What tools are these?
My mom gave me all of her old bookbinding, printing and paper making tools. Some have been easier to identify than others. Below are the woodblock printing tools that I received. Other than the leather circle, I've at least identified their basic purpose. Unfortunately, that's about as far as I've got. I'm particularly interested in the cutting tools and how they should be sharpened. Please email me if you've got any thoughts on what I've got.
The box
This is the box of goodies I received. The kitchen implements (wooden spoon, etc) are mine. And the speedball ink is new.
Round leather thing
Wood
There a few different kinds of wood in the box. All are very small pieces (less than 4" square). Most are a very dense wood, but there are a few pieces which I think are some kind of poplar. My dad probably cut these from scraps for basic shapes (they've all been used to print squares with no carving in the surfaces). Below are two of the "good" woods I found. There are at least a dozen or so of these blocks.
The Cutting Tools
Apparently these were ordered "from a place in England"
and were "very expensive." That's all mom could remember
about them.
One
Two
Three
This one has a diamond edge, unlike the others which are all straight.
Four
Five
Prints
The prints that my mom did are really quite good compared to what I've gotten to date (using the blocks she'd already carved). Mom doesn't really remember it being difficult. "How'd you make them look so good?" "Oh I don't know. I just rolled out the ink and then it worked."
There were a few practice prints in the box. These are my favorites:
