rig made ready

A week after making the masa ready, I gave attention to my paper registration guides (right). Double click on images to make larger.


I planned for both the small and large reduction linocut blocks to have a 3 inch border. Could I fashion wood to make the rig units I needed?

With a yardstick and pencil, I went outside to gather materials from my wood shed, and a handsaw to cut with. My storage shed, once a studio, built by me, housed tools.

A narrow lath board would be glued to a 2 x 1 pine board to make the vertical side of the rig.   A single lath board would make the horizontal side.



 









After sawing, each of the eight inch lengths were made even with sandpaper. 



Before applying glue I scored the side with a piece of steel (left).

The vertical and horizontal units were glued separately.

After the wood glue dried I discovered the rig units were taller than the depth of the lino blocks.

By clenching each rig unit between my shoes I was able to saw units in half length  wise. Left, you can see the rig is lower than the thickness of the block. I scored the wood pieces, glued the two units together, and waited for them to dry. Then I gave the dried rig a coat of Polyacrylic. (So that any ink smudges could be wiped off, during the printing process.)

 Finished rig in my hand.



 I re-measured the vertical registration guides and found two of them to be off by half an inch. So I snapped them off the board, scored the board, and glued them the distance I wanted. Now the guides are even.











 





L-shaped rig set beside the registration guides.




An inked up lino block snug against the new rig.