purpose stamp carving material. <br />
<br />
However, the newest formulation (noted by the 2013 date on the label) is yet another step away from the original material that I liked so much. The 2012 version (if it can still be found anywhere) was more brittle and crumbly - with a slightly lighter colour. I believe the original stuff I used was 2009...<br />
<br />
Cost-wise, this is pretty middle of the road and highly dependant on where you bought it. By fluke, I found a 12" x 12" slab of the stuff (I've never seen that size in the wild!) and the price per square inch worked out quite nicely.<br />
<br />
<br />
Again, this blog is littered with my thoughts about this material, but for posterity (and to be able to include it in my <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1w6uz4tt-y5FVg7huh8kQlgCHyQY27wggUn4cQ1K7UfM/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">comparison table</a>), here is the review for Speedy Carve.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<br />
<a name='more'></a><b>Appearance:</b><br />
<br />
Pepto-Bismol coloured. It's that shade of pink... Quite clearly, the only colour of pink that can be considered as "the pink stuff". The new formulation is fairly rubbery feeling, and floppy. Oh, so floppy (which I can't stand for larger projects since it<b> </b><br />
<br />
flops in my hands as I'm trying to carve it... grr!).<br />
<b></b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Size and Weight:</b><br />
<br />
The material is about the middle of the road for how heavy it is - and it's about 7 mm thick. Keep in mind the edges are tricky in this slabs: two sides of every slab taper, so you lose about one centimetre along both sides.... If you inadvertently carve into it, you won't get a proper impression when you stamp because the one part is thinner than the rest. <b> </b><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8uyS7CIIkfhqjtnG5-h-md2SeB9sVYzler5LEOY9N14BSZBuyAdm_nXKK7fFfpoaeiUK02Cb-pEyJprR3AF9dUEEuLUCT9hGazJqQS-4mxkIluLu5hq0TbepnkUD4FMhF6SQ2rwd9WeQ/s1600/Photo+2016-05-02%252C+11+16+38+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8uyS7CIIkfhqjtnG5-h-md2SeB9sVYzler5LEOY9N14BSZBuyAdm_nXKK7fFfpoaeiUK02Cb-pEyJprR3AF9dUEEuLUCT9hGazJqQS-4mxkIluLu5hq0TbepnkUD4FMhF6SQ2rwd9WeQ/s320/Photo+2016-05-02%252C+11+16+38+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heat transfer onto pink stuff</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b><br /></b>
<b>Transfer:</b><br />
<br />
Works great with anything I've personally tried... pencil, acetone, xylene, heat... I'm pretty sure Fiddleheads uses wintergreen oil and I've read that others are succesfully doing parchment transfers on it. This stuff pretty much loves to be transferred upon.<b> </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Crumble Factor:</b><br />
<br />
While the material does not crumble like the 2012 batch (or the dreaded Speedy Cut material), delicate parts of a carved area can crumble off if you put horizontal friction to it<b> (</b>like those letterboxers who rub their ink pads against the stamp... <span style="font-size: xx-small;">monsters...</span>).<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Carving:</b><br />
<br />
It's a fast carve. Not sure that it's because the rubber is any different, but more that I have so much experience with this medium and how it's going to react to the knife and gouge, I can carve it really quickly. With a gouge, this material shines. But if given a choice, if it's an image I need to knife carve, I'm going to choose something else... usually OZ Kut. Having said that, I can and do carve text on pink on a regular basis, it's just not my preference.<b> </b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglB7Aeiy-eHCRlEjocTaRHzDFPG5RkyRFcDUhZbE2MGQ-yn5_OxToSAEaDfGk6Ho7h1jP0AptHQYbfDY0c5AWkQiM5uJgkftyLupVIbBhA2PqUvUtWCQ2R3Sfo5fgMZWqtUAmU4h7pgAs/s1600/Photo+2016-05-04%252C+9+06+49+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglB7Aeiy-eHCRlEjocTaRHzDFPG5RkyRFcDUhZbE2MGQ-yn5_OxToSAEaDfGk6Ho7h1jP0AptHQYbfDY0c5AWkQiM5uJgkftyLupVIbBhA2PqUvUtWCQ2R3Sfo5fgMZWqtUAmU4h7pgAs/s320/Photo+2016-05-04%252C+9+06+49+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b>Inking:</b><br />
<br />
This material inks up quite well and gives good impressions... No complaints.<b> </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyPmBf31_S2L_7b1wUMI5B7Q-KRBMqbsW6spEg5lCNQ61lwzIjEgAb1h4bCURJxl0IUVSbomGFF52jV81uMyAY77e0qddcassW22kGKnGZlgsZPOl12QzRJnMVUQ419tkxNMF-3duZyFo/s1600/Photo+2016-05-04%252C+9+07+20+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyPmBf31_S2L_7b1wUMI5B7Q-KRBMqbsW6spEg5lCNQ61lwzIjEgAb1h4bCURJxl0IUVSbomGFF52jV81uMyAY77e0qddcassW22kGKnGZlgsZPOl12QzRJnMVUQ419tkxNMF-3duZyFo/s320/Photo+2016-05-04%252C+9+07+20+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click image to enlarge and see some of the details.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b>Conclusions:</b><br />
<br />
Despite the new floppy formula, this is a very reliable medium because of how ubiquitous it is and how consistent it is (within formulations, that is). The new formula makes it difficult to create a large stamp because it flops before you can get it evenly down, so mounting it - even temporarily - is probably a good idea.<b> </b>The material is great for gouge carvings and quite a bit of text.Bumblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757879893200986680noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032403685554992033.post-31249143179700940902016-05-02T09:38:00.002-04:002016-05-03T18:08:06.261-04:00Carving Material Review: LifeMaster Crystal Block<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZp7pUsDU5u3eTaE24hDUY7_8tMD_tQwiVxvh7geJ018uO88gnuiHYFX1Wvts9mTDnQYk7aCaIYvd7zxPZnfF6yc4p4Bg3075L2cfuEcacCK-JQG-rUvfD4WsMeN41yWaW2NUUSCpZa54/s1600/Photo+2016-04-30%252C+4+56+06+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZp7pUsDU5u3eTaE24hDUY7_8tMD_tQwiVxvh7geJ018uO88gnuiHYFX1Wvts9mTDnQYk7aCaIYvd7zxPZnfF6yc4p4Bg3075L2cfuEcacCK-JQG-rUvfD4WsMeN41yWaW2NUUSCpZa54/s320/Photo+2016-04-30%252C+4+56+06+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">LifeMaster Crystal Block</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So, bumbling my way through the internets looking for carving materials (to further update my <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1w6uz4tt-y5FVg7huh8kQlgCHyQY27wggUn4cQ1K7UfM/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">comparison table</a>), I came across a cool-looking set of carving materials called LifeMaster Crystal Blocks. I tried to find anywhere where someone has tried using this stuff and couldn't find reference to it anywhere.<br />
<br />
Cost-wise, even though this had free shipping from where I bought it, it was pretty pricey and probably in the top five in terms of cost. Hopefully I like it!<br />
<br />
My first thoughts when they came in the mail were pretty positive. The set of 10 blocks were all various colours and came in individual packets and felt great...<br />
<b><br /></b>
<br />
<a name='more'></a><b>Appearance:</b><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgotPBj1eLowtPtxKKQMpp20ITY4wHao7G-LIyHITjA-ww2HsenmBVnOxjRJ0h6Eb1lLPRobOvusa7SbMjoerIBAs3lfFTqdjN9c4-JgC65R30Z8BAAVPToXNR5uHQJEw0gHoy16wXnxhE/s1600/Photo+2016-04-30%252C+10+23+00+PM.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgotPBj1eLowtPtxKKQMpp20ITY4wHao7G-LIyHITjA-ww2HsenmBVnOxjRJ0h6Eb1lLPRobOvusa7SbMjoerIBAs3lfFTqdjN9c4-JgC65R30Z8BAAVPToXNR5uHQJEw0gHoy16wXnxhE/s1600/Photo+2016-04-30%252C+10+23+00+PM.gif" /></a>These really do look cool. They are transparent and let just enough light through them to give a cool effect without making them specifically clear (like the Jack Richeson stuff). I put together a quick little gif image near my window so you can see how transparent it is in the light (my craft table doesn't really cut it).<br />
<b> </b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Size and Weight:</b><br />
<br />
Each block comes in a 5 cm by 5 cm block (although, when measured, some where slightly smaller - so be aware of that if you're looking for a precise size) and is 1 cm thick. Weight-wise, they feel pretty average for carving material - they weren't noticeably heaver or lighter than you'd expect.<b> </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Transfer:</b><br />
<br />
Initially I was concerned that the material wouldn't take a heat transfer (ack! I hate that!), but it was fine.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcFGe86hAw27ny7NvghOWXr3o7dOYa3NNS49zvethD279ddslSEq5crTV1pY_KMbeuukYwxOzn97LWgIAQma-BrHA3uVYbxrSIRBLTIRSf_GMg_ikgBztudexOlc_LhiYw5N-gwcfJ2HY/s1600/Photo+2016-04-30%252C+4+57+40+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcFGe86hAw27ny7NvghOWXr3o7dOYa3NNS49zvethD279ddslSEq5crTV1pY_KMbeuukYwxOzn97LWgIAQma-BrHA3uVYbxrSIRBLTIRSf_GMg_ikgBztudexOlc_LhiYw5N-gwcfJ2HY/s320/Photo+2016-04-30%252C+4+57+40+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heat transfer worked well... my alignment skills suck though.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Crumble Factor:</b><br />
<br />
Zero. There was no crumble with this material whatsoever. The elastic nature of it prevents it...<b> </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Carving:</b><br />
<br />
If you hadn't noticed, I always start with the "hard" part, which is text - and for which I almost exclusively knife carve. Ugh. It was hard. The material isn't hard but the material realllllly doesn't like to be sliced, so way more force than I was expecting to use. An interesting feature of the translucent nature of the material is that you can sort of see where you have pierced the material by way of white-ish cuts showing through. Look here:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaSzJwnVr42CAFMvwTtjELJpBNgDtM5djk5VhrvrJENjKSr66fQzo99FtYORuKb6ht-UAOCLnMoSUTFbS3ifVEdZi-g8l-mJRvvUc4nEdsB-DLXEUZfu34LOhfjyTDv0SlBvkUut0DV9c/s1600/Photo+2016-04-30%252C+5+25+28+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaSzJwnVr42CAFMvwTtjELJpBNgDtM5djk5VhrvrJENjKSr66fQzo99FtYORuKb6ht-UAOCLnMoSUTFbS3ifVEdZi-g8l-mJRvvUc4nEdsB-DLXEUZfu34LOhfjyTDv0SlBvkUut0DV9c/s320/Photo+2016-04-30%252C+5+25+28+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
