Here is the update and sample carving information from ElectricMedic. First the actual blocks. The little fox is the same image on PZ Kut from the last round. They sent it back to me for comparison purposes, since I wanted to see the differing gouge mark qualities. Baby Bugs is Sample #1 (the same material Electric carved last time with the musical rose image) and Baby Taz is the new Sample #2 (which we've all been calling OZ Kut). The fox image is able to sit on top of a quarter with a fair amount of space left over all the way around (except, perhaps, where the rose stem is sticking out), just to give you some idea of scale.
I printed each one side-by-side on a piece of cardstock I had sitting on my work table - nothing particularly special with respect to surface. In fact, I think it tended to wick a little bit with my Memento Bamboo Leaves ink because the pad is fairly new and pretty juicy. The black ink is Versafine Onyx Black. The lines on all these carvings are beautifully fine, and amazingly even. I can take a couple of pointers away, just looking at Electric's finished carvings. :)
Electric's preliminary sort of stream-of-consciousness thoughts ran something like this (Medic typed as he was talking and carving -- quotes from Electric and Medic are in bold italics).
Using the regular staedtler , works terrific. It feels easier to use the
staedtler on sample #2 than sample #1. The knife cuts through the
material like butter. Much easier than the first stuff. Was able to
make a deeper cut without having to put a lot of force behind it. That
is all the prelim as I haven't finished carving the design. To me it is
a winner but I will finish and then give the final report.
Medic's comment completely cracked me up, so I just had to share it:
I was sitting on the couch and I heard these strange noises from the man
cave. Lucky I knew what was going on in there otherwise I would have
been curious. I heard...WOW....OH MY...THAT'S IT....THIS IS
PERFECT.....SHE HAS IT......
That just made my evening! LOL! Then the pertinent bits from the final report went like this:
The new material solves the problem we had with the first pertaining to
knife cuts. I was able to cut deeper and bigger chunks with the knife
and pull them out and also the materiel still ripped apart like it
should, no rubber band problems.
Tried to use dull gouges and all
seemed to work fine. The sharp gouges made perfect straight lines like
a knife. The ones that are not as sharp still cut the material half
decent but if you look close you can see slightly rough edges, not as
clean as if using a sharp tool.
IMHO, I recommend running sample
#2 only. That will please the vast majority of PZ White carvers.
Definitely easier to cut with a knife and a sharp gouge still cut like
butter.
So, that's what I'm doing. A trial run of Sample #2 (A.K.A. OZ Kut) is in the extrusion schedule for this week! (Yikes!) That means that by the middle of May, if not sooner, there should be a brand new material for us all to try out. I am looking forward to seeing how the actual extrusion process effects the material - there's a good chance it will make the block even better than the lab samples - I'm hoping so!
Once again, I hope ElectricMedic will chime in here and let me know if I have missed anything they think people should know about the future OZ Kut. And many, many thanks for your gracious help with the testing.
10 comments:
Wahoo! Can't wait to try it!!
Oh Boy!!!! Me too, me too!!!! So exciting!!! Good news!
It was a pleasure to be part of the process. OZ is a dream to carve on.
Will it still be necessary to sand the sheen from the surface so it will take ink better?
I expect that it will be necessary to take the sheen off the surface of the block. It's actually a good idea to do that with any block, whether it has a sheen or not, because there are frequently residues from the extrusion process on the material surface.
The good news about the surface treatment for OZ Kut is that because of the way it is being manufactured, there won't be any roughed up or crimped edges like there used to be on PZ Kut, so the block will be usable all the way out to the edge. :)
I'd like to try a sample of OZ but I have carving material and don't want to take one away from someone who needs it. My question is.... will there be enough to go around?
Yes, there should be plenty to go around. The test run is going to be approximately 900 pounds! For reference, that means it will be similar in size to the runs of MZ Kut and NZ Kut that I have had made, which should be enough to give everybody who wants to try some an opportunity to get their gouges into it.
This is very encouraging. Hope this works out, not so much for me because the exodus from PZ Kut has taught be to carve on hard and soft materials, but more so for you Webfoot, that this long yellow bricked road might lead you to an Emerald city of your own. Thank you for all your hard work and patience. We are so humbled that you have put so much into this adventure.
Thanks, Jackbear! I will be interested to hear what you think of this material. I am hoping that, like PZ Kut, it will be a really good, all purpose block. Soft enough to carve easily and strong enough to allow for lots of detail. We'll see if I get my wish!! (Clicking heels together and repeating three times.....) :)
Can't wait to try it out!
I do have to say, I enjoyed the man cave comment section....LOL
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