Today's postings

  1. [Baren 24393] Re: Wood Grain direction on Hanga blocks (Jan Telfer)
  2. [Baren 24394] off-topic, re art-film showing (Cucamongie # aol.com)
  3. [Baren 24395] Re: Wood Grain direction on Hanga blocks (Mike Lyon)
  4. [Baren 24396] Re: Black walnut question (Jsf73 # aol.com)
  5. [Baren 24397] Re: Black walnut question (Mike Lyon)
  6. [Baren 24398] Re: Black walnut question (Jsf73 # aol.com)
  7. [Baren 24399] Re: Black walnut question (FurryPressII # aol.com)
  8. [Baren 24400] Re: Black walnut question (Mary Brooks-Mueller)
  9. [Baren 24401] Re: John's photos link and comments (Mary Brooks-Mueller)
  10. [Baren 24402] message from Maurice (Barbara Mason)
  11. [Baren 24403] Re: John's photos link and comments (Julio.Rodriguez # walgreens.com)
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Message 1
From: Jan Telfer
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2004 00:19:38 +0800
Subject: [Baren 24393] Re: Wood Grain direction on Hanga blocks
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Dear Everyone,

Cutting multiple blocks for one design to be printed in watercolour
(Hanga)........

Is it important to cut each block for the design with the wood grain
specifically going in the same direction for all blocks?

I am using the shina 3 and 5 ply and haven't had any of the wood grain
competing with additional blocks so far, but then again I haven't been
using big expansive areas of a single colour either.

I am about to do some larger images and would like to know if I should
really be looking at specifically regulating all the grain direction
going the same way.

Cheers,
Jan
(Perth, Western Australia)

PS My wood supply is not over abundant down here for carving..... try
cutting our Jarrah.. they use that for railway sleepers in the desert
because even the white ants and the termites loose teeth chomping on
it!!
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Message 2
From: Cucamongie # aol.com
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2004 11:53:54 EST
Subject: [Baren 24394] off-topic, re art-film showing
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sorry for the off-topic posting, but thought some of you folks in the NYC
area might be interested in checking this out and the "bar" at baren after five
seems to have been unoccupied for a while.

I wanted to let you know that my partner, Jeffrey Lerer, will be having a
showing of his unusual, and indescribably wonderful animation this evening (some
of these films are made using stop-motion using paint, and/or collage and
mixed media, and others made using 3-d computer animation, but with a very organic
look to it), . Bill Creston, who will be showing his films tonight, also has
a delightful sense of the absurd. It will be a great night! Following is
the press release with info about the particulars, hope some of you can make it!


best, Sarah Hauser
here's the info:

On Feb. 26th at the ABRONS ART CENTER, HENRY STREET SETTLEMENT, as part of
the NYFA FILMMAKING FELLOWSHIP WINNERS FESTIVAL TOUR, 3-D animator Jeffrey Lerer
and auteur filmmaker Bill Creston will form a double bill of quirky Film
Characterizations, including Lerer’s “Manuscript Fragments Found at the Gilbert
Hotel” and Creston’s “He Stole My Gun”. Each artist will present 8-10 short
films and, following the showing, will be talking about their work and the
fellowship process.

FEB 26TH, 7:30 PM, FREE.
ABRONS ARTS CENTER at HENRY STREET SETTLEMENT
466 GRAND ST. (near Pitt Street), NYC.

The festival has been curated by Barbara Rosenthal, co-director of
eMediaLoft.org, a group of artists in the West Village, privately funded by
contributions and donations, which helps individuals realize projects. The filmmakers are
showing together at Abrons as part of NYFA Public Programs Artists &
Audiences Exchange, which is made possible in part with funds from the NY State
Council on the Arts, a state agency. Speakers' fees are provided through
Experimental TV Center Presentation Funds Program, which is supported by the New York
State Council on the Arts. Further information, including previews, catalogs
and stills, are available from curator by calling (212) 924-4893 or via email at
emedialoft@lycos.com.