But pulling the pieces out of the material was a pain. Really hard with a tight elastic hold - I had to bust out a pair of tweezers to pull the parts out. I was feeling saucy so I put together a video of the process for the state name, sped up to 2x speed:<br />
<b> </b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/E1WxP4ktTDo/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/E1WxP4ktTDo?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<b> </b><br />
I tried to gouge carve the building and failed miserably. Like the knife carving, this material really doesn't like to be sliced... And with to knives in the shape of a v? No way! It was really hard and I gave up and returned to knife carve most of the building. The only part of the final image that was gouge carved is the waterfall, which is haphazard and if you look at the final carve closely, you can see ragged edges :(<br />
<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Inking:</b><br />
<br />
This one of the parts of this material that shines. I don't know what it was about the surface, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well the stamp registered with the inks.<br />
<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Conclusions:</b><br />
<br />
Meh. It was really difficult to knife carve and almost impossible to gouge carve. I can't really recommend this stuff to fellow *carvers*, however, once past the carving phase, the material gives pretty good impressions and are fun to use. Visually, they are cool for being translucent... Basically<b>,</b> <b> </b><br />
if you want to try something new for fun and to give you a good reference point for your go-to medium, try this one.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVODrq8uu61ewdmy6xQ2hgzQkcyOTag32vpPWGSdFP0YM1BF0spmu-4HAz6Tulugy3Z9aCyFaYYRLV8y3kMIdGcgQuf9OXfzYQcZtYpLAV-LzysojFpTlOthhdFdOKRz19JHhTyLHjoZU/s1600/Photo+2016-04-30%252C+8+12+26+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVODrq8uu61ewdmy6xQ2hgzQkcyOTag32vpPWGSdFP0YM1BF0spmu-4HAz6Tulugy3Z9aCyFaYYRLV8y3kMIdGcgQuf9OXfzYQcZtYpLAV-LzysojFpTlOthhdFdOKRz19JHhTyLHjoZU/s320/Photo+2016-04-30%252C+8+12+26+PM.jpg" width="219" /></a></div>
<br />
Check out my <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1w6uz4tt-y5FVg7huh8kQlgCHyQY27wggUn4cQ1K7UfM/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">comparison chart</a> if you'd like to see how this one ranks to the others. Happy trails!Bumblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757879893200986680noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032403685554992033.post-754532446048076032016-04-20T09:39:00.000-04:002018-02-04T13:13:48.354-05:00Carving Material Review: Hankeshi-KunOkay, so if you live in the San Antonio area, beware that this stamp image is a big ol' spoiler (to be planted and listed soon!). So if you want to avoid such things, you have a major decision to make: read this post or go stamp hunting. Choices, choices.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPp25ftez0QiCm-85zeiqX0_SlTHbPxL0V3zvjukrCfsD4QYMxK744nbzU8kq-DERWfB08L9udOwG4BMZZ6NxCUMD4HdqzTFDWcNN8NIWxUOWIp8URidArtA9nTtsqGXQMvgLZaDa2FzI/s1600/Photo+2016-04-20%252C+8+48+44+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPp25ftez0QiCm-85zeiqX0_SlTHbPxL0V3zvjukrCfsD4QYMxK744nbzU8kq-DERWfB08L9udOwG4BMZZ6NxCUMD4HdqzTFDWcNN8NIWxUOWIp8URidArtA9nTtsqGXQMvgLZaDa2FzI/s320/Photo+2016-04-20%252C+8+48+44+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://amzn.to/2hWQ8GV" target="_blank">Hankeshi-Kun</a> Stamp Carving Dedicated Eraser</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Today's carving material is made by <a href="http://www.hinodewashi.co.jp/" target="_blank">Hinodewashi</a> and is called <a href="http://amzn.to/2hWQ8GV" target="_blank">Hankeshi-Kun</a>, noted very specifically in English as a "Top Quality Stamp-Carving Dedicated Eraser". While both this and the SEED carving material are from Japan, this one is actually also made in Japan (SEED is noted as being made in Vietnam).<br />
<br />
Like the <a href="http://amzn.to/2k27uq6" target="_blank">SEED</a> material, this slab was reasonably priced until you factor in the shipping - then it tops the charts in cost. So you either really want to try this out or are in other ways motivated to buy this. <br />
<br />
My first thought was that it looked remarkably like the SEED brand material... Is it the same? Are they on equal in the eyes of my knife? Let's find out!<br />
<b><br /></b>
<br />
<a name='more'></a><b>Appearance:</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnsfuu8sYCKyq5XY4VgS4_AWASm1q1BN7J3yl9hzxMH48racXkGq3Gfn_t11qz10oKGrwa6GQL2qKPartErZ1BoM4mtfi0RvTtYbR68nwzV0nQuxkBXH0yzSQf5nAR7XeatahY0PHd4VU/s1600/Photo+2016-04-20%252C+7+44+37+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnsfuu8sYCKyq5XY4VgS4_AWASm1q1BN7J3yl9hzxMH48racXkGq3Gfn_t11qz10oKGrwa6GQL2qKPartErZ1BoM4mtfi0RvTtYbR68nwzV0nQuxkBXH0yzSQf5nAR7XeatahY0PHd4VU/s320/Photo+2016-04-20%252C+7+44+37+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div>
<br />
<br />
Big white slab... It comes packed just like the SEED material and is covered in Japanese text - with just enough English to know what's going on. The material is opaque white and has a rubbery/velvety feel to it.<b> </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Size and Weight:</b><br />
<br />
This comes in the roughly 11 mm thick and is quite dense.<b> </b>It has very little bend to it when you hold an edge, though it doesn't seem to be as inflexible as the SEED material is.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Transfer:</b><br />
<br />
This bad boy took a heat transfer just fine... Except I partially lost my mind with the design choice which in its essence was not going to give me a good transfer to begin with. Oops. I actually had to stain the surface with StazOn (I haven't had to do this in a while) so that I could figure out where the actual design was. <b> </b><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRgoyQeI8kOg5iu5cyu3rK6SLUdMis0SG7DHBSpNoKjrAfNVaGpkMmUzekTeHLyzrLLCZBDZ70cZIFGdyAtP7-qEzXWf5u7YakHmoVV5ABvJENlmTcdb4blQTkkwI_yFZ2LmiLLWNMnTg/s1600/Photo+2016-04-20%252C+7+49+08+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRgoyQeI8kOg5iu5cyu3rK6SLUdMis0SG7DHBSpNoKjrAfNVaGpkMmUzekTeHLyzrLLCZBDZ70cZIFGdyAtP7-qEzXWf5u7YakHmoVV5ABvJENlmTcdb4blQTkkwI_yFZ2LmiLLWNMnTg/s320/Photo+2016-04-20%252C+7+49+08+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See? Mucky transfer. Mostly to my own ineptitude.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b><br /></b>
<b>Crumble Factor:</b><br />
<br />
Okay, so during the carving everything was going fine, but to be honest, I wasn't really loving the feeling of the cuts. It's hard to explain, but I felt like it had the kind of sensation you get carving Speedy Cut. So, after I was done carving, I did a test stamp like I did with SEED to see what force it would take to make this stuff crumble apart.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR5vEVeImHlPrkSNsSqPkGmodkC9JSDMUOZmA5qeZMgex1vD8Z4etLNupAL3qhIknvVRpM-Pi0qqJ1hsduP2ik3JebxwgVg42j9thSmJYdN1jOuMVAEXb6YqTwF2O14VGr0vRAhDwPWMc/s1600/Photo+2016-04-20%252C+9+12+58+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR5vEVeImHlPrkSNsSqPkGmodkC9JSDMUOZmA5qeZMgex1vD8Z4etLNupAL3qhIknvVRpM-Pi0qqJ1hsduP2ik3JebxwgVg42j9thSmJYdN1jOuMVAEXb6YqTwF2O14VGr0vRAhDwPWMc/s320/Photo+2016-04-20%252C+9+12+58+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Test carve, in order from top left to bottom right.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Here it is in the image above. I did a quick carve of the word test with varying thicknesses of text. The top stamp is before I started rubbing the surface, the bottom is after four goes. As you can see, there are little pills around the area and obviously stuff started crumbling off. I will say that I used a significant amount of force that shouldn't otherwise be applied to destroy stamps this way, but hey, letterboxers <span class="st"> ¯\_(ツ)_/¯</span><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Carving:</b><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlvpRR9NwEiPsl5gvkBFXyCKXLKWaeW4l-ZAUlv1I1h3qouO6nY801DP0GELCCyXFSu-15gRFxNAhhDUdzFcabqfurT_XbFDDsek3Stj0rZr8T0hjRyo4kSvtbizRpMAIG0_AEqKqz9oc/s1600/Photo+2016-04-20%252C+8+27+49+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlvpRR9NwEiPsl5gvkBFXyCKXLKWaeW4l-ZAUlv1I1h3qouO6nY801DP0GELCCyXFSu-15gRFxNAhhDUdzFcabqfurT_XbFDDsek3Stj0rZr8T0hjRyo4kSvtbizRpMAIG0_AEqKqz9oc/s320/Photo+2016-04-20%252C+8+27+49+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click to enlarge - you can see the StazOn stain...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The carving was fine, but not great. There was a very fine amount of pilling happening while I was carving - the big details were fine, but in the text it was a little difficult. <br />
<b> </b><br />
For knife carving it was fine. The material did move away from the (brand new) knife blade - which is something I don't love in a carving material (and a big reason I no longer love Speedy Carve).<br />
<br />
Everything other than the text was gouge carved. It was a pleasure to carve with a gouge - very nice and no complaints really.<br />
<br />
All in all, the material is very easy to slice through with either tool and would be good for anyone who gets hand cramps or other hand pain.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Inking:</b><br />
<br />
Um, so yeah, I have some new StazOn Midi inks and <i>man</i><b> </b>are they juicy. So it kinda gushed into the details and made a messy imprint, so ignore the first purple one.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivjz6LCqAbCpIlSuWA7BvCO-pFt9SNEyanKj3IJdeJknXu89yt4hzv7BO7Ky6kGcHUtGQhWF2YAiS8DsImtL-X77iNTjHLH05rIrYD91Rtl70UJEMX5Le26EsRrK8jZBre83tRf7J32q4/s1600/Photo+2016-04-20%252C+8+32+11+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivjz6LCqAbCpIlSuWA7BvCO-pFt9SNEyanKj3IJdeJknXu89yt4hzv7BO7Ky6kGcHUtGQhWF2YAiS8DsImtL-X77iNTjHLH05rIrYD91Rtl70UJEMX5Le26EsRrK8jZBre83tRf7J32q4/s400/Photo+2016-04-20%252C+8+32+11+AM.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
