Making a Block Print with a Laser Cutter

Welcome to another woodcut printmaking project! This block printing video goes through carving with a laser, inking a block, and printing the final image. I don't think I'll ever stop hand-carving, but I can definitely see cases where this would be great for detailed areas, or text!
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Music in this video:
8bit Dungeon Boss Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
Cold Funk Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/b...

[@monrea10]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing this. I have a Glowforge to set up this week and this is one of the projects I wanted to try...now I know where to begin. Your videos are great!

[@DiodePress]

Hey awesome, good luck with it!

[@chiparooo]

Cool! Nice video editing too!

[@DiodePress]

Thanks!

[@blackheartpress]

Why would people click the dislike button? Great video!

[@DiodePress]

Ha, that's RUclips for you! Thanks!

[@Amperzand]

People are weird! Appearance, voice, how tidy someone's place is, music, no music, video editing styles, etc. Any and all can upset petty RUclips viewers. The ones who disapproved of this video probably don't like pink ink.

[@swschilke]

Hallo how deep should you cut out so that the back doesn't take ink and print on the paper? Kind regards .

[@6wms]

Have you ever tried linoleum blocks on your laser cutter?

[@DiodePress]

I have, it works really well. I’m working on one for an upcoming video!

[@6wms]

Would love to see it. I love the old and new. Looking forward to it!!!

[@vinspinful]

What thickness was too thin? What thickness was just right? I've ordered 6mm 😳

[@felixdietzCGN]

nice! you dont even have to use the engraving, its, like you said, not cutting very deep and it takes a long time. If you have digital designs and just use the normal vector cutting feature for the outlines, you can start hogging out in the infill right away with the wood tools and get clean lines without using the knife or chisel along all the lines first :) but, as you said, just from time to time, manual labor is what printing is all about :)

[@mlk4343]

what printing press do you use?

[@DiodePress]

It's a Richeson 11" Press. Works great for almost all the prints I make!

[@Clarence_13x]

Soak it in a polycarbonate resin, and it will cut like a mix of wood and plexiglass, can’t give away too may hints, you can set vacuum pressure to control permeation. The author will get what I’m saying. Use balsa for greatest porosity.

[@mcmullen_photo]

Would that work on linoleum?

[@DiodePress]

I don't think so. I'd be very concerned with the fumes coming off of the melted linoleum.

[@TrampiTheTrap]

You cannot engrave more deep with the laser instead carve it?

[@ekatlaterrible]

You can set it to a slower pass setting which will go deeper or you can simply pass twice by doing the engraving once then again without moving your piece inside the laser cutter.