Printing 3D printing plates

Well, it was time to print the plates we had printed...

I must admit the printing of plates printed by 3D tends to become a bit of a word-warp for me!

Because the printer lays the filament down in lines, some lines are evident on the top surface when you do the first roll with the brayer.

So you go a  bit heavier and in the direction of the lines to fill the gaps. And of course make a mark or two on your plate which you have to clean off!

And then you print. Pretty happy with this wee one. The paper was damp, and the pressure pretty light and the combo worked well. The ink needs to be sticky/tacky - we used Sakura oil based and cleaned the plate later with vegetable oil and hot soapy water.

Before I inked I wanted to check how the plate might emboss. Our first run was a bit heavy and creased the paper.

The second run with less pressure produced  a lovely image.

I managed to 3D print a second plate - this time a Heilan Coo. Sometimes known as a Highland Cow.

One thing I have learned is that my tendency towards to lightness does not always translate into the print - my fine lines can be too fine and some bits can get missed.

I also wanted to see what happened to the print if you didn't do the bit in between printing and printing - the filing and sanding of the surface.

And I am glad I checked - because it really does make a difference.

And I really enjoyed cleaning off my plate on a phone book page, and the loveliness of the random marks on the paper.

Thanks again to Noosa Council and Noosa RADF grants for the opportunity to do this workshop.  We have both become members of the Makers Space there and can see that we will do more...