The material's velvety texture makes for good printings in the negative area, so I was quite happy with the stamp registrations. Anyone know how to de-juice-ify StazOn???<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Conclusions:</b><br />
<br />
I really like it, but I wouldn't want to do a lot of fine detail like text in it due to the crumble factor. Since that's about 80% of what I carve, I probably won't be using this a lot - particularly given the price.<b> </b>Bumblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757879893200986680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032403685554992033.post-40728030871612308212016-04-19T07:43:00.000-04:002018-02-04T13:15:37.866-05:00Carving Material Review: Unnamed Chinese Layered Carving Material - "Sandwich"<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwj0sPbnEQBFCX8A2XxFAWKVp5-iWmlyRK4oi9i5HIo1H1nXHKbZYn9A0DkC0UW1nctGvfaW2vVlyolFG3t13ONNrMjakQlOsiNraXZcbEUAZuWRB31G7azR_Ww48qRFvo7bwb1ipuskA/s1600/Photo+2016-04-08%252C+9+15+33+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwj0sPbnEQBFCX8A2XxFAWKVp5-iWmlyRK4oi9i5HIo1H1nXHKbZYn9A0DkC0UW1nctGvfaW2vVlyolFG3t13ONNrMjakQlOsiNraXZcbEUAZuWRB31G7azR_Ww48qRFvo7bwb1ipuskA/s320/Photo+2016-04-08%252C+9+15+33+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a>Welcome back for another round of: <i>what's that carving slab?</i> Heh. I mean, what actually is this material? I don't know. I'm not sure who makes it or what they call it, but it's sort of all over the place online. <a href="http://amzn.to/2jtDhQq" target="_blank">It comes in a whole rainbow of colours</a>, and is sandwiched so you're getting two different colours at a time. So, pretty much from this point forward, I will be referring to this stuff as the sandwich material.<br />
<br />
(I note here that this is *not* the same material referred to on the AQ forums as "SLQ" <a href="http://amzn.to/2ijtrNu" target="_blank">which is not layered at all</a>...)<br />
<br />
Ultimately the cost was fairly low - these 4x6" slabs were each under $5 (Canadian) including shipping {update: not anymore... quite expensive now due to shipping :( }. Keep in mind that they also took <i>two solid months</i> to arrive after being shipped from China.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMi_OPG0WyV_FbXOixc04rfGQ23zRdnUF_zOuSwg_FHeTby9uDqEV9wwgH62qm67nF0bZ3n28CLBh0RhCvltQNiNiUhGK1Fw6WurlXPiak1vTmbOasgkMgSZAGPfk54_dfcp-UTNd5fKE/s1600/Photo+2016-04-12%252C+6+38+47+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMi_OPG0WyV_FbXOixc04rfGQ23zRdnUF_zOuSwg_FHeTby9uDqEV9wwgH62qm67nF0bZ3n28CLBh0RhCvltQNiNiUhGK1Fw6WurlXPiak1vTmbOasgkMgSZAGPfk54_dfcp-UTNd5fKE/s320/Photo+2016-04-12%252C+6+38+47+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a>My first thought was not exactly favourable. The material - though pretty - was really uneven and had a weird wet feeling to hold...<br />
<br />
Want to see how this carves? Check it out after the jump!<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
<b>Appearance:</b><br />
<br />
Okay, see what I mean in this image here? It's a little hard to see and I've upped the contrast, but the top layer is sort of wrinkled. I bought a few different coloured slabs and they were all imperfect. Luckily, the direct flip side of those wrinkles was smooth, so it wasn't a problem, but I will say that all of the slabs were like this.<b> </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Beyond the wrinkles, the carving material was a little strange to hold. They come in individual plastic bags (the rumor being that if the material is left touching itself it will fuse together... I'll check this out and report back...) and when I took it out the slab felt like it hadn't finished drying yet. It wasn't actually wet, just felt that way.<br />
<b></b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Size and Weight:</b><br />
<br />
The material was just slightly over 8 mm in thickness and feels about as
dense as the pink stuff. It bends slightly, but isn't floppy { I hate
when they're floppy ;) }<b> </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Transfer:</b><br />
<br />
Urgh! Another material that won't take a heat transfer! I never would have guessed... this stuff I would put in the same category as OZ or the pink because of how it generally feels - I would have placed money on it being able to take a heat transfer. No dice. Acetone worked just fine, but damn, I need to work on my acetone skillz - look at dat smear.<br />
<b> </b><br />
<b></b><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh3Y1KY-_oFaRlv4J8EHp-HRFqNOxj_mzSlsdkIbrSfeWaiH9FWXV9uEGjzt4hSembi3e-A5C7RtgY9EG44fztW3b9I8LfQNUZ3STOAc44d8jdyJcb3QSg4w99TddHcHk3Fv3cp3KCfIc/s1600/Photo+2016-04-08%252C+9+17+28+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh3Y1KY-_oFaRlv4J8EHp-HRFqNOxj_mzSlsdkIbrSfeWaiH9FWXV9uEGjzt4hSembi3e-A5C7RtgY9EG44fztW3b9I8LfQNUZ3STOAc44d8jdyJcb3QSg4w99TddHcHk3Fv3cp3KCfIc/s200/Photo+2016-04-08%252C+9+17+28+PM.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heat transfer? Ha, lol, no.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU_J2TPHydWFPpkSGlGemty078VwmEVPnvj1SKITbhqwJ1V3c8JI82qNtkQVVBR_OqVtjFnGXZokny2XPDmieRFuxs8PzEj47xDoGczENOR-F_3-S4lG5BU8FhV42KCJDL8APA9MWX1yA/s1600/Photo+2016-04-08%252C+9+26+08+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU_J2TPHydWFPpkSGlGemty078VwmEVPnvj1SKITbhqwJ1V3c8JI82qNtkQVVBR_OqVtjFnGXZokny2XPDmieRFuxs8PzEj47xDoGczENOR-F_3-S4lG5BU8FhV42KCJDL8APA9MWX1yA/s200/Photo+2016-04-08%252C+9+26+08+PM.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Acetone transfer? Yep, but look at that smear!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b> </b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b></b>
<b> </b><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Crumble Factor:</b><br />
<br />
<b></b><br />
Okay, so, no pilling or crumbling while I carved. I was happy with this.<br />
<br />
<b>Carving:</b><br />
<br />
I was pleasantly surprised with both gouge and knife carving this block. Gouge carving this was nice and smooth, and reminds me of the good ol' days of the pink. I pretty much gouge carved the entirety of the cathedral in the image, it carved really well. <br />
<b> </b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFTgugqvklSsfrHVskDV0ciYgtK2V8In0b8GhOMOYq5Fa3myQTNW6gopTDg12x_ldI6tKSubmNzaWJDMIT1-eIMBD3SKn-zEVAeWGICJKg8jzh8CWi0p2S83VgrRpaBTwRhFCkHVXLVTU/s1600/Photo+2016-04-17%252C+7+57+06+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFTgugqvklSsfrHVskDV0ciYgtK2V8In0b8GhOMOYq5Fa3myQTNW6gopTDg12x_ldI6tKSubmNzaWJDMIT1-eIMBD3SKn-zEVAeWGICJKg8jzh8CWi0p2S83VgrRpaBTwRhFCkHVXLVTU/s320/Photo+2016-04-17%252C+7+57+06+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a>As an aside: the sandwich nature of this slab suggests that the colour change is useful in showing where you have carved. Given how I carve and how thick that first layer is, it's not exactly useful for that purpose. Like the Horunavi material, it's actually more useful in clearing out large areas *after* the detail work is complete.<br />
<br />
Knife carving was also good. Not great, but good. The material is dense, but not as hard on the hand to carve as OZ. The material doesn't have an elastic hold, so pieces break out when you need them to - but a little too easily. I would actually be concerned that the break point on this would cause problems, though I didn't have any while carving this.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Inking:</b><br />
<br />
This stuff actually inked up quite well<b> </b>and gave good registrations.<br />
<b></b><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT4S2nkC_s1tjjBSl-SCmci4OdoK0WBzbOai09cxOQQUYIJ6zTvGdS97-WP4GW044utaBIuzWsvgez6m4MwEClcsLpTWbdH8evwbg8hyphenhyphenT_LsPF0DP0yPb5-hGu65OeyiyJfDP-jKz71D8/s1600/Photo+2016-04-17%252C+7+59+26+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT4S2nkC_s1tjjBSl-SCmci4OdoK0WBzbOai09cxOQQUYIJ6zTvGdS97-WP4GW044utaBIuzWsvgez6m4MwEClcsLpTWbdH8evwbg8hyphenhyphenT_LsPF0DP0yPb5-hGu65OeyiyJfDP-jKz71D8/s320/Photo+2016-04-17%252C+7+59+26+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click image to enlarge.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b><br /></b>
<b>Conclusions:</b><br />
<br />
I liked it. It's not my favourite, but I would definitely carve on it again. It's a little annoying that I can't do a heat transfer on it (that's essentially my go-to method for detailed work at this point) but for the cost, it's fairly reasonable.<br />
<b> </b><br />
I've updated my carving material comparison chart so that it's in a spreadsheet and more easily manageable. This material has already been added, <a href="http://bumblingacrossletterboxes.blogspot.ca/p/carving-material.html" target="_blank">check that out here</a> and let me know if you have any issues viewing it.<br />
<b><br /></b>Bumblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757879893200986680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032403685554992033.post-5763695734605088692016-04-09T18:41:00.000-04:002018-02-04T13:17:39.163-05:00Carving Material Review: Clear CarveSo, I was intrigued when I saw this online and figured that I should give it a try given how inexpensive it was. The material for review today: Jack Richeson's Clear Carve.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJkKbBDFAXqJgpfjYJc_iUIgLUNPdXnyWQfsk6Q9riDGih0hNxLZKNpFE9KBvAMF4ZrNQujutaAazLi-0Qt1ZSK3n-wN4CUcGSTRR3RZX-dOckSXlOlu5zR2yjHP1UMEPDamLmLjIjBC0/s1600/Photo+2016-04-08%252C+9+18+06+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJkKbBDFAXqJgpfjYJc_iUIgLUNPdXnyWQfsk6Q9riDGih0hNxLZKNpFE9KBvAMF4ZrNQujutaAazLi-0Qt1ZSK3n-wN4CUcGSTRR3RZX-dOckSXlOlu5zR2yjHP1UMEPDamLmLjIjBC0/s400/Photo+2016-04-08%252C+9+18+06+PM.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://amzn.to/2E1uxX2" target="_blank">Jack Richeson - Clear Carve </a>stamp carving material</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I'd like to be clear (get it?): although this looks like it would be problematic, this stuff specifically advertises itself as "great for block prints, etching and <i><b>stamp making</b></i>". But it's clear - how the heck do you carve this stuff?<br />
