Wood Baren

[Waneta]

Nothaving a baren 'handy'around the house when I was making my first printmaking experimentsdidn't stop me - not should it stop you. Here is a collection ofdifferent ideas and tools that may be of use to those in a similarsituation ...

The tool I used duringthose first experiments was a bamboo spoon - the flat kind used forscooping rice from a rice cooker. It had a wide and smooth back thatslid easily across the paper. It was impossible to make smoothcolours, as the contact area was relatively small, and lines thusappeared in the prints, but it worked.

I have an excellent book on printmaking here infront of me at the moment, one aimed at the thousands of people herein Japan who make woodblock prints as a hobby. The author, Mr.Katsuyuki Nishijima, gives a number of baren alternatives:

Several substitutes have been triedin place of the Japanese baren, with coverings of leather, shark'sskin, celluloid, and various other materials, but these necessitatethe use of a backing sheet to protect the paper from their harshsurfaces.

The printing pad, or baren, as ithas come to be called, is not yet standardized in the West, as it hasbeen for more than a century in Japan. The Japanese baren is a mostefficient tool, but dependent upon a steady supply of bamboo leafwhich forms its outer covering. The body is made up of a disc ofcardboard, overlaid by a closely woven web of twisted bamboo leaf.Horsehair is sometimes added. The cover, flat on the underside, istwisted on the other, and its two ends tied to form a handle. Buy oneif you can - there is nothing so good.

A substitute, of hard wood, is easilyconstructed. My own is merely a disc with one ribbed face, with ablock of wood forming a grip screwed or glued to the other. The discshould be four or more inches in diameter, and a quarter to one inchin thickness. The ribs may be anything from four to twenty to theinch. The larger ribs necessitate a thicker wood, and are made on aplaning machine. The small ones are cut on a wood-engraver's rulingmachine, or they may be dug out laboriously by hand with a V-tool ora graver. They should be moulded into fairly shallow rounded shapes,because a cup-shaped depression will occasion suction in rubbing,that is, besides forcing the printing paper down to the wood it willtend to raise it again, which is awkward. At intervals wipe the faceof the baren with an oil rag, unless like the oriental a rub on theback of your head will give a similar result.

It is advisable to interpose a sheet of butterpaper in printing, as a protection to the print, though it is notalways necessary. You will need also a rag or a sponge for cleaningthe blocks after each impression.

I have not yet mentioned any of the host ofsubstitutes for the baren, except my own, which I have found to beeffective. Mr. Giles has one constructed of ribbed glass, with awooden grip glued to the disc. Sharkskin, book-muslin and other kindsof cloth have been recommended as a substitute for bamboo leaf. Clothof any kind is especially futile, at least that is my experience;apparently other artists have found it useful for it is frequentlymentioned. Such unlikely tools as a photographer's squeegee (a rubberroller), and a cocoa tin lid, give results.

The first one is about four and a half inches in diameter and about an inch thick, made of two 'book-matched' pieces of jet black Ebony, with a rag made of old tee-shirt twisted up into a handle. The handle is held in place by short pieces of heavy brass wire which passes through the baren and is bent in place and out of the way, inside a pair of the ribbed groves on the bottom.

The second baren is made of Purple Heart, is about the same diameter of the first, but is about three quarters of an inch thick. There is no handle to this tool, I just hold it in my hand as I work the thing over the paper.

I cut both these tools on a table-top circular saw, first sawing the ribs into a square block of wood, which was cut to a round when the ribbing was completed. By carefully spacing the saw blade and cutting guide, I was able to cut two groves in each adjustment by rotating the front and back ends of the wood block for each saw setting.

After the barens were groved and made round, light file work, with a fine, double cut mill file, slightly rounded the ends and edges of the ribs. Application of extra-fine sand-paper smoothed out the ribs for use on fine papers.

