I have yet to find my lost box of intaglio tools. While I’m sad about the missing tools I can’t just sit around and wait for them to reappear. Instead I’ve been seeking out things and making stuff to replace the missing tools.

One of the things I have not been able to find a suitable replacement for is the plastic clamshell box I was using. It was just the right size to hold a traditional etching needle and various other thing without being ridiculously bulky.

Currently I’m using an old Zoom H4 microphone box that I saved from the trash at work. It is too short and too fat. Though it does hold a nice amount of shorter implements safely and doesn’t allow points to poke through. It’s adequate.

It is not like the old clamshell that I had.

I looked at a box that my wife’s electric toothbrush arrived in and is for travel. She’s got 2 of these boxes. I think with modification it would work, and it would hold the etching needles but not a whole lot else. It’s rather thin.

It’s also plastic.

I started looking through my collection of tins and what not I’ve collected over the years. None of them quite fit, but many gave me ideas.

So I ordered these. First, they are steel. They are wide but quite flat. And they are tall enough to hold my etching needles. I am planning on some modifications with pop rivets and leather to further make the case solid. Another item will be to line at least part of the case with craft foam and expanded foam as a protection for the etching needles and engineer’s scribe.

I have ordered a set of cheapie slip and scoring tools. Which are okay. I found a rather beat up but very nice pin vise at the thrift store in a bag of odds and ends. It was a good score, but needs love. The aluminum handle was caked with what looks like clay or plaster. That said inside the handle there are 4 brash collets, which means it can hold a HUGE range of bits and needles. This is an epic score. (This is the closest thing I can find to it on Amazon.)

Between these few items, I’ve also made a few where I’ve set some brads into corks and these have proven to be quite amazing for making pin pricks in plates and parallel lines. I’m definitely thinking about more stuff I can do with corks.

Anyway, it’s a start. I’m sure that once the metal tins show up the old set will reappear. (Or not, it may be completely lost at this point.)

Last year I had some budget left at my DayJob. I thought about all of the things I needed for my studio, and then I ordered a small cheap table saw. The response was interesting, you’d have thought I bought a guillotine. I didn’t buy it for kids to use, I bought it as a way to save money for cutting panels down for painting and carving.

Anyway, the saw I bought is not that expensive it was sub $200 and some cheapo Amazon saw. It arrived and it was surprisingly sturdy and did the job. Win. I’ve probably ripped down 6 sheets of plywood and MDF to suitable sizes for painting and carving. It’s been a huge time and money saver. Buying one 4×8 sheet of plywood and cutting it myself is much cheaper than buying 4 2×4 sheets.

Lesson learned- even a cheap table saw is a good investment if it eventually saves time and money. I do wish I’d been able to afford a better saw.

This past week I put that lesson into practice. I’m doing a project with the kids where they are painting and then using cardboard to create a sculpture. I’ve been using click knives to break down the cardboard. I saw someone on youtube using a cardboard saw to break down their cardboard before shredding it, so I ordered one.

Y’all. GAME CHANGER.

It is virtually no effort to break down a huge box into manageable panels and it handles tougher cardboard than you’d expect. It just motors through it like it’s buttahhhh.

Anyway, I turned the work recycling bin into a stack of useful cardboard in a short period of time with the tool and thought I’d share that.

It’s moments like this where I consider that in my own personal art practice I hold off on purchases like this for so many reasons, but I realize now that I really should just buy the tool, even if it is a cheaper version of the tool. Because even an inexpensive tool can be a game changer. I also wonder how much of this is decision paralysis related to ADHD, anxiety, and or depression. (Or just also the state of being a woman in the US.)

I’m going to stew on that for awhile.

When I was a kid I did a craft project at either Sunday School or at regular school where we drew with crayons on sandpaper and then ironed it onto plain white paper for this cool waxy semi transparent stained glass effect. It would have been the early 80s and I have no recollection of who did this with us but I do remember my poor mom having to deal with me being obsessed with trying to recreate it and also her keeping me away from her iron.