<br />
Read on!<br />
<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
<br />
I ended up buying this at AboveGround Art Supplies in Toronto and the stuff was quite inexpensive. About $8 for a 6x8" sheet (Canadian dollars, obv.).<br />
<br />
My first thought was that there was going to be no way for me to properly carve this stuff (spoiler alert: I was right). It feels like realllly thick plastic sheeting. In fact, I'm sure I've seen this stuff somewhere else in some other context put to some other purpose, but I can't figure out for the life of me where I've seen it...<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Appearance:</b><br />
<br />
I mean, well, it's clear. Completely see-through, no cloudiness or anything. It's fairly thin, just under 3 mm thick, and comes in a number of sizes. There's a Jack Richeson sticker (also clear) on the front.<b> </b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Size and Weight:</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Transfer:</b><br />
<br />
Bad.<br />
<b> </b><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtEpts4tAAlbjvOGLZJ_1Qz2Bb_fojm15o_qNU6J5xawnODYvZ3u9EQMcVTwqbAkeH5s4B_kZ4J3-BnJKUPmZiL7HLmjC7TikRyZjPDY6BP4CdDv23ZjTqDwbZ76dK8SQLZs1FpTrfcOw/s1600/Photo+2016-04-08%252C+9+19+11+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtEpts4tAAlbjvOGLZJ_1Qz2Bb_fojm15o_qNU6J5xawnODYvZ3u9EQMcVTwqbAkeH5s4B_kZ4J3-BnJKUPmZiL7HLmjC7TikRyZjPDY6BP4CdDv23ZjTqDwbZ76dK8SQLZs1FpTrfcOw/s320/Photo+2016-04-08%252C+9+19+11+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Attempted heat transfer</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Heat transfers don't work... Neither do acetone...<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuJGenSGtVNZJ3xXeCL3w6D5V6-ztG_EKtyoX-yEE__cs4ukdLMh4Q7tH_MU-2WbOleHnXuob24DtqPGYRAlu4V7ocHzSiaaYGNtzGRN8o1EJNye1MqIfpyb14gkBycoh6_ttj0sIzdNU/s1600/Photo+2016-04-08%252C+9+27+04+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuJGenSGtVNZJ3xXeCL3w6D5V6-ztG_EKtyoX-yEE__cs4ukdLMh4Q7tH_MU-2WbOleHnXuob24DtqPGYRAlu4V7ocHzSiaaYGNtzGRN8o1EJNye1MqIfpyb14gkBycoh6_ttj0sIzdNU/s320/Photo+2016-04-08%252C+9+27+04+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Attempted acetone transfer</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So instead, I did what the manufacturer intended: I put the image I wanted to carve under the material. But since I carve holding the piece in my hand, I actually taped it to the back (did you immediately think of the problem inherent with that? Don't worry, I didn't either -- read on to see the problem).<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Crumble Factor:</b><br />
<br />
None. This is truly just a thick plastic, there is nothing to crumble.<b> </b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Carving:</b><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6i8Va_bUGmDCJVjymbcLTpntNYa9h23vTeURMTCros5GgQctQ1OlUWqy86cDtDpeymUxCmjqGWsDRUFIr_573tsn_GKwvYsWBMNhB-p1kOo0CCtK4wa8Cu5fsXnELyvw0VK8MLJJS8Mk/s1600/Photo+2016-04-09%252C+5+06+19+PM.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6i8Va_bUGmDCJVjymbcLTpntNYa9h23vTeURMTCros5GgQctQ1OlUWqy86cDtDpeymUxCmjqGWsDRUFIr_573tsn_GKwvYsWBMNhB-p1kOo0CCtK4wa8Cu5fsXnELyvw0VK8MLJJS8Mk/s1600/Photo+2016-04-09%252C+5+06+19+PM.gif" /></a>Brutal. Because of the thickness of the material, the image shifts as your eyes move in relation to the material - think of how light bends across water. Really difficult to carve with a gouge, impossible with a knife.<br />
<br />
Here it is carved in the animated image to the right, see how the image doubles and shifts depending on how you look at it?<br />
<br />
In the end, the "stamp" looks only slightly like the image I was using, despite carving with best efforts. <span class="st">¯\_(ツ)_/¯</span> <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxh0_JJaUxR4OE-NfA-8-VNdg2DdxvUWbDbyzJVg1Daz_aHXZ0Zb8WEJPXwh1QhCfdiozuHvA_19Ahn48K0p0LgEBIRh1ZW875XdV4kOKN9Pb104gPMhkNy0nvD1l6bk79YXSIf7TPP3k/s1600/Photo+2016-04-09%252C+5+13+50+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxh0_JJaUxR4OE-NfA-8-VNdg2DdxvUWbDbyzJVg1Daz_aHXZ0Zb8WEJPXwh1QhCfdiozuHvA_19Ahn48K0p0LgEBIRh1ZW875XdV4kOKN9Pb104gPMhkNy0nvD1l6bk79YXSIf7TPP3k/s320/Photo+2016-04-09%252C+5+13+50+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<b> </b><br />
<b> </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Inking:</b><br />
<br />
It's so plastic-y that the ink beads up. I didn't get a great impression with the Memento or the StazOn, so I tried the VersaMagic as well. It was okay, I suppose, but check out that awesome reversed text! Oops.<b> </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikNkcOoZeWf16kiGxm5zDqfprIG-UHCKjGAn5BOqFI1qR4qIYMtAdBpGRjzU5QX7JtZN8bgIqCQHk8QSX0eGeNt_K-cVXCZWQGNAHWd1-AtYnGn74jpNyhKsHLKD5TqUiIF6_eSI6YgMY/s1600/Photo+2016-04-09%252C+5+19+43+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikNkcOoZeWf16kiGxm5zDqfprIG-UHCKjGAn5BOqFI1qR4qIYMtAdBpGRjzU5QX7JtZN8bgIqCQHk8QSX0eGeNt_K-cVXCZWQGNAHWd1-AtYnGn74jpNyhKsHLKD5TqUiIF6_eSI6YgMY/s400/Photo+2016-04-09%252C+5+19+43+PM.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b>Conclusions:</b><br />
<br />
Yeah, no. This might be good for a lino style print, or if it's not important to get an exact image. But essentially, for what I carve, this stuff doesn't have much purpose.<br />
<b> </b><br />
<b>P.S. </b>guys, I just keep accumulating carving materials. If you are looking for a review of one I haven't done before, leave a comment - if you think you know of a material that I don't have, let me know too.Bumblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757879893200986680noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032403685554992033.post-4613530823252437522016-04-08T23:24:00.000-04:002016-04-08T23:24:19.357-04:00Carving Material Review: Soft-Kut<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjra-iJW8IoIK2NC1-jqjlluXLqCaI9Kas_pwMXUagTfkYuKERSfceGDi7F2YpIhkx6RTawP-5XHLgHH_c9kgBMx4Q2M5pKZraXrgyDfhfaljSREcIUcnxqdpqFViJQIP-17PIK16Hef_Q/s1600/Photo+2016-04-01%252C+6+39+25+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjra-iJW8IoIK2NC1-jqjlluXLqCaI9Kas_pwMXUagTfkYuKERSfceGDi7F2YpIhkx6RTawP-5XHLgHH_c9kgBMx4Q2M5pKZraXrgyDfhfaljSREcIUcnxqdpqFViJQIP-17PIK16Hef_Q/s320/Photo+2016-04-01%252C+6+39+25+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Soft Kut carving block</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So this was one of many different carving materials that I bought from Dick Blick. The cost for the block was very reasonable, so I added it to my list.<br />
<br />
My first thoughts about this material are: ew, gross. It's floppy and feels like compressed marshmallow. Very floppy and yet its texture made me think of Speedy Cut and so I had very low hopes. While it's not my favourite carving medium, it's certainly decent and workable... Read on for more!<br />
<a name='more'></a><br /><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Appearance:</b><br />
<br />
The material is light grey and, as I said, very floppy. The texture is quite velvety and nice to feel, with no pilling although there feels like a powder is on the material, though nothing comes off when you handle it.<b> </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Size and Weight:</b><br />
<br />
This material is about 6 mm thick and quite light. It really does feel like compressed marshmallow or feel like skin. <b> </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Transfer:</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjVwPtlVO7Efdq5MoecQCLdaRNtJYXCnVrVYPSy8fqvtwrHmwf_HfEzw2x4D2lV98JHzeLx5QY08EuSX3K0NHSZhqLxFPw3feJvnD1D1LELyUqpegvBadUf6XH2KHS0njd41fYvoHHC-U/s1600/Photo+2016-04-01%252C+6+41+35+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjVwPtlVO7Efdq5MoecQCLdaRNtJYXCnVrVYPSy8fqvtwrHmwf_HfEzw2x4D2lV98JHzeLx5QY08EuSX3K0NHSZhqLxFPw3feJvnD1D1LELyUqpegvBadUf6XH2KHS0njd41fYvoHHC-U/s320/Photo+2016-04-01%252C+6+41+35+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
My heat transfer went well. There wasn't any melting or problems with the transfer - in fact, the material gave a really good dark transfer. <br />
<br />
But, when I went to cut the piece out of the larger slab, I have to admit: the cutting experience is like cutting through flesh (I mean, what I *expect* it is like to carve through flesh, I'm not a murderer...).<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Crumble Factor:</b><br />
<br />
Pretty much zero - the material has incredible stretch and flex which can be tricky, but zero amount of crumble or pilling.<b> </b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Carving:</b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS-mDNfMxFZn70LRn1Y-Ft6YYOrtz25hazHO8EbW9PE4WZHsI5ELsR3L6C6rpyfyVAl6BlGpgjlAKyn3-JmjicythqA0ua_hXeJoAKQtDO6U8sa4xlcqd7kXUi2uCoEhZWMql4MLqGgYk/s1600/Photo+2016-04-01%252C+6+44+25+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS-mDNfMxFZn70LRn1Y-Ft6YYOrtz25hazHO8EbW9PE4WZHsI5ELsR3L6C6rpyfyVAl6BlGpgjlAKyn3-JmjicythqA0ua_hXeJoAKQtDO6U8sa4xlcqd7kXUi2uCoEhZWMql4MLqGgYk/s320/Photo+2016-04-01%252C+6+44+25+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Overall, I wasn't too happy with carving the soft-kut, partly because my style of carving involves holding the piece I'm carving up and under my magnifier (as opposed to letting it lay flat on the table and carving while it is down). While holding it, the flop factor made it really hard to keep the material positioned so the transfer wasn't distorted while I carved.<b> </b><br />
<br />
Knife carving is a little tricky. The material has a rubberiness that results in a bit of a jagged pull/pause/pull/pause motion that is hard to control. The lettering here in this stamp was tricky to say the least, but it helped a lot to use a sawing motion with the knife to control what was being carved.<br />
<br />
