This is something I posted in the Facebook group 'Linocut Printmakers' in autumn 2022, and I wanted to add it to my blog so that I can share the link more easily in future:
Someone asked me to share my registration jigs recently so here they are for those interested. I have one for A5 blocks one for A6, and one for 30x30cm which I plan to use for A4 also with some sort of insert to hold the block in place.
They are made from hardboard (chipboard in some countries I think), mount board, ternes-burton pins and lots of thin removal tape for easy cleaning.
The A6 one I made first, and learned a lot (e.g. don’t leave a lower gap between where I put the pins and where the block goes). How I made them: took a piece of hardboard roughly the size of the paper I’d likely want to use on that size block (e.g. A5 paper on an A6 block). This is a personal choice, but it makes for easy centering. The detail photographs are for the A5 jig, which was the last one I made, and I used an A5 block to make sure it would fit well.
Then I cut an L-shaped piece of mount board (1.3mm I think, shallower than the lino I use for easy inking), to start making the insert space where the block would go. Ideally the mount board would do all the way to the edge of the board, otherwise I cut additional pieces of mount board to cover all of the board apartf from the insert space later. I taped the L-shaped piece down with double sided carpet tape, then put the block in place and cut/taped additional l-shaped or other pieces of mount board to create a snug space for the block. I didn’t make it super tight, but just a good fit that didn’t allow the block to shift.
I then covered all the mount board with parcel tape, taking great care to not have any thick layers around the space for the block, as this could have ruined the fit. I just kept putting the block back in to make sure. Otherwise I can recommend making the tape overlaps reasonably parallel to the block, otherwise getting paper aligned nicely can be confusing.
After the parcel tape I stuck the pins on, measured with a sheet of paper to make sure all would fit well. I prefer to have a slightly longer sheet of paper at the top to stick the paper to, so that I can later tear the excess off without showing any tape damage to the end piece.
And I think that’s it! Now I can align sheets of paper to the jig, quickly tape on the ternes burton tabs (using an extra sheet of paper if the printing paper doesn’t reach to the pins), and go ahead and print. So far I’m getting perfect registration on all three jigs, both with multiblock and reduction prints.
Hope it is useful.
Add comment
Comments