Jeffrey Lerer's webpages on NYFA's website are
http://www.nyfa.org/nyfa_artists_detail.asp?pid=2465
http://www.nyfa.org/nyfa_artists_detail.asp?pid=4883

A link to another image from Jeffrey's "Manuscript Fragments Found at the
Gilbert Hotel"
http://www.sva.edu/salon/ninth/lerer.htm

Bill Creston's webpage on NYFA's website is
http://www.nyfa.org/nyfa_artists_detail.asp?pid=4910
(this page has links to his other sites as well)
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Message 3
From: Mike Lyon
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2004 11:29:59 -0600
Subject: [Baren 24395] Re: Wood Grain direction on Hanga blocks
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Jan Telfer wrote:
>Is it important to cut each block for the design with the wood grain
>specifically going in the same direction for all blocks?
>
>I am using the shina 3 and 5 ply and haven't had any of the wood grain
>competing with additional blocks so far, but then again I haven't been
>using big expansive areas of a single colour either.

Hi, Jan! Plywood's plys are glued with the grain running perpendicular to
adjacent plys, so it is usually quite stable and you can have the grain run
across, up and down, or diagonally without worrying too much... With solid
blocks (not plywood), wood does not expand or contract much if at all along
the direction of the grain (fiber bundles), but can expand and contract a
lot across the grain, so it is best to have the grain running parallel to
the longer dimension of the block (paper grain should run the same way with
laid lines parallel to the long dimension of the block). Different species
have different coefficients of expansion (and quarter-sawn wood has
different coefficients than plank-sawn wood of the same species), so on
large blocks this might cause problems, too, if you're very particular
about registration...

There's a decent non-technical comparison of some common (American) woods
here: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/PM950.pdf

Which says, in part:

Woods used for interior applications may come from two broad classes of
trees: softwoods (needle-bearing trees) and hardwoods (broadleaved,
deciduous trees). This botanical division does not necessarily relate to
the characteristics of the wood; for example, some hardwoods are softer
than some softwoods. Hardwoods are called "porous" woods; softwoods are
labeled "nonporous" species.

Relative hardness:
Hardwoods:
Soft: Aspen, Basswood, Butternut, Cottonwood, Willow, Yellow Poplar
Medium: Black Ash, Black Cherry, Hack Berry, Luauans, Paper Birch, Red
Elm, Silver Maple
Hard: Black Walnut, Hickory, Pecan, Red Oak, Sugar Maple, White Ash, White
Oak Yellow Birch
Softwoods:
Soft: Eastern White Pine, Sugar Pine, Incense Cedar, Western Red Cedar,
Pondersosa Pine, Western White Pine, Redwood, White Fir, Spruces
Hard: Douglas Fir, Eastern Red Cedar, Red Pine, Southern Pines, Hemlock,
Western Larch

Ease of working with hand tools:
Hardwoods:
Easy: Basswood, Butternut, Yellow Poplar
Moderate: Black Walnut, Cottonwood, Paper Birch, Sycamore
Difficult: Black Cherry, Elms, Hackberry, Hickories, Maples, Oaks, White
Ash, Yellow Birch
Softwoods:
Easy: Incense Cedar, Ponderosa Pine, Sugar Pine, Western Red Cedar, White
Pines
Moderate: Eastern Red Cedar, Hemlocks, Lodgepole Pine, Redwood, Spruces,
White Fir
Difficult: Douglas Fir, Southern Pines, Western Larch,

Relative shrinkage:
Hardwoods:
Moderate: Aspen, Black cherry, Black walnut, Butternut, Silver maple,
Yellow poplar
High: Ashes, Lauans, Basswood, Oaks, Birches, Pecan, Cottonwood, Sugar
maple, Elms, Sycamore, Hackberry, Willows, Hickories
Softwoods:
Low: Cedars, Eastern white pine, Ponderosa pine, Redwood, White fir
Moderate: Douglas fir, Lodgepole pine, Southern pines, Spruces, Western
hemlock, Western white pine
High: Western larch

-- Mike


Mike Lyon
http://mlyon.com
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Message 4
From: Jsf73 # aol.com
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2004 14:27:16 EST
Subject: [Baren 24396] Re: Black walnut question
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Has anyone ever tried to carve black walnut for printing?

I have the opportunity to get some free planks of walnut... and I have no
room for furniture...so I would use it for woodcuts if it will work. I dont want
to take much without knowing if it is decent because other people may be able
to use it for a better purpose and I have to have it carted home from Florida
for me.