Gouge carving it was much easier. Actually, it was really rather nice - smooth cuts and no jerky sensation like knife carving. If I were going to be carving some large piece, I would imagine you wouldn't get tired carving this because it is soft and doesn't require a lot of force to carve.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjml6nMg04VCYtdzixp01lAgx4MYyEuMelFfjsg-Xcyi2tcqrDEskk1kkUNlmHPGLovk3BRfbqj6F2-acf98-0i44Rb-b9T2neXDHuyNsR8jgvvruMkN4ukr5AEIngfeMSY0tu3pVx0z8k/s1600/Photo+2016-04-08%252C+10+49+25+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjml6nMg04VCYtdzixp01lAgx4MYyEuMelFfjsg-Xcyi2tcqrDEskk1kkUNlmHPGLovk3BRfbqj6F2-acf98-0i44Rb-b9T2neXDHuyNsR8jgvvruMkN4ukr5AEIngfeMSY0tu3pVx0z8k/s320/Photo+2016-04-08%252C+10+49+25+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Inking:</b><br />
<br />
It inked up and stamped well. I was concerned that it might flex when putting pressure on the stamp - a larger one might suffer this problem.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiVEDcYtJzGhLLKUdj6y9ncAWCWxA4TRsGFQALUNqjrG96pUZ4i2nl0ajnsFiCj8OoYVf1Cb2EGkinaD2wSVo07K3-HP7N8UoBtzSFLa_9L2TObFqgNKzvp_dv5hmxzby_jA4_ZxcNZG4/s1600/Photo+2016-04-08%252C+10+51+40+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiVEDcYtJzGhLLKUdj6y9ncAWCWxA4TRsGFQALUNqjrG96pUZ4i2nl0ajnsFiCj8OoYVf1Cb2EGkinaD2wSVo07K3-HP7N8UoBtzSFLa_9L2TObFqgNKzvp_dv5hmxzby_jA4_ZxcNZG4/s400/Photo+2016-04-08%252C+10+51+40+PM.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b>Conclusions:</b><br />
<br />
<b> </b>It's okay, not terrible. I might want to mount it if it were a larger stamp.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5JnCdX4BsSlNzNAz2ts2r3cSxZ8IpUYK8ZzfJ7WkzNUxEXaB3l6bC6sUT9IdYKkeNmtBYE1Fu0wvgHdFXIq489MaEWxoyn1L76SpyM4v_4AJhBvU8JcNx1P5lq7easxxrNh9StjFQO7I/s1600/Photo+2016-04-08%252C+10+52+00+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5JnCdX4BsSlNzNAz2ts2r3cSxZ8IpUYK8ZzfJ7WkzNUxEXaB3l6bC6sUT9IdYKkeNmtBYE1Fu0wvgHdFXIq489MaEWxoyn1L76SpyM4v_4AJhBvU8JcNx1P5lq7easxxrNh9StjFQO7I/s320/Photo+2016-04-08%252C+10+52+00+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Bumblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757879893200986680noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032403685554992033.post-43637856888774101082016-03-31T19:21:00.000-04:002016-04-09T18:51:58.859-04:00Carving Material Review: Dark Grey from DeSerresOkay, so this is another review for a carving material that I first started using a few years ago. This stuff doesn't have a name or any other info on it, but it's a softer lino that I've been able to use for stamps before (somewhere in the history of this blog you'll find <a href="http://bumblingacrossletterboxes.blogspot.ca/2012/05/testing-out-new-material-soft-linoleum.html" target="_blank">a post about the first time I used it</a>... wait, that was FOUR YEARS ago?!)<br />
<br />
The upshot of this material is that it is inexpensive. A fairly large sheet (it's really more of a sheet than a slab) is only about $8. And it's in store, so no shipping. (I pick this stuff up at <a href="http://www.deserres.ca/en-CA/" target="_blank">DeSerres</a> in the linocut area, they don't seem to sell any of this stuff online.)<br />
<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
Appearance:<br />
This slab is dark grey. Like really dark - it occurred to me the first time I bought it that it might be too hard to do a transfer on it, but I have found that it works under bright light... more on that later. The texture is quite velvety without a plastic-y feel. It's soft and thin enough that it bends and flops easily.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOk5fZjYNw4YJhSXfaQypFhV8usl3IYN29buoXUWCrA0iZNLE_ueaIuyz3WcZCpcv_u_5K5PmflUhgOpK8LlBRhUIkOOVPjUvm4qaKp_nmvpDdWMKMWAkE8CRreJVinD6DRDomA0NsxMQ/s1600/Photo+2016-02-28%252C+8+17+53+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOk5fZjYNw4YJhSXfaQypFhV8usl3IYN29buoXUWCrA0iZNLE_ueaIuyz3WcZCpcv_u_5K5PmflUhgOpK8LlBRhUIkOOVPjUvm4qaKp_nmvpDdWMKMWAkE8CRreJVinD6DRDomA0NsxMQ/s320/Photo+2016-02-28%252C+8+17+53+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Size and Weight:<br />
<br />
At just shy of 3 millimetres, this material is very difficult to carve unless it is laid flat on the the table/mat or unless it is mounted in someway to give it support. It's very light (weight-wise, anyway).<br />
<br />
<br />
Transfer:<br />
<br />
I used acetone and xylene to transfer on this material in the past, but it works really well with heat, too. Having said that, use a light touch with heat since the heat can warp it - and cooling down doesn't seem to correct it. So here you see it: it's very dark. Quite dark. Under my magnifying lamp, the contrast between the dark grey and the black is much better - but it isn't ideal.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDV_M2sixMKXVQm2Dg5KdOzhynfLpiPM6fUQdjOrxl6IK8kTddTzeohjMoyUBKplpBWw1ed-xKD-bSEw3i0qc2A_ZUE1YkyKT2Xne4PyxtK_lD5yfNNZWmHMdhifsDSQ5JyByMwU-NdVw/s1600/Photo+2016-03-01%252C+6+33+40+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDV_M2sixMKXVQm2Dg5KdOzhynfLpiPM6fUQdjOrxl6IK8kTddTzeohjMoyUBKplpBWw1ed-xKD-bSEw3i0qc2A_ZUE1YkyKT2Xne4PyxtK_lD5yfNNZWmHMdhifsDSQ5JyByMwU-NdVw/s320/Photo+2016-03-01%252C+6+33+40+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Very dark transfer.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Crumble Factor:<br />
<br />
None. This stuff doesn't pill or in any way crumble when rubbed or mauled.<br />
<br />
<br />
Carving:<br />
<br />
It's kind of interesting to make slices into this with either a knife or gouge because the dark grey lightens up considerably, which is nice to see.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3FFnLu69nFxLyyfArRTIF6pxEMQuJ1tSvfiECiwaBO9aGKhA-LIWZVchjjqrIqplfhNORdNVBAVVhVNNUdnhatzD9_o8jOACmECx60bcXlFCSW1jlfuMWqSb5ur6mOPg8gv6e8j1ZrhM/s1600/Photo+2016-03-01%252C+7+04+04+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3FFnLu69nFxLyyfArRTIF6pxEMQuJ1tSvfiECiwaBO9aGKhA-LIWZVchjjqrIqplfhNORdNVBAVVhVNNUdnhatzD9_o8jOACmECx60bcXlFCSW1jlfuMWqSb5ur6mOPg8gv6e8j1ZrhM/s320/Photo+2016-03-01%252C+7+04+04+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See how the grey gets lighter once you slice into the material?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The material is fairly dense making it a little bit hard for knife cutting - about the same pressure is needed for OZ Kut and hand cramps are likely after you carve for a while. However, the material doesn't move away from your knife/gouge while carving, which is good. The material breaks well without that elastic connection problem.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFNBnsG-vIBOR9iEVogrSGDfeJk7YwA1VeYvpm-KTZSo5IbcpTfDBy_ZSsWM_K4f-TB4Ra2KtR_EIWIDtCD1bm06b-dGRAA8MM2fzr2ksOsD9Xzcyiy8ziMdvkc2D0vwpRzPjZx4daPrA/s1600/Photo+2016-03-02%252C+9+11+01+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFNBnsG-vIBOR9iEVogrSGDfeJk7YwA1VeYvpm-KTZSo5IbcpTfDBy_ZSsWM_K4f-TB4Ra2KtR_EIWIDtCD1bm06b-dGRAA8MM2fzr2ksOsD9Xzcyiy8ziMdvkc2D0vwpRzPjZx4daPrA/s320/Photo+2016-03-02%252C+9+11+01+PM.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Please ignore the ring finger stabbing.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
Inking:<br />
<br />
Flawless. I think the velvety texture does it.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHG2pDlUBpp6FyRHAOYaotck1zX1I7IwuC8X3yMbcHKeAe7bXNzUCE2ha5_RZaC1If4T-RBOQdv6OMDYMzP0CIp0ZtmPDQf6k8efxOTYigIv3JBoQydvl5MHGRaKNXb1bOWUOa92k571Q/s1600/Photo+2016-03-02%252C+9+15+32+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHG2pDlUBpp6FyRHAOYaotck1zX1I7IwuC8X3yMbcHKeAe7bXNzUCE2ha5_RZaC1If4T-RBOQdv6OMDYMzP0CIp0ZtmPDQf6k8efxOTYigIv3JBoQydvl5MHGRaKNXb1bOWUOa92k571Q/s320/Photo+2016-03-02%252C+9+15+32+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Conclusions:<br />
<br />
As a cheap alternative, this material works for experienced carvers. You must have a bright light and be fine with having to mount the stamp afterwards.Bumblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757879893200986680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032403685554992033.post-88049189765253097842016-03-28T18:53:00.002-04:002018-02-04T13:19:16.383-05:00Carving Material Review: SEED Horunavi <span style="font-family: inherit;">Hello and welcome back for another review, yay! (I would note that since my last post, I now have even more carving materials in my possession to review... this may be the never-ending set of reviews...)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span>
<br />
<div style="color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So, I splurged and actually bought some carving material from Japan made by a company called SEED. (If you go to their website, it looks like they make erasers and things like that as well, and I'm charmed that they put as the title for their product category "Curving Erasers".)</span></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhndgmDD3Pbp0-D4hA5_NC-23beIoHR_yy9QNoKpgIeja4mlksdsygyITS_yuHRpdiPgdqhtaLjTeQmRuMGxyCfM_2g_lkXHheCCaNKCiX47TOBa58b2lghr_yltDO3qmuWACuZHzo93Rc/s1600/Photo+2016-02-24%252C+7+40+46+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhndgmDD3Pbp0-D4hA5_NC-23beIoHR_yy9QNoKpgIeja4mlksdsygyITS_yuHRpdiPgdqhtaLjTeQmRuMGxyCfM_2g_lkXHheCCaNKCiX47TOBa58b2lghr_yltDO3qmuWACuZHzo93Rc/s320/Photo+2016-02-24%252C+7+40+46+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://amzn.to/2k27uq6" target="_blank">SEED Horunavi</a> carving blocks - yellow at the top, two other packages underneath</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSdkBU9qhV8BXgSnpYyQktKEVGCg4vTzkvJDLJSU4L4PeLBBf5l9P95tWmkxl7Y26RU-VZuvjkmiOflErImls4tCeeuTtkaPq-PhnP93L1UD0nKm3kpYdF9gc1B3cgnnoiADuI4BZvp4o/s1600/Photo+2016-02-22%252C+6+19+30+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"></a><br />