Anyway, I think that other than actually using sandpaper for sanding purposes that was the last time I ever thought about sandpaper as a creative tool.

Until I started back down this path with trash printmaking.

Sandpaper is great for adding all sorts of different textures to a plate. From little dots to parallel lines, to swirls and scrubby textures. All of them added to the plate in different ways.

For dots, a super coarse 40 grit is laid down over the plate, grit side down, and a bone folder, back of a sharpie, spoon, or other hard tool is rubbed over the back of the sandpaper. The grit bites into the plate leaving small dots. Move the sandpaper, repeat. Shadow and shade is created by repeatedly imprinting the sandpaper into the plate. The 40 grit paper leaves uneven sizes of holes. 60 grit leaves a more even hole. While 80 is even more even. 100 doesn’t leave much of an imprint. In this case 40 and 60 grit are the best choices.

For creating dark areas or lines, the plate can be sanded. This works on tetrapak and carton. 40 grit leaves a very coarse line while 80 leave a fuzzy line. 100 leaves a dull grain that leaves a gray tint to the plate and on the print. 40 and 60 can create the look of grass and vegetation, while 80 can make storm clouds.

If sandpaper is moved very carefully across a plate you can get even parallel lines and then if you turn your plate 90 degrees and carefully drag sandpaper again, you get cross hatching. 

Anyway, sandpaper has a lot of really interesting uses especially when you have some of the more aggressive grits like 40,60, and 80.

One of the things I’ve learned through my various attempts at completing 30 day and 100 day projects is that repetition builds capability and most of all understanding of a method or a material.

If you REALLY want to learn to use a material, sitting down and working with it 30 to 100 times is key.

I have some experience with making prints from a variety of materials already. But I haven’t built up my knowledge in a directed manner.

The project- create 30 plates as quickly as I can. Printing the plates can happen during the project or afterward.

What I’ve done so far- prep 30 plates in manila folders if needed, and coat with orange cheapie paint marker. After mounting the folders are closed and I’ll pick a plate randomly and carve or etch into it. After the plate is carved up the paint and sharpie will be removed with a baby wipe and alcohol*.

I’ll decide which pieces I’m going to print as I have time. 

Unfortunately most of the plates I mounted and readied do not fit through my pasta press, they will fit through my craft press though. (I think anyway.)

The main goal here is to get myself familiar with a few specific materials- certain types of carton, tetrapak, and glossy packaging. As well as getting familiar with the marks that I can make with specific tools- nails set into corks, sandpaper at different grits, dremel bits in a pin vise, and a variety of other tools. I’m already hooked on 40 and 80 grit sandpaper and the soft deep darks I’m getting with those materials. I also want to experiment with additives- like wood glue in squeeze bottles with needle tips.

The panel above makes me wonder about coating certain types of packaging, like soda cases, with something like varnish or polycrylic. I know that shellac or polyurethane would work, but I really want to avoid those types of finishes. The finish on this particular carton is harder than others but also quite glossy. It will wipe clean easily. What I like about this particular carton and coating is that when I scribed into with with a needle or engineer’s scribe there were areas where it chipped a bit. It works well for the trees. Putting the scribe or needle at a different angle stopped the chipping. So careful use of a tool really can change the look of a line.

One thing I have learned about most of these water soluble but oil based printing inks is that if Sharpie or other alcohol based ink is used to sketch out the image it MUST be removed from the plate before printing. The ink will cause a transfer and unfortunately the sharpie or other alcohol based ink will change color over time.

The most difficult thing about using materials like used coffee cups and tetrapak is that I have no control over any changes that the company or manufacturer might make in their packaging. So let’s say my favorite cafe switches to a new to go cup and suddenly the lining breaks down with ink- much like the medium to go cups from Burger King I tested years ago. The lining just peeled up once ink was applied. I might find a cup or package I love to use and then they change it. Having something I can paint on and make my own plates is a nice alternative. That said, I’m pretty committed to testing out trash.