John F
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Message 5
From: Mike Lyon
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2004 14:11:35 -0600
Subject: [Baren 24397] Re: Black walnut question
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John Furr wrote:
>Has anyone ever tried to carve black walnut for printing?
>
>I have the opportunity to get some free planks of walnut... and I have no
>room for furniture...so I would use it for woodcuts if it will work. I
>dont want to take much without knowing if it is decent because other
>people may be able to use it for a better purpose and I have to have it
>carted home from Florida for me.

I have carved walnut. I think it sucks! It's not quite as resistant as
cherry, but it has open grain more like oak than like cherry, so the knife
strongly wants to follow the fiber bundles rather than slice through them,
and cutting across the grain, resistance is very strong through the closed
portions of the grain, and then disappears in the open fiber
bundles... It's an exercise in frustration and lack of control. Save your
time and your sanity and save the walnut for furniture where it is so
beautiful (IMHO).

-- Mike


Mike Lyon
http://mlyon.com
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Message 6
From: Jsf73 # aol.com
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2004 15:37:40 EST
Subject: [Baren 24398] Re: Black walnut question
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Mike Lyon wrote:

> I have carved walnut. I think it sucks! It's not quite as resistant as
> cherry, but it has open grain more like oak than like cherry, so the knife
> strongly wants to follow the fiber bundles rather than slice through them, and
> cutting across the grain, resistance is very strong through the closed portions
> of the grain, and then disappears in the open fiber bundles... It's an
> exercise in frustration and lack of control. Save your time and your sanity and
> save the walnut for furniture where it is so beautiful (IMHO).

Thanks Mike,

I thought you would know of all people... seeing as you have all that
experience with funriture making, and being the curious type you had to have tried it
once at least.

I have been carving a 3D dolphin in walnut and knew it had large grain pores
but figured they wouldnt show since they are seen in the endgrain. I didnt
think your knife would follow them... that would make me freak very quickly.,
since I have a difficult enough time being finicky about my knife skipping and
cutting where I dont intend to.

That lure of free wood is so appealing though....

Perhaps a stool to sit on to work....
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Message 7
From: FurryPressII # aol.com
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2004 16:35:04 EST
Subject: [Baren 24399] Re: Black walnut question
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I beg to differ mike I have used it now and again and esp like its
unusual texture in printing and when the block is finished I used it as a bas-relief
carving and put it up on my wall.
I don't like it as much as plank cherry or maple but i would rather carve it
than any plywood outthere
john center
p.s. the title page for the shunga exchange is printed and drying. The
prints for the LPEII are printed and will be in the mail tomorrow.
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Message 8
From: Mary Brooks-Mueller
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2004 18:48:25 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [Baren 24400] Re: Black walnut question
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I use walnut in my furniture along with mesquite and
many other wwods. I can't stand walnut for woodcuts
though. I prefer mesquite even though it carries alot
of resin and sand in it the reason being that you can
sand it then polish it with wax or tung oil to a silky
gloss and you don't have all those pesky holes. Or you
don't have to poish it and just ink it after sanding &
oiling for a bit of grain. Also, it's very beautiful
to look at and cleans up well
Mary
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Message 9
From: Mary Brooks-Mueller
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2004 18:54:42 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [Baren 24401] Re: John's photos link and comments
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John, how did the others get the site to work? I just
get an order page.
Mary
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Message 10
From: Barbara Mason
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2004 19:06:08 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [Baren 24402] message from Maurice
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Maurice,

Just hit reply to any baren message and you can post easily that way...and put the baren address into your address book!

Barbara

Hey Barbara,

I have been lurking for so long, I don't know how to post a message on the forum. I just want to thank people for the kind words related to my piece in the Home and Garden Show.

Thanks,

Maurice

mfykes@hotmail.com



---------------------------------
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Message 11
From: Julio.Rodriguez # walgreens.com
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2004 21:25:29 -0600
Subject: [Baren 24403] Re: John's photos link and comments
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Mary and others....John's photo site is working fine, you need to put
together the two lines that make up the WHOLE link...

instead of this:
> http://ca.f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jsf73/
>album?.tok=phbuNsABBhLjPeUY&.dir=/2003-12-12&.src=ph


Try this:

http://ca.f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jsf73/album?.tok=phbuNsABBhLjPeUY&.dir=/2003-12-12&.src=ph

Awesome jacket John C., awesome print John F, awesome press Mr. Vandercook
!

thanks...Julio