<a name='more'></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSdkBU9qhV8BXgSnpYyQktKEVGCg4vTzkvJDLJSU4L4PeLBBf5l9P95tWmkxl7Y26RU-VZuvjkmiOflErImls4tCeeuTtkaPq-PhnP93L1UD0nKm3kpYdF9gc1B3cgnnoiADuI4BZvp4o/s1600/Photo+2016-02-22%252C+6+19+30+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSdkBU9qhV8BXgSnpYyQktKEVGCg4vTzkvJDLJSU4L4PeLBBf5l9P95tWmkxl7Y26RU-VZuvjkmiOflErImls4tCeeuTtkaPq-PhnP93L1UD0nKm3kpYdF9gc1B3cgnnoiADuI4BZvp4o/s320/Photo+2016-02-22%252C+6+19+30+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This came with the <a href="http://amzn.to/2Bnsiwi" target="_blank">SEED Horunavi</a> block - I have no idea what it says, but I like it ;)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The cost per slab is more expensive than other blocks (around $14 USD - gah!) but is made pretty much unreasonably expensive when you factor the cost of shipping to Canada into that equation. (Nonetheless, I bought a few slabs so I can include this review. FOR SCIENCE!).</span></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I have to say: before we get into the substance of this review, this material and company wins HANDS DOWN in the heretofore unrecognized category of cuteness. The cuteness factor is very high with their materials: the packaging, etc, is amazingly adorable and completely distracts me from my poor* Japanese reading skills.</span></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I actually bought three different items: a complete carving set (which came with a carving block) and two other carving blocks. Look at those pictures above! They are so freaking adorable!</span></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">*poor in this context means a complete lack and non-existent understanding of the language.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Appearance:</span><br />
<div style="color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So right off, these are some of the most colourful carving materials I've used. I decided to use the block that was included in the carving set which was white with a thin bright lime green top on it. Ostensibly, the green top helps you see where you've carved. As I got carving the material, I realized the white part of the stamp is not opaque, but instead has a nice bit of translucence to it. The block is pretty velvety feeling - super heavy but super soft, although not squishy like Mastercarve.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Also to note: the material has a fairly strong plastic smell right out of the package. It does dissipate fast, but the material still smells that way if you put it right to your nose.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Size and Weight:</span><br />
<div style="color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The material is the thickest of any material I've used, coming in at a whopping 11 mm total thickness. The thin piece of green on top is just shy of 1 mm of that total. I'm thinking that, unmounted, this is probably the best choice based on thickness alone for stamp carving.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Cv2HReZDp-oklmEQb1hxMMmUp20Wzy-7J4G9scDpZ-wJfWAjmaHA8_PYSYnTzg07mUddGYfbTNq8G2BRLY7oCySmeQZhZTOqXYBkbILyWTeqhlgiB8rytZX9YgAOIAxg1TS-tvdM67k/s1600/Photo+2016-02-24%252C+7+42+38+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; widows: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Cv2HReZDp-oklmEQb1hxMMmUp20Wzy-7J4G9scDpZ-wJfWAjmaHA8_PYSYnTzg07mUddGYfbTNq8G2BRLY7oCySmeQZhZTOqXYBkbILyWTeqhlgiB8rytZX9YgAOIAxg1TS-tvdM67k/s320/Photo+2016-02-24%252C+7+42+38+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://amzn.to/2Bnsiwi" target="_blank">SEED Horunavi </a>- a very thick stamp carving material...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />The material itself is very heavy - in fact, when I received the package in the mail that included the blocks, I was a little startled at how heavy it was - particularly since I'm used to the heft of my Stampeaz orders.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Transfer:</span><br />
<div style="color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Okay, so I was a little nervous to try a heat transfer on this block. The packaging of the slabs show very clearly a pencil transfer on the back, and the carving set actually came with higher-end tracing paper. I was a little worried that written somewhere in/on the packages it said something along the lines of: do not use acetone or heat. Ack. But, fortune favours the bold...</span></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaGEpeUCqdK6G3FQEMr0AnWBLkr6Hxo5FnD5FGymepdBb0-CZTJbNKu7W-y-tGksI0uX38seJ6bQ_2tzvvuS2K_SSVJey8xIKbefwjIJaFHbsEErXVtX5yeMILEykwpmdT9tFjwZ1JTmE/s1600/Photo+2016-02-24%252C+7+45+09+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaGEpeUCqdK6G3FQEMr0AnWBLkr6Hxo5FnD5FGymepdBb0-CZTJbNKu7W-y-tGksI0uX38seJ6bQ_2tzvvuS2K_SSVJey8xIKbefwjIJaFHbsEErXVtX5yeMILEykwpmdT9tFjwZ1JTmE/s320/Photo+2016-02-24%252C+7+45+09+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heat transfer onto SEED horunavi material - the little splice is where the iron touched bare material</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">My head transfer was technically very good with nice dark lines transferring really easily. But warning: this stuff melts super easily! I inadvertantly touched the side of the block with my iron and it melt/crumbled away as if I had actually touched a slab of butter instead. A little frightening and something to keep in mind when I make future transfers on this stuff.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Crumble Factor:</span><br />
<div style="color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Initially, I thought: oh jeez, this stuff is going to crumble like Speedy Cut. It just had that feel. As I carved it, I noted that I developed little grains off of the block while handling it just like the little grains you get using an eraser. They were much finer though and blew away really easily.</span></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Since my carving came out really well, I didn't want to actually TRY to wreck the stamp, so I made a test stamp and put it to a very vigorous rubbing test to see how hard I'd have to rub to crumble off text or parts of the design. </span></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxo0UjOXqsUHgVT-8UqUUCJhffh2uqYZIOxeuk7gCrgY_OBIDXeFAvg7ftwIdCFJFoGbDasGMgmJhSlV4H2ATxjYe8H3daDusjkw4b6LK9_azJsns6_RJuuV-KVDgbiRLNTt-GRiva9fY/s1600/Photo+2016-02-26%252C+7+58+41+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxo0UjOXqsUHgVT-8UqUUCJhffh2uqYZIOxeuk7gCrgY_OBIDXeFAvg7ftwIdCFJFoGbDasGMgmJhSlV4H2ATxjYe8H3daDusjkw4b6LK9_azJsns6_RJuuV-KVDgbiRLNTt-GRiva9fY/s320/Photo+2016-02-26%252C+7+58+41+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The "test" carve after VERY aggressive rubbing. Some minor pilling and a huge amount of force to actually break off a side.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Result: I'm impressed! I actually went to town a couple of times rubbing the block progressively harder and harder trying to get it to crumble/break. No go. If fact, the amount of pressure I used to finally make the stamp break up was an amount of force you would only use if you were in fact trying to wreck the stamp. Two thumbs up on that account.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Carving:</span><br />
<div style="color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Initially, I tried using the brand new knife that came with the carving set but very quickly had to stop: the knife works a little different and I didn't want that to skew my carve, but more importantly, the knife was so sharp, I had a terrible time trying to control my carving.</span></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In fact, even when I switched to my trusty Xacto, the knife slid through the material so easily that I found it super difficult to control. I actually swapped out my blade for a dull one - am I desensitized to the hardness of carving blocks due to carving on firm cut for so long?</span></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Anyways, in many respects, the ease to slide the knife and gouge through this material made it a pleasure to carve. No cramps or soreness in my hand, and the carving went very speedy. For the knife carving, the pieces release really well with no elasticity.</span></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">With a gouge, I tried my Speedball with a 1V and as I said, it was a pleasure. I would note that the 1V is not actually a big enough gouge to cut through the lime green part of the block - only on subsequent passes and clearing everything out did I cut through to the white underneath. When I tried my 2V, it did cut through to the white on the first attempt.</span></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIPkH30NEujai9gcMKOYisupUC2luuSuZSXOO96bhc13S8CX_Qzdt2mV68fTjaevrzsRFXCyVKQiQqXvAOD_GKNqwW9u2Y8ppNtodd_dcDyFYyiV8ppBZkzRlCYQXkbRDP-RN6s8VXt3g/s1600/Photo+2016-02-26%252C+7+48+12+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIPkH30NEujai9gcMKOYisupUC2luuSuZSXOO96bhc13S8CX_Qzdt2mV68fTjaevrzsRFXCyVKQiQqXvAOD_GKNqwW9u2Y8ppNtodd_dcDyFYyiV8ppBZkzRlCYQXkbRDP-RN6s8VXt3g/s320/Photo+2016-02-26%252C+7+48+12+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The finished carving, click to enlarge.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I will say that although the top layer being a different colour is nice, it wasn't as helpful as the StazOn trick. Consider: the different colour is almost 1 mm thick and many of the parts I'm trying to differentiate are must smaller than that. So, while it's pretty, it's not functionally helpful for the types of carving I do.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Inking:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Beautiful. The velvety texture holds the ink well and the bit of softness to it allows you to give it a nice even pressure.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheANC4Ry5mZac0V3DvsaHNcm8Nr3eEkyKxIZ2HoyVNsjSWBZa3tp1R4rSwZHVboYerrjLoz28kM482S7ZEBoKKTy8RZETJw51BeGLpzC93TqLhyphenhyphenp5GsP69c7DSWACilW4KI-4d7x8yQE4/s1600/Photo+2016-02-26%252C+7+51+11+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheANC4Ry5mZac0V3DvsaHNcm8Nr3eEkyKxIZ2HoyVNsjSWBZa3tp1R4rSwZHVboYerrjLoz28kM482S7ZEBoKKTy8RZETJw51BeGLpzC93TqLhyphenhyphenp5GsP69c7DSWACilW4KI-4d7x8yQE4/s320/Photo+2016-02-26%252C+7+51+11+AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Conclusions:</span><br />
