قراءة كتاب Wood Engraving
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firm, being all that is required (Fig. 11).
The burnisher (Fig. 12) is used for rubbing the proof off after inking the block. Steel is best, but bone will do, or the back of a teaspoon, using the bowl as a handle.
A supply of boxwood, proofing ink, an oilstone for sharpening tools and some paper for taking proofs will be necessary. The paper must be thin (India paper being the best) as [pg 28] it is very difficult to take a proof on thick paper.
The table or the bench where the work is to be done must always be firm. The craftsman should not be unduly bending over the work, but should be as upright as possible, the height of bench and chair being adjusted to enable the worker to see the engraving without either eye-strain or rounding of the back and shoulders. Be comfortable when at work.
See that the tools are sharp before commencing work. If sharp the point will always grip or “bite” when loosely “run” across the wood; if blunt it will slide over. Always use a spare piece of boxwood when testing tools. The face of the tool only must be sharpened (see Fig. 1). On no account must the sharpening be done from the underneath or belly part of the tool. Avoid bearing too much on the point; it is a quick method of sharpening, but the angle of the face will gradually become more upright and the tool will not cut through the wood easily. An angle of 45° is about right. Sharpen by rubbing the face of the tool up and down the length of the oilstone. Any lubricating oil will serve for the stone.
[pg 29]
THE WOOD
The wood used is boxwood and where fineness of work is desired no other wood is suitable. Dark marks sometimes indicate inferior quality; white marks are always bad and should be avoided. Many other kinds of wood have been tried for engraving without success, especially for work of a moderately fine character. For large work, such as are termed posters, sycamore and pine are principally used.
The method of producing these large blocks is called cutting. Knives, “V” tools and gouges, instead of gravers are used, and the long grain of the wood is the printing surface of these; whereas that which is accepted as engraving proper is always on the end grain of the boxwood. This being the only really reliable wood for wood engraving, and the engraver's staple material, it deserves more than a passing notice.
Turkey produces the finest boxwood though many good samples come from the Crimea and the Caucasus.
The best and most valuable wood is of very slow growth, hard and heavy, and of a very fine and close texture. The wood is sent over in logs. Careful judgment is required in its [pg 30] selection when sent into the market. It must be thoroughly seasoned before being used by the engraver as new wood retains its moisture for a long time, is most liable to split and warp, and is very susceptible to changes of temperature.
The measurement of the logs is from 7 to 12 inches in diameter and the first process of blockmaking is to cut these logs into slices crosswise about 1 inch in thickness. They are then placed singly in racks for many months to season, and during this time sharp cracks are heard which denote that the slices of wood are drying and splitting from the core. Owing to this splitting, only blocks of small size can be obtained from one piece; where larger blocks are required and also for the sake of economising wood, it is necessary to join pieces together. The best and strongest way is to groove and tongue them together. The sides of the pieces must be planed true, the grooves cut and the tongues (of some hard wood) glued into the grooves with very thin glue. They are then pressed very tightly together with clamps and left to dry. Another way is simply to glue the pieces together without the groove and tongue. In an even temperature they hold together quite well, and if the block is for temporary use, little [pg 31] danger need be apprehended of the joint's opening. Always use very thin glue thinly applied. The block has now to be planed down to about 7/8 of an inch thickness, which is the height of type, scraped with a steel scraper until perfectly level and smooth and finished off with the finest sand or emery paper.
[pg 32]
DRAWING
The highly-polished surface of the wood will not take the pencil or brush unless prepared, and the best medium for this is flake-white and finely ground brickdust in equal proportions. An amount sufficient to cover a threepenny piece is enough for a block of 6 inches by 4 inches; add one or more drops of water, and rub thinly and evenly with the fingers until it starts to dry.
Chinese white may be used in the place of flakewhite. It can be used without the brick-dust and applied to the wood by the fingers as before or spread evenly by means of a soft flat brush passing by direct strokes over the surface. This method will be quite effective, but will not give such an even appearance as the brick-dust and white.
Indian and Chinese ink rubbed up in water and a fine camel hair brush are used for drawing, or a pencil may be used. The best is one of medium hardness. Too soft a pencil rubs out easily and soon gives a dirty appearance to the drawing; one too hard is liable to bruise the wood.
All drawing on the wood must be reversed. Even in cases where this is not necessary it is well to remember that the print from the [pg 33] engraving will be a reverse of the drawing. Make reversing a habit. Much annoyance may thus be avoided, for it is easy to produce an awkward absurdity, which, though not apparent to other people, spoils one's own enjoyment of the work. All lettering must be reversed. A view of the drawing in a mirror before commencing to engrave will reveal any incorrectness in reversing.
The engraver is to remember that the production is to be an engraving and not a drawing; that it is to have the character of an engraving—an engraving manifest and not an imitation of another drawing, half-tone, or any other process. Let the dependence be on the engraving tools rather than the pencil. As far as possible draw direct on to the wood. If this, by the nature of the subject, is impossible, it may be necessary to trace on to the wood.
Trace the subject firmly with a soft pencil and by waxing the sides of the block fix the tracing tightly over it, face down. Affix one side first in correct position, rubbing the paper on to the waxed side by means of a tool handle or other suitable instrument, and stretch the tracing tightly over until fixed in similar manner to the opposite side. In the absence of beeswax, soap will do, but it is not