Once again, I sanded the surface before doing a toner-based heat transfer to the sample.
The transfer went pretty well. I didn't worry about getting the transfer past the point where I could see everything well enough to carve it. I think the contrast on this color is much better than it was on the gray sample.
I did my first test print with my cheapest dye ink on a fairly porous piece of scrap paper - I didn't think of it at the time, since I was sort of focused on the carving part of the process, but I should have used the same paper I sent out to all the testers. D'oh! So, the ink coverage wasn't great, but that's not what I was looking for at this point in the process. I wanted to see if the letters looked clean or ragged. They looked pretty clean.
I found that the fresh, sharp Testor's knife carved through the sample very nicely with good control in little corners and interior spaces, as well as 's' curves and other areas that can be challenging for me. I also tested the block with a well used, dull knife that I had sitting on my table and it didn't carve nearly as well as it did with the sharp one. I discarded that knife as a tool pretty quickly. So, for me, the sharpness of the blade made a clear difference.
Another test print on another scrap with the same dye ink. Even unmounted, I didn't have any trouble with stray carving marks being printed where I didn't want them, so the material was firm enough to withstand a decent amount of pressure.
Here's the final print on the nicer index paper using Brilliance pigment ink. I mounted the carving on a small acrylic block For size reference, the acrylic mount is one by three inches.
The sample was sent to me curled up in a tube, so there was a bit of concavity to the carving surface. It didn't bother me while carving at all, but it might have been a problem for printing, without the acrylic mount - of course, an eighth inch is still too thin for me to manage without a mount anyway, so I'd have had trouble in either case. If my tester results come back positive enough and I decide to have a run of this material made, I'll have to make sure that it comes out flat.
6 comments:
Looks great! I can't wait to try this material. Did you knife carve the letters and gouge the "space" or knife the entire image?
Thanks,
foxfriend
Images are looking clean on your tests. How has the resistance to the gouge and blade been? I'm thinking about hand fatigue and if that would be a factor?
Hi, foxfriend!
I only used the knife on this image. I wanted to see how it handled carving and clean-up. I'm hoping this will be a good answer to our carving needs. Fingers crossed while waiting for tester reports to come in!
Thanks!
jackbear, I would put this material at firmer than PZ Kut, but not as firm as OZ Kut. I did not have any trouble with hand fatigue, but carving styles are all different and someone who digs deeper or holds tools tighter might feel it after carving a while. I did the portrait of Ollie from yesterday's post in just three sittings and the lettering in two. In both cases I took breaks more due to tired eyes and hunching-over-the-table fatigue than hand fatigue. But, others' mileage may vary. :)
Your lettering looks great!!
If the final product is thicker than 1/8", it probably won't be necessary to mount for printing, but I'm curious what you use to stick it to the acrylic block, and is it temporary. If so, how do you remove it for reuse?
Wise Wanderer
Wise Wanderer, I use a standard issue glue stick to mount the carving to the acrylic block. It's totally removable, but will stick as long as I need it to stick for a print run. I just pop it off the block and rinse both the carving and the acrylic in warm water when I'm finished. I like easy... :)
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