<div style="color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I really like it! Because it ends up being so expensive to acquire it, I probably won't use it a lot, though I will certainly be happy carving the remainder I have. It's really quite soft, so it would be perfect for anyone who has trouble with achy hands, and it is the perfect thickness for an unmounted stamp.</span></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal; widows: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This particular stamp is currently unclaimed - I would be happy to send this to a letterboxer who would like to plant it and has >10 plants themselves. Send me a message on AQ if you meet these criteria - first come, first serve, and I will update this with the letterboxer who will be the recipient.</span></div>
Bumblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757879893200986680noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032403685554992033.post-38718781266194681122016-02-28T12:56:00.000-05:002016-04-09T18:52:58.708-04:00Carving Material Review: Blick Blue Easy-To-CutHello and welcome back for another review, yay! (I would note that since my last post, I now have at least three more carving materials in my possession to review... this may be the never-ending set of reviews...)<br />
<br />
Since the last review was of a Dick Blick material, I decided to go ahead and try the other Dick Blick branded material for the next review, called Blick Blue Easy-To Cut (henceforth to be referred to as Blick Blue - as opposed to the "blue stuff" that Speedball makes). It's really inexpensive - Dick Blick sells this for $1.84 USD for a 4x6" sheet.<br />
<br />
(Spoiler: having now used it, I love it. Not my #1, but definitely up there.)<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
<b>Appearance:</b><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2kaw598L8OVDmaETLFvflHuYZLiV_YxaUxLMecN4t_J5y4nqJ9pCRQBkRNfe1sbcoJ03F2t1pLEKdBQIUETaoZNwjs1Yok9-gd2MYBmAFAjC2bGX4dhWWOrNakLFH8iS97nZbg8S66XQ/s1600/Photo+2016-02-20%252C+11+35+48+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2kaw598L8OVDmaETLFvflHuYZLiV_YxaUxLMecN4t_J5y4nqJ9pCRQBkRNfe1sbcoJ03F2t1pLEKdBQIUETaoZNwjs1Yok9-gd2MYBmAFAjC2bGX4dhWWOrNakLFH8iS97nZbg8S66XQ/s200/Photo+2016-02-20%252C+11+35+48+AM.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blick Blue - quite thin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
My first thought when I received it was: ugh. It was actually much
harder than I was anticipating and I had really low expectations for how
well it would work as a stamp material as opposed to a lino cut
material.<b> </b>Little to no bend in the material when I hold it horizontally - just a slight bend. Okay, so the material is a very soft blue - kinda grey-ey blue, with a nice velvety texture<b> </b>with a fantastic smooth surface.<br />
<br />
<b>Size and Weight:</b><br />
This carving medium is slightly tricky to use as a stamp, coming in at only 3 mm thick. Yikes. As a result, it pretty much has to be mounted to use it as a stamp... Also, if you hold your block in your hand while you carve like I do, the thickness makes this almost impossible. As a result, I either had to put it down on a mat to carve (no, thank you) or temporarily mount it on another block (yes, please). I have done this before with a dark grey material I sometimes use (review to come!) so I was happy to use this medium that way.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Transfer</b>:<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI6lC_hGPvSwWLlh3YRoACvZFa0kmORA-ugaiJJAWGDNkpNXCWuiliAnGVB-s0RlQADr-tzXFuMfiz-1OwhX1vrU1MJNlKndU_0Xq410vpDjQGH5rw3AIhSA2vxYHCpMb30jvXmgQ4pnY/s1600/Photo+2016-02-20%252C+11+35+31+AM+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI6lC_hGPvSwWLlh3YRoACvZFa0kmORA-ugaiJJAWGDNkpNXCWuiliAnGVB-s0RlQADr-tzXFuMfiz-1OwhX1vrU1MJNlKndU_0Xq410vpDjQGH5rw3AIhSA2vxYHCpMb30jvXmgQ4pnY/s200/Photo+2016-02-20%252C+11+35+31+AM+%25281%2529.jpg" width="200" /></a>Transfer via heat went really well - no problems, nice dark transfer, and nothing melted. Phew. The image I used was pretty complicated and due to poor decision making, I ended up with a bit of a muddy design. All in a day... <br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Crumble Factor:</b><br />
No crumbles or grit when I rubed the material, before or after carving. <br />
<br />
<b>Carving:</b><br />
Okay, so the hardest part of this material is the hardness. Heh.<br />
<br />
To put it in context, it's harder to carve than OZ Kut, but with sharp tools, it is actually easier to cut. However, the hardness of the material did pull at my knife and wanted to pull it off course if I wasn't paying attention... The upside of this that I found was that the material doesn't move away from my tool (the new formulation of pink stuff has this problem).<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3JKTWOgyndQ_GLWnYrKsiCgZ48CigLyFoD7GKrVJPpSKbEXDXA0cWq6PltlcFAJl7AP6Chk5GpMUBlK7uJq78qOgvdJWhyphenhyphendaNl-JyasaE3WzJDswoVTnIDeNVWO7bP8zYve7L9LuTs1o/s1600/Photo+2016-02-20%252C+12+00+51+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3JKTWOgyndQ_GLWnYrKsiCgZ48CigLyFoD7GKrVJPpSKbEXDXA0cWq6PltlcFAJl7AP6Chk5GpMUBlK7uJq78qOgvdJWhyphenhyphendaNl-JyasaE3WzJDswoVTnIDeNVWO7bP8zYve7L9LuTs1o/s320/Photo+2016-02-20%252C+12+00+51+PM.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blick Blue - carving while mounted...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It cuts differently than the carving materials that have more plastic (or whatever is in them to make them more elastic). This material texture therefore doesn't have that plastic feel, more velvety like I said earlier and has a decidedly different creamy feel when I slice it with a tool. When carved, the pieces release easily without that annoying elastic hold that I sometimes get with other material.<br />
<br />
All in all, both the knife and gouges carved this really well and I was actually quite happy with the result :)<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Inking:</b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhypgxCIDsycP-88N_mtVOlkGa85wRQhcZ54rDJ6Dj-F9qg_oI3yddlQV3oFBhq_ZGi0UEowxTQYFgYj-V0ascSYhMi3dy7FfsURcUdHlsG9quNoWkefnzdvLgc1bKJC753TxtjtQaid1U/s1600/Photo+2016-02-20%252C+12+47+06+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhypgxCIDsycP-88N_mtVOlkGa85wRQhcZ54rDJ6Dj-F9qg_oI3yddlQV3oFBhq_ZGi0UEowxTQYFgYj-V0ascSYhMi3dy7FfsURcUdHlsG9quNoWkefnzdvLgc1bKJC753TxtjtQaid1U/s400/Photo+2016-02-20%252C+12+47+06+PM.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Beautiful, gorgeous. Actually, the velvety surface of it seems to grab the ink well and give a nice distribution.<b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>Conclusions</b>:<br />
Definitely like this material. The only real downside is that because it's so hard, when I had a dull tool, I could really feel the strain in my hand and had problems with cramps. Obviously, I have no issue mounting my stamps, but if I needed just a carve and go material, I couldn't use this. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Bumblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757879893200986680noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032403685554992033.post-56819397663441597922016-02-14T17:57:00.000-05:002016-04-09T18:53:15.960-04:00Carving Material Review: Dick Blick's Printmaking Block<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPC_QqCi5bdQk0qfjf4EYJ18yjIT8-nHaCF7mNRIHgHehGiuLCSMf74Agb9zDGc4AsPx1uMCoXEpLSrEbdPBxJ9lmLdt4HFPlSEczieaemnPGm3gPBHgHeOjWIR9VDzdVKuXBY59yZsdg/s1600/Photo+2016-02-14%252C+12+23+26+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPC_QqCi5bdQk0qfjf4EYJ18yjIT8-nHaCF7mNRIHgHehGiuLCSMf74Agb9zDGc4AsPx1uMCoXEpLSrEbdPBxJ9lmLdt4HFPlSEczieaemnPGm3gPBHgHeOjWIR9VDzdVKuXBY59yZsdg/s320/Photo+2016-02-14%252C+12+23+26+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dick Blick Printmaking Blocks</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
So this is the first review in a series of posts that I'm doing on all the various kinds of material out there that you can use to make stamps. The first medium was chosen based on its proximity in the pile. Yep.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
I've decided that the series of stamps won't all be identical, but with the same style - an architectural drawing for some nice gouge carving and some text for the knife - along with a dark black box around the whole shebang so we can see how well it inks.<br />
<br />
Without any further ado: my review of Dick Blick's Printmaking Blocks (on its website, listed as E-Z-Cut)! You can buy this stuff at Dick Blick (shocking, I know) for about $5.30 USD + shipping.<br />
<br />
<b>Appearance</b>: Okay, so when you buy these, they come in a plastic wrapping - but when I received them in the mail, I had this suspicions that the blocks were going to be essentially the same as Speedball's Speedy Cut (spoiler: I was right). I opened it up and sure thing, it had the same smell (for those who know what I mean) and texture of Speedy Cut. It doesn't feel like there is any plastic in the material - it's very gritty feeling (in part because it was actually crumbling on the sides - yuck).<br />
<br />
<b>Size and weight: </b>Size wise, the thickness is about 9mm and even all over. Looking at both sides of the medium, it looks like they are the same and there was no ability to choose which should be carved and which shouldn't. It was quite heavy.<br />
<br />
