woodcut knives
note to self, when you have money:
http://www.barenforum.org/mall/products/sosaku_knives.html
i've been using "student grade" knives, and i've worn many a set to useless nubs. the sosaku knives are made in the japanese forging tradition, they are folded and reforged hundreds of times, just like samurai swords, so these knives will last a lifetime. they are unavailable in the US, and cost about $20 each. fortunately, i only use the standard 4.5 mm blade, the 3 mm U-shaped gouge and the smaller bull-nosed chisel, so when i get 60 to 100 bucks freed up...
if you back up to the barenforum.org/mall site, you'll find a number of difficult to find tools and products for japanese printing, most are unnecessary, but the block brushes are all very nice. (i've been looking for a good borashi for a while, but aren't we all?) most other things can be easily replaced with western equivalents.
if any of this seems interesting to you, and you'd like to start making images, woodblock printing is very cheap to do, there is an excellent guide that has recently been published by the University of Hawaii Press, called Japanese Woodblock Printing, by Rebecca Salter. It was recommended by my print tech in school, and he really has seen all the books in print on the subject, and has declared this one to be the definitive guide on the traditional style.
http://www.barenforum.org/mall/products/sosaku_knives.html
i've been using "student grade" knives, and i've worn many a set to useless nubs. the sosaku knives are made in the japanese forging tradition, they are folded and reforged hundreds of times, just like samurai swords, so these knives will last a lifetime. they are unavailable in the US, and cost about $20 each. fortunately, i only use the standard 4.5 mm blade, the 3 mm U-shaped gouge and the smaller bull-nosed chisel, so when i get 60 to 100 bucks freed up...
if you back up to the barenforum.org/mall site, you'll find a number of difficult to find tools and products for japanese printing, most are unnecessary, but the block brushes are all very nice. (i've been looking for a good borashi for a while, but aren't we all?) most other things can be easily replaced with western equivalents.
if any of this seems interesting to you, and you'd like to start making images, woodblock printing is very cheap to do, there is an excellent guide that has recently been published by the University of Hawaii Press, called Japanese Woodblock Printing, by Rebecca Salter. It was recommended by my print tech in school, and he really has seen all the books in print on the subject, and has declared this one to be the definitive guide on the traditional style.