Blanket sets for all our etching presses are all pure wool. Woven set comprises of one quality woven fronting blanket plus two felt padders. A combination set does for both Intaglio work and Relief . This includes Etching, Drypoint , Monoprint as well as Collographs and Lino and Woodcuts.
The Felts can be placed next to the paper and this is good for relief work such as Collographs,Linocuts and Woodcuts.
For Lino and Woodcut we recommend using just the two felts. When using blankets its good to put tissue or newsprint between paper and blanket . This is to absorb starch from the damp paper.
Blanket sets have a 12mm clearance all around
Blanket set up for our etching presses
Blanket set up for different Print types. From the bed we have the prepared plate , then dampened paper. Next the Blanket for the print type, followed by padder blankets. Intaglio printing needs a dense blanket. I provide a 3.2 mm woven wool blanket of very high quality. Sourced from the finest English wool weavers The felts are high quality also . Two Felts come in the blanket set , this makes the set more flexible. European sourced and regarded as clean. I don’t supply Swan Skins and regard them as a blanket to serve only one purpose, to be a padder. Collographs can be printed using Felts. We believe our etching presss are the best value and quality for modern printing and as such we provide only the best quality blankets for them.
Felts may be used to print Linocuts. Another method is using with mounting card . the operator would need to apply the correct pressure. The diagram below explains the use of runners when doing relief work on a roller press. Relief work needs less pressure to produce the print,this may cause problems when mounting the work. To mount the work positively, runners may placed along side the work and extending beyond the work . This will allow pressure on the runners and not on the work. A smooth printing operation can then ensue. Runners must be the same height as the work. This prevents the print from embossing. Strips of the lino if its a lino cut would do.The same principle would apply to woodcuts.
