Gosei-Block

Finding a cost effective material for wood block printing with water based inks for mokuhanga can be difficult depending on your needs, location and size requirements. I have tried shina, basswood and birch plywoods.  Shina is from Japan and is wonderful to carve however is very expensive to obtain where I live.  Japanese Mountain Cherry is traditional for mokuhanga but larger sizes would have to be joined.  Also blocks of wood will expand/contract a lot depending on the moisture applied and the changing weather conditions. 

After many iterations this is my latest formula for a material that: 

• holds and releases ink well, 

• is stable

• water resistant

• carves well

• holds fine detail

The method is the same as the modified Resingrave process but the formula is different.  The base sealer layer is very thin to penetrate into the MDF so when material needs to be cleared for non-printing areas there is thicker material to work with.  (For engraving on Resingrave only the top layer is typically carved.)

The addition of the carbonates and titanium change the epoxy allowing the water based ink to penetrate just like a wood block.

I am calling the material Gosei-block (synthetic wood block).

Link to the calculator https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1GSdiz2YigMN-UgX4RtNgdMNSx5_1CaKActCvtcImY38/edit?usp=drive_link