THE ARTISTIC CRAFTS SERIES OF TECHNICAL HANDBOOKS EDITED BY W. R. LETHABY
WOOD-BLOCK PRINTING
BY THE JAPANESE METHOD
LONDON, SIR ISAAC PITMAN & SONS, LTD., PARKER STREET, KINGSWAY, W.C.2, BATH, MELBOURNE, TORONTO, NEW YORK. Printed by Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, Ltd. Bath, England EDITOR: W. R. LETHABY. September 1916. See R. M. Burch, Colour Printing, 1900. AUTHOR: F. M. F. Edinburgh College of Art, September 1916.
CHAPTER III
Description of the Materials and Tools required for Block-cutting
The wood most commonly used by the Japanese for their printing-blocks is a cherry wood very similar to that grown in England. The Canadian cherry wood, which is more easily obtained than English cherry, is of too open a grain to be of use. The more slowly grown English wood has a closer grain and is the best for all the purposes of block cutting and printing. Well-seasoned planks should be obtained and kept ready for cutting up as may be required.
When a set of blocks is to be
cut for a given design, the size of the
printing surface of each block should be made equal to the size of the
design plus 1 inch or,
for large prints, 1½ inch in addition long
ways, and ¼ or ½ inch crossways. The thickness of
the plank need not
be more than ⅝ or ¾ inch. It is best for the protection of
the
surfaces of the printing blocks and to prevent warping, also for
convenience in storing and handling them, to fix across each end a
piece
of wood slightly thicker than the plank itself. These cross-ends should
be mounted as shown in fig. 2.
Fig. 2.—Block mounted with cross ends to prevent warping.
It is understood that the face of the plank is used for the printing surface, and not the end of the grain as in blocks for modern wood engraving.
The tools needed for cutting
the blocks are the following:
1. THE KNIFE
Fig.
3.—Drawing of the knife.
With this knife the most important and delicate work is done. All the lines of the key-block as well as the boundaries of the colour masses are cut with it, before the removal of intervening spaces.
The blade lies in a slot and is held tight by the tapered ferrule. This can be pulled off by hand and the blade lengthened by pulling it forward in the slot.
2. CHISELS
These are used for removing
the wood between the cut lines or colour
masses, and should be ordinary carvers' chisels of the following sizes:
Fig.
4.—Sizes of chisels.
except those under No. 9, which are short-handled chisels for small work.
The Japanese toolmakers fit these small chisels into a split handle as shown in fig. 5. The blade is held tightly in its place by the tapered ferrule when the handle is closed, or can be lengthened by opening the handle and pulling forward the blade in its slot. In this way the blade can be used down to its last inch.
3. MALLET
This is needed for driving
the larger chisels.
Fig.
5.—Short chisel in split handle.
These are all the tools that
are needed for block cutting. For keeping
them in order it is well to have oilstones of three grades:
Fig.
6.—Mallet.
1. A carborundum stone for rapidly re-covering the shape of a chipped or blunt tool.
2. A good ordinary oil stone.
Plate IV. Colour block of a print of which the key-block is shown on page 5.
WOOD-BLOCK PRINTING