<b>Transfer</b>: Okay, so I've pretty much converted to a pure heat transfer kinda girl. So I busted out my iron and did my thing - nada. See the image below? That was after about 30 seconds of heat (which on another medium would have melted the edges.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmHkErEdYbAQBN2TTS5GrdfHmymSfLJTOiQC5XMtGMddoSDo0KpC_2kKyKXxKMh3Tkj2rF9QphgA3hJ0ALv3NaGWpigzFV0Yy4GrzzfyL5aCEISGJpKmyU1QvxMSdnIRsipVP-zc8VIR0/s1600/Photo+2016-02-14%252C+12+26+59+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmHkErEdYbAQBN2TTS5GrdfHmymSfLJTOiQC5XMtGMddoSDo0KpC_2kKyKXxKMh3Tkj2rF9QphgA3hJ0ALv3NaGWpigzFV0Yy4GrzzfyL5aCEISGJpKmyU1QvxMSdnIRsipVP-zc8VIR0/s320/Photo+2016-02-14%252C+12+26+59+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Attempted heat transfer on Dick Blick Printmaking Block</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Since the heat was clearly a no-go, I resorted to an acetone transfer. In a word: mucky. The stuff is flaking off and not dealing well with trying to transfer it - it actually was absorbing the acetone, I swear. All in all, the transfer was very meh. You can barely see the details of the lettering, and the Parthenon is very muddy. Not a great transfer for trying to carve.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXY15Q4MyvS5dCFXpw5OcRMMdnZXcGN_t-3BFzDGDDZ1welb4HtO1df4cOO07DdsHpr8f8pesdmKtr4h7GRvJh16AA8cPpxaUrTzTjs0W8jdmlg3zOyGJ7otpqTKIlY64_40JwQK-nlE4/s1600/Photo+2016-02-14%252C+12+28+16+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXY15Q4MyvS5dCFXpw5OcRMMdnZXcGN_t-3BFzDGDDZ1welb4HtO1df4cOO07DdsHpr8f8pesdmKtr4h7GRvJh16AA8cPpxaUrTzTjs0W8jdmlg3zOyGJ7otpqTKIlY64_40JwQK-nlE4/s320/Photo+2016-02-14%252C+12+28+16+PM.jpg" width="314" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Acetone transfer on Dick Blick Printmaking Block</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Crumble-Factor: </b>Very very high. Worst of worst. So bad, that I actually crumbled off some lettering while I carved, but look at this following image where you can see the grit coming off of the sides. If you try to brush it away, you only succeed in making more new grit. Not cool.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYbRylrcJTMluTFFJHVtr8yDvgDD8lrALsvjtd7YsWWLZfYGmgVFUyv5rgQ3aW1N0GKUseZchZKjI1d6uNvp795J31Yr_ZTgbmuh64CGhM-RRrTFq7NcbBy8y8AaevJZ-FRZqklA6Em4Y/s1600/Photo+2016-02-14%252C+12+32+29+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYbRylrcJTMluTFFJHVtr8yDvgDD8lrALsvjtd7YsWWLZfYGmgVFUyv5rgQ3aW1N0GKUseZchZKjI1d6uNvp795J31Yr_ZTgbmuh64CGhM-RRrTFq7NcbBy8y8AaevJZ-FRZqklA6Em4Y/s320/Photo+2016-02-14%252C+12+32+29+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grit on sides of Dick Blick Printmaking Block</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>Carving: </b>I started first on the lettering with my trusty Xacto knife. The material doesn't just carve like butter, it carved like butter left too close to the stove. My knife would slide through the material way too quickly. The carved out pieces popped out really easy - but too easy. I lost part of the letter P - the carving is now of the Rarthenon.<br />
<br />
I gouge carved the building and the border using Speedball #1 and 2 gouges. Again, like half melted butter. The lines were terrible to carve: the gouge slides so easily that you can't control the separation and it makes it impossible to follow delicate lines - see the steps leading up to the parthenon.<br />
<br />
Essentially, as I was getting further along in the design, I basically phoned it in. Between the muddy transfer and the poor gouge control, I figured it would look like a disaster.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Inking: </b>Okay, so the design actually looked terrible when I finished carving it, so I was pretty surprised at how well the transfers turned out. Turns out that the material is actually pretty forgiving in the stamp transfer.<br />
<br />
Having said that, with how quickly this stuff crumbles, I would NOT recommend that anyone use stamp markers on it which will get gummed up. I also think the material would be problematic to those heathen inkers who swipe at the stamp with the ink pad (were you raised by wolves?!).<br />
<br />
The image below shows the stamp at the top right and the printed image bottom right. At the top left in blue is the Memento ink and the bottom left is the StazOn. Interesting that the StazOn is actually as dark as and a little darker than the printer version.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmHO7i1cUqfg0G6lAb-UNz3tkmCdVLn4Z_Gzuzhyphenhyphen7BF8iLiJ6m-FKfkPuoEAZ-4smKm_Y41P3Zt-Lv-gd5vlXfNUWTGHtliurLGN8dXdNmDz1MViPV0YQ4spTpmweEDfG764ulh9yjZuw/s1600/Photo+2016-02-14%252C+12+51+27+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmHO7i1cUqfg0G6lAb-UNz3tkmCdVLn4Z_Gzuzhyphenhyphen7BF8iLiJ6m-FKfkPuoEAZ-4smKm_Y41P3Zt-Lv-gd5vlXfNUWTGHtliurLGN8dXdNmDz1MViPV0YQ4spTpmweEDfG764ulh9yjZuw/s400/Photo+2016-02-14%252C+12+51+27+PM.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<b>Conclusions: </b>Brutal. Wouldn't recommend this to an established stamp carver to use. I think the remaining material that I have I will use for large, non-detailed prints. I wouldn't want to use it to make a stamp that I would want to keep because of how quickly it degrades in my hands.<br />
<br />
(I think this actually be re-branded Speedball Speedy Cut. I actually wouldn't know the difference, but it's been years since I've tried Speedy Cut - I'll have to get another slab and report back - for science!)<br />
<br />
The one use that I might recommend is for children: because it's so soft, I think it would actually work with those homemade gouges I read about on pinterest (taking a standard pencil, removing the eraser, pinching the metal at the top, and using it as a carving gouge). It's fairly inexpensive and inks well, I think it would be good for that purpose.<br />
<br />
*******<br />
I've started summarizing the reviews in a table on <a href="http://bumblingacrossletterboxes.blogspot.ca/p/carving-material.html" target="_blank">this page</a>.<br />
<br />
The remainder of my material reviews will follow generally the same format. If there is information that you'd like, famous buildings you'd like to recommend, or carving mediums you'd like to be covered, leave a message in the comments.<br />
<br />
Happy trails!<br />
<br />
February 16, 2016 edit: <i>Would you like this stamp? </i>Okay, so I'm going to end up with a crazy number of these architecture series stamps, so I've decided to make the stamps available to be claimed by letterboxers with more than 10 plants of their own. If you would like to claim this stamp, <i>send me a message on Atlas Quest with your mailing address - first come, first serve. </i> For this stamp, I will likely carve out the lettering because of how brutal they have turned out. I will come back and note something here if/when this particular stamp has been claimed.Bumblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757879893200986680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032403685554992033.post-52722805814504323262016-02-08T18:43:00.000-05:002016-02-08T18:43:02.515-05:00The Ultimate Carving Material Guide is coming!!OMG guise! Guise... GUYS! You should see my craft desk. It's amazing. It's beautiful. It's covered, just absolutely covered... in carving material. All amounts, all sizes, all colours of the rainbow (not really, but more colours than usual).<br />
<br />
Since I have been going through carving material a lot more than usual, I have put orders in for a whole bunch of different types of carving materials which have slowly been coming in. My desk is just about covered in carving material (it's beautiful) and I'm a little teary over here.<br />
<br />
So here is the plan: although some of these I've carved before, many are completely new to me. COMPLETELY NEW! I'm so excited, I can barely contain my carving knives. I need to come up with a design that I am going to carve in each of the mediums, and then report back - all scientific like - and let you know what I think. The problem with other online reviews is that they are usually about one or two carving mediums and you have no idea if the person has actually compared the carve with other mediums...<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBnPShOiOXC3zOVaToOeg2hKQiBW_b4lgH5XMOlXl0d2Vxzd_RP39aIG5t0_G3lYs2teDMT9syzWIxEw-zZLp-05wYt0YOMCWb8DGMPU-c77tf3Tp-xWflm601RMcOM97RGNwXyDwQQGw/s1600/Photo+2016-02-08%252C+5+58+45+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBnPShOiOXC3zOVaToOeg2hKQiBW_b4lgH5XMOlXl0d2Vxzd_RP39aIG5t0_G3lYs2teDMT9syzWIxEw-zZLp-05wYt0YOMCWb8DGMPU-c77tf3Tp-xWflm601RMcOM97RGNwXyDwQQGw/s400/Photo+2016-02-08%252C+5+58+45+PM.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thirteen (13) different carving materials.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
See that photo? See it! That's what I have so far. Starting with the pink stuff I have in the bottom middle, here's what I have going sorta clockwise around the photo:<br />
<ul>
<li>Speedy Carve (2013) by Speedball</li>
<li>Speedy Cut Easy by Speedball</li>
<li>Soft Kut Print Block by ???</li>
<li>Clear Carve Lino by Richeson</li>
<li>very dark grey lino from DeSerres</li>
<li>Softoleum from Above Ground</li>
<li>Speedy Carve (2009) by Speedball</li>
<li>EZ Cut by Dick Blick</li>
<li>Clear Printmaking Blocks by Blum</li>
<li>Blue Easy-To-Cut by Dick Blick</li>
<li>Moo Carve by NCTC Inc.</li>
<li>OZ Kut by Stampeaz</li>
<li>OZ Kut - B by Stampeaz</li>
</ul>
Aren't they beautiful? Aren't you jealous?<br />
<br />
Okay, missing from this stash: Speedball's Speedy Cut (*vomits a little in mouth*), MasterCarve (which I believe has been discontinued), other Stampeaz formulations (are they all gone now? Just OZ?), and the few different types of carving material that I see from asia (some of which the AQ Boards refer to as SLQ). Am I missing anything?<br />
<br />
I'm thinking I might actually order any of the remaining types of carving materials out there just so I can round out the set so that I can do an epic, comprehensive and charted review and comparison. Love it.<br />
<br />
Okay, so off the top, here are the things I am going to report back on:<br />
<ul>
<li>Price per square inch</li>
<li>Thickness, in mm</li>
<li>Floppiness </li>
<li>Crumbliness </li>
<li>Transferability</li>
<li>Ease of slice - gouge and knife</li>
<li>How well it holds fine detail</li>
<li>How well it inks - various inks</li>
<li>How well it prints large negative areas</li>
<li>How well it holds up after washing/scrubbing</li>
<li>Each medium's super power </li>
<li>Best uses</li>
</ul>
Am I missing any factors you'd like to have feedback on? Email me or comment below - I'm happy to add other characteristics to the matrix if anyone has any particular factors they consider.<br />
<br />
Happy carving!Bumblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757879893200986680noreply@blogger.com0