Linoleum cut

[Laurence Finston]

This project started out as a set of plans for a model of a sphere from 2010: (https://www.gnu.org/software/3dldf/g...s/sphrmd03.pdf
at The GNU 3DLDF Sphere and Dome Models Page).
On page three at the upper left is a projection of the model onto the x-z plane.

I always thought it looked nice and that I could do something with it. I made a drawing for cutting out a stencil (in the attached file s2.pdf), printed it out onto 170 g/m2 paper and cut it out, as shown.

The version that I printed out was missing some lines and also lines for cutting out the middle of the cross-hairs, so I did these by hand. It would have been impracticable to do the actual drawing by hand, but I'm always glad of an excuse to get out my traditional drafting equipment.

The next step is to transfer the drawing to a linoleum block and start cutting.

[davelant]

This would not look out of place hanging on a Christmas tree.

[Laurence Finston]

I agree, except that it's flat.

This one looks even more like a Christmas decoration. The plans are in the attached file stlltns_7.pdf.
The complete PDF file can be found here: https://www.gnu.org/software/3dldf/graphics/stlltns.pdf
It's on this webpage: The GNU 3DLDF Stellation Patterns Page

This was the first (and so far only) block (or sheet) I cut, probably in 2010 and I never printed from it or did any printing, for that matter. I've recently bought some stuff to get set up for printing and plan to print when the blocks are ready. The linoleum seems to be as good as new, not dry or brittle at all.

For "real" (i.e., spherical) Christmas tree ornaments, or other purposes, as well as domes (hemispheres), I was working on the attached file sphrdoms.pdf in October. It contains plans for sphere developments in various sizes. However, I've been working on other things and haven't touched it since then.

It's a bit late to start printing Christmas cards, and I've sent all of mine already, but maybe next year.

Incidentally, I bought the two transparent triangles sometime in the mid 1980s and I still have the original plastic wrappers with the price tags. They cost $2.15 and $2.75, respectively. Those were the days! I'm pretty sure they're made of acrylic (a.k.a. plexiglass) and they have served me well over the decades.

[Laurence Finston]

Finished transferring the drawing to the block using the stencil. The next step is to start cutting.

[Laurence Finston]

I started cutting the block, which is quite enjoyable and my reward for all the preparation (linol16.jpg). I discovered that it's hard to keep track of what's been cut and what's not, so I decided to paint the sections that are not to be cut. I used white gouache on the theory that it should be easier to remove than ink. It definitely helps.

cobweb_1.jpg shows an illustration I made for Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream". It's a gouache painting on paper; not black paper, the background is also gouache. I used GIMP to reverse the colors and also to reverse the image (i.e., to make a mirror image), in case I wanted to make a stencil for transferring the picture to a linoleum block (cobweb_1_a4.pdf --- two pages).

However, I decided to try something different: Since cutting out stencils is also time-consuming, I wanted to try using transfer film for textiles for transferring the picture to the block (cobweb01.jpg -- cobweb04.jpg). It worked fairly well. The toner bled so the result is a bit blurry, so this method probably wouldn't be good for anything very precise, but for this drawing it's okay. It would appear that the heat of the iron scorched the surface of the linoleum but that probably won't make a difference. cibweb04.jpg shows the paper backing of the transfer film. On the left side, I mistakenly printed on the back. I printed out the image not reversed because it's transferred twice, once to the transfer film and once to the block (a bit like offset printing).

[Laurence Finston]

I started working on a little program to test different ways of coloring the prints. See the attached file sphrprj3.pdf. While doing this, I had the idea of trying to have the colors overlap and mix where they do. This ought to be possible in GIMP but I wasn't able to figure it out just by trial and error and I've been putting off reading the manual.

In the end, I decided to just do the "mixing" at the level of the GNU 3DLDF code. I also found it was impractical to try to work on the whole pattern at once (with 120 triangles). I therefore wrote another program to do this just for the dodecahedron at the center. The result is my very first YouTube video: https://youtu.be/oybBXvjXTcY

I've also attached a file (sphrprj4.pdf) containing the images from the video in form of a "flipbook" in PDF format. If displayed in a browser or PDF reader and scaled so that one page is displayed at a time, one can "flip" through it by using the arrow and/or scroll keys.

[thunderbolt13]

I love the Linoleum Block idea! I did Linoleum Block carving ink blots way back in art school. I dropped the hint of a Cricut machine to my wife for a Christmas gift. It could make quick work of cutting out patterns, once programmed with the pattern.

[Laurence Finston]

Originally Posted by thunderbolt13

I love the Linoleum Block idea!

Thanks!

Originally Posted by thunderbolt13

I did Linoleum Block carving ink blots way back in art school.

We never did linoleum cutting in school although my older brother mentioned having done it. I did take a class in etching in college but I wasn't very successful at it because at the time I didn't have any drawings I wanted to make prints of. I was once at a summer art camp where they had dozens of lithography stones that they'd bought from a newspaper or maybe a printshop when they went out of business or switched to offset. Nowadays, so many stones would cost a fortune.

Originally Posted by thunderbolt13

I dropped the hint of a Cricut machine to my wife for a Christmas gift. It could make quick work of cutting out patterns, once programmed with the pattern.

I've been looking into cutting plotters, too. Another brand I've been considering is Silhouette Cameo. It seems that none of them have "native" support for GNU/Linux but I found the Inkcut package which is supposed to make it possible to use them. I went as far as creating an SVG file and loading it into Inkcut. I will make sure it will work with my computer before making the investment but it's on hold anyway right now.

I would say there are pluses and minuses with a cutting plotter. On the one hand, it's fun cutting the linoleum by hand. On the other, there's a limit to how complex it can be and with paper, one could provide actual printed and perforated plans instead of just files.

[Laurence Finston]

I'd like to try wood engraving. It uses endgrain, so I cut off the end of a block of linden wood I've had for many years and have never used. I also have a small board of linden, but with normal grain. I don't remember where it came from; it doesn't appear to have come from the block. They're nice and dry now. Both of them could use some planing but getting my kitchen set up for planing wouldn't be possible and I don't own a thickness planer.

I'm pretty sure the wood is the European variety of linden. There is a related, North American variety which is also called "basswood", also used for carving. It's quite soft so I'm hoping I'll be able to cut the endgrain with my normal woodworking and (hand) engraving tools. I doubt that this would work with really hard woods like beech or oak, but then they probably aren't used for wood engraving, anyway.

The miter saw and the marking gauge have always been two of my favorite tools. Both have been unused for many years. The manufacturer of the miter saw is still in business, which isn't the case for some of my other tools. While the model I have has been discontinued, similar ones are still available. It went through the block like the proverbial knife through butter.

Even if I could use my circular saw, I probably would have used the miter saw because I would have to make a cut from each side and I don't have an extremely thin saw blade. This wood is just too good to waste.

The clamps are the ratcheting kind universally available in Germany. I would prefer large C-clamps, but they are uncommon here. I would probably have to special-order them.

[Don Boose]

Superb craftsmanship and lots of interesting and valuable information about your techniques.

Don