Posted on September 20, 2010 [Permalink]

I have the two designs ready for the next pair now, so next step is to get a block ready for them. One of the images has an area with some very fine detail - too much so to be carved confidently on cherrywood - so I'm inlaying a bit of boxwood in that part of the block.

It came out basically OK, not perfect, as you can see at the corner, but undetectable by touch, which is what counts:

As I have mentioned before, I avoid using sandpaper to smooth this out. That always leaves the surface microscopically 'torn', and thinly carved lines then always seem to expand when you hit them with the water-based pigment. But if the wood is finished by scraping, rather than by sanding, the lines stay as carved.

I use a blade removed from a Japanese plane ...

... and draw it across the surface (after normal planing to get close). This leaves the surface very nice and smooth.

So carving is underway. Should I show images of the blocks, or keep the designs under wraps?

The thread continues in [Mystique #7 - 2] : carving boxwood ...

Added by: Dale Evans on September 21, 2010

Dave! Show and Tell! Stringed instruments and creatures! These prints are really going to be interesting...and I can't wait!

Dale

Added by: Dave on September 21, 2010

You've been hanging around over at the Webcam again!

Yes, it'll be 'Bugs and Biwa' ... for these two! Although I sure hope that not too many of the collectors have the same feeling about insects that I used to have many years ago!

We're coming into autumn, so this next print will feature three strong symbols of that season: a full moon, an insect, and a very common autumn fruit ...

Added by: Bob Simola on September 22, 2010

Where do you get your cherry plywood with that thick veneer, and do you ever use pear wood?

Added by: Dave on September 22, 2010

cherry plywood

It's from Woodlike Matsumura. We don't have his woods in the Baren Mall, because it's all custom cut-to-order stuff, but if you write to him, he will reply with information on how to get some.

As for pear, I have never tried it ...