If you want to make a wood baren, I sugest you use Ebony or Persimmon, which is an temperate region ebony, or Dogwood. Any wood that was used for making traditional shuttles for weaving fabrics would be good, as they are fine grained and burnish up very well (and don't grab fine threads of the threads being woven).

The Artway Printmaking Baren is made from turned and polished wood. The wooden handle provides a comfortable and convenient tool to apply pressure to the back of inked prints during the process of relief or intaglio printmaking. Applying pressure in this way contacts the ground/paper more thoroughly with the inked surface beneath providing better ink attachment and more consistent results across the printed area.

For best results work the Baren in a firm circular motion across ALL areas of the rear of the print applying consistent pressure throughout. Extra care at this stage will help you to render best printed results - any areas left untreated will look light and weak in comparison to those areas where the Baren has been worked.

Gotou-san said that the baren coils can last a professional printer for up to 3 generations, the ategawa for up to a decade, and as you probably know, the a takenokawa covering lasts for a print or two depending.

You can see in my Youtube video below how Gotou-san twists a 4-strand (ko) which can be then formed into any number of braiding combinations. The plant-end of the shirotake (white bamboo) leaf is cut into strips, the cuticle is stripped off (see pic above) and the strips are spliced while twisted and braided at the same time.

Another baren-making site that you might be interested in is by Aiyumi Ohashi, who I had the pleasure to work with in Asakusa. She was a student of Gotou-san and has a brief how-to page of her own here.

Printmaker and linocut artist inspired by travel, the outdoors, airports and wanderlust. Plus, techniques for making linocuts and reviews of tools, ink and supplies. Now offering an online linocut course.

A baren is a handy alternative to my printing press from time to time. Usually I use the back of a spoon or a plastic baren for the job. I use it to burnish the back of the paper to pick up the ink from the linoleum or wood block underneath. For a while, though, I've wanted to make my own based on a design I saw during a Kala Art Institute relief printmaking workshop last year. It fits better in my hand and produces more pressure with less strain. This is how I made mine this week for under $3.

A natural wood & wool felt baren size 55mm diameter.This baren is perfect for both a student and also a printer well into their printing journey. Barens are used to hand print relief blocks by application of consistent pressure to the reverse of the paper. I would suggest using lighter weight papers 60-120g weight for hand printing method. Can be used with water or oil based relief print inks. To avoid making your baren full of ink, use a protective sheet of paper between when in use.This makes a great small gift for a print or creative maker, we carefully fold the baren in printed tissue paper before sending out to customers.

All orders dispatched from Liverpool, UK. There is a flat rate shipping charge per order which varies per country. Add as much to your basket as you like & the postage cost remains the same! Choose from a fast or slower service depending on your budget & timing. Returns accepted if the kit box is unopened and items are unused.

A hand tool traditionally used in mokuhanga, Japanese wood block printing, the baren is disc shaped, has a stiff inner core that is covered in layers of heavy washi and coated with black lacquer before being wrapped in a bamboo leaf-sheath which is cleverly twisted to form a handle on one side. The more expensive hon baren has a flat coiled cord core. Daiyo barens, available at the Japanese Paper Place, have a heavy card core.

After the block has been inked and the washi carefully placed, the artist takes the baren in hand. Smooth, lightweight, and subtly flexible, the bamboo baren can be worked easily, with varying pressure, over the paper-covered block allowing the artist to transfer the inked image from the block to the washi. The sensitive artist can feel the movement of the baren over the block in such a way that it allows them to adjust their pressure depending on the amount of detail on the block and the texture and absorbency of the washi.

Whether you are block printing, scrapbooking, or card making, this traditional bamboo bark-covered tool will make the task much easier, and give you better results! The baren enables you to uniformly transfer images onto paper and to smooth items down after applying glue. Its flat surface is perfect for applying even pressure for burnishing and is great for scrapbooking and crafting projects. Features a comfortable bamboo bark handle. The bamboo bark which is wrapped around the baren will not damage the paper while burnishing.

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