March 14th - 2022: Print Prepares

Today, using mostly the afternoon, I have laser engraved and cut a small selection of lino and plywood blocks to print, using images I captured and recreated in ProCreate over the previous weekend (12-13th of March).

So far, they have worked really well, more with the plywood blocks, since they take on a deeper groove compared to the lino (Marmoleum). This is due to the fact that the lino is made out of a material which melts more than burns when being hit with the laser, whilst the plywood entirely burns due to what it is made out of.

The plywood blocks onto took 2-3 runs to get a deep enough groove so it can be printed, with each run being just short of 10 minutes, meaning the A5 sized plywood printing blocks took a total of 30 minutes to cut and engrave (not including the average 20-45 minutes it takes me to make a single panel/printing block).

In comparison, I ran a lino block almost 6 times and it barely got close to the deepness of the plywood after it had been engraved with the laser. The result of the actual print afterwards was disappointing, and with the extra runtime for said prints, I know that I will not be using lino as the main form of my printing, unless it was for one or two panels with only using the laser-cutter to laser a design onto the lino so I can cut it.

(Shown on left: Plywood Block Laser Engraved. Shown on right: Lino Block Laser Engraved.)