Anyway, the images here are from my first 2 plates in this experiment.

*I have largely switched over to ethyl alcohol for these purposes. It’s safer to handle and if absorbed or aerosolized it won’t harm me other than the bitterant added. Ethyl is harder to find at drug stores in my area, but it is IMO a better choice for clean up of oily substances and cleaning of alcohol markers. Iso is cheaper and easier to find, though so you do you.

I’ve been testing out a variety of glues to use for making my trash prints. I had a sweet little plate made out of an Ocean Spray Drink packet carton. These cartons are quite small and the card is stiff but soft enough to carve easily. The paint is nice and slick, but not overly plasticky. As cartons go, it’s an ideal surface. I had it carved up and wanted to add some areas of really bright white. I added in some spots, dots and lines with matte Mod Podge.

I like the matte mod podge because it holds its lines and a container of it is $1.25 or $1.50 at DollarTree. Very affordable. What I mean by holding the lines is that the material doesn’t spread out, it stays where I put it and doesn’t shrink much.

In the inking process it looked good, the mod podge wiped clean and looked great. Very bright looking.

Once I ran the plate through the press, all happiness was lost.

Disaster. Any spot with mod podge was reactivated with the wet paper and the press pressure. I had a lovely emboss, BUT the action of pulling the print away showed me that the mod podge was fully adhered to the paper. No matter which way I pulled it tore. The print would have been amazing too. 

Live and learn.

I did end up with one good print from tetrapak. It’s a farm in a snowy field, and I like how it came out. I’ve been experimenting more with making marks with sandpaper and other tools and got some really nice deep darks and I like how I used wood glue (which DOES NOT reactive) to get some highlights in the road.

A pic of the plate and the print.

I have to remember that when it comes to sandpaper on tetrapak that LESS is More. Those tiny lines really hold a TON of ink. That being said, I REALLY like how it ads some loose randomness that isn’t quite so easy to control.

I also made a rookie mistake and used very wet paper and ended up soaking the print through 140lb Stonehenge, the protective paper and into the press blankets. I’ve never every done that before. That said, the paper took the emboss really well and the print looks magnificent.

Printmakers Badge of SHAME

I tried to do a print reveal video of the torn print but I swore too much to be able to load it to YouTube without it getting me censored.

So just before COVID lockdowns I got into making pasta. I don’t eat a lot of pasta anymore but I’ll die on the hill that fresh homemade pasta tops any pasta you can buy. And that pasta is even better if you are using fresh local eggs. I got into pasta making specifically because my mom had a surplus of eggs.

Anyway, in that journey I picked up a small cheapo pasta roller machine. It was just under $30 at the time. It hovers around $30 now. I have seen some pasta rollers in the thrift store for $10 and up to $30. Usually what I see in the thrift stores are much nicer than the one I purchased. I have noticed that pasta rollers for polymer clay have come way down in price and are the same size as my pasta roller. I upgraded to a pasta press that attaches to my KitchenAid.

Here’s what I’ll say, if you have an old pasta roller or find one for cheap at the thrift store, use it for making a press. The results have been startingly awesome and it’s ridiculously easy to convert. You don’t even need to make a press bed for it.

That said if you are hitting thrift stores trying to find a pasta roller to convert, look for a crafter’s die cutter instead. You won’t need to do anything to convert it and it will work just as well as the pasta roller. I’ll do a post about craft die cutters later but I think they are a better option for a press IF you are looking for low cost DIY options.

That said the pasta roller, if found for cheap enough can make for a fantastic press.

To convert them you must remove the base, usually only 4 screws or bolts. The nuts and washers do end up inside the legs of the machine and you have to get them out or deal with the rattle.

From here you can print by turning the machine on it’s side, clamping it to a table and cranking away. I highly recommend creating a base or at the very least putting some card under the machine. The edges of these cheap machines are sharp and will mark up any table or surface they are placed one.

These videos are great examples of how to make a pasta roller into a press:

I had access to some nice but very beaten up plywood to convert into my base for my pasta press. I had to tip mine a bit to get the rollers to push the plates through level. I used wood screws to hold it into place. Mine is very quick and dirty looking. I may paint mine.

I added some non slip shelf liner to my base and use 2 small clamps from Dollar Tree to keep mine from shifting. The quick release Dollar Tree clamps work 100% better than the clamp that arrived with my pasta press.

For a press bed I used a pieces of very thin matte plexi i had on hand. It is roughly 1mm thick. The press itself really only opens to about 2mm at the widest. I found that the carton material from a soda case here in the US works really well as a press bed for the pasta press. It will get deformed from printing but it’s easily replicable. For DIY press beds, DollarTree sells semiopaque white cutting boards made of thin flexible plastic. One size is smooth and the other is textured. These can be cut down to size to fit into a pasta press or other DIY printing option.

The downside of this press is that the maximum paper size is 5.5 inches or 135mm wide. Length isn’t a problem, you can put as along a sheet of paper as you want through the press. You are really only limited by the length of felt you can get. I am quite enamored by the quality and ease of printing on this press.

If you have mobility or hand strength issues… you can adapt a 3.8th spade hole bit to fit into the pasta machine and use a drill driver to power the machine. I’m considering testing out a ratchet driver to see if I can power my machine.

Printing can be expensive so I always like to create and come up with alternative methods for printing. This method uses a few tools and materials from the recycle bin.

• Cardboard
• Wood glue, or other PVA glue OR even double sided tape
• Packing Tape
• Craft Knife
• Squeegee or Old Credit Card
• Scissors
• ​Silks Screen or Window Sheers

Cut out 2 to 3 equal sized pieces of cardboard. Stack them so that the corrugation alternates direction. Cut a whole in the center of one sheet. Use that to measure and cut the holes for the other sheets. Stick and glue them together with your glue of choice.

Place the stack under weight until dry.

Place your screen over the hole on one side of the stack. Tape down all 4 corners, getting the screen as snug as you can. Apply and spread the glue in a generously even coating. Be careful not to dribble glue into the middle of your screen.

Once this is glued down, let it dry. Remove the tape from the corners.

After your glue has dried. If you have used a real silk screen screen, you can use a hair drier or heat gun to get that screen really tight. You want it to sound like a loose drum, and you should be able to bounce a coin on it. If you are using a window sheer or other loose weave fabric, try to get it as tight as you can with the tape.

​Once the glue is dry, tape the whole thing up with packing tape or duct tape or whatever waterproof ish tape you have on hand.

Waterproofing is necessary if you hope to reusing these screens. If you aren’t planning on reusing them, no need to waterproof them. That said, what I like about these is that I’m making small screens- about the size of my hands. That can be printed with a credit card or other small squeegee. These are patch sized and work beautifully for pulling small patches. I’m also using up scraps of screen that would normally get trashed.

This is a screen in use. It prints both the 2025 and 2026 year for 2 slim patches. I’m using a small regular squeegee. This also uses wood glue as filler.

Some printed patches.

Patches, dried, heat set and cut to their individual year.

I make these patches every year to give out to my coworkers so that they can add the year to their work issued hoodies. Part of this exploration is to show the kids what they can do with their scraps but with a little bit of work and largely dollar tree supplies they can keep screen printing long after they leave the program.

All that said. I’m going to make some additional screen printed patches and try to figure out how to get them to iron on easily. I’ve tried e6000 iron on glue and it was terrible. (Just did a quick look and Heat n’Bond has gone way down in price and is actually pretty affordable now. BUT there are also 100s of off brands now available on Amazon for similar pricing. Wild. I remember spending a huge amount on Heat n’Bond ultimate hold back when I was bookbinding. Anyway, I have a way to make iron on patches and I wonder if I have any heat n’bond in my stash. I’m sure I do. I used to order the 5 yard rolls.)

I’m thinking some Artist, Artist-ish, No So Serious Artist, and a few other fun patches might be nice to put up on the shop. Anyone have any ideas for fun patches?