Review on Complete Speedball Block Printing Starter Kit – Inclusive of Ink, Brayer, Lino Handle and Cutters, Speedy-Carve by Wendy Rodriguez

All in all, this is a pretty good "starter kit" but I'd like to warn you about a couple of issues (or problems) I've encountered: * The linoleum block is HARD. Too difficult, especially for those just starting out in linocut. (I always found it sad because it might put people off the linocut, perhaps thinking it's not worth the physical effort to cut that hard linoleum. With each cut, my cutter bounced, hooked, and bounced off the block .I grunted like crazy lol) I'm not saying that it is impossible to cut, but it is NOT smooth like other linoleum. You can injure yourself by trying to draw lines on it. Do what I did: buy the BENCH HOOK with this kit. It helped a lot. I bought a speedball bench hook here for about $9-10. Worth the investment. It is "dual use" (meaning you can use it as an ink tray as well) * Comes with a very cheap styrofoam tray to roll up the ink. This is a type of styrofoam tray that you can find packaged meats on at the grocery store. I have a feeling that maybe they could add a PLASTIC tray, non-porous vinyl sheet, or some other material. You can buy a small Plexiglas somewhere like Lowe's, which i made a few days before i got this which is ideal for applying ink. (I bought it to do black and white prints. But that's ok because the ink is WATER SOLUBLE, which means you can wash it off easily.)* Cutters sometimes get lost. I pulled it really tight, but if you tilt some of the cutters at a certain angle they will essentially come loose. (I didn't take any notes on this, just warning people.) I think the more you use the incisors, the better you'll understand how to hold them, how much pressure they take, etc. * " Directions" is pretty much grade useless. Actually a waste of paper. They don't tell you how to change bits (not everyone will understand how to do this. Luckily I had nib pens that use pretty much the same method of changing the tip). They don't tell you how to delete or save a block. I suggest looking on YouTube and doing a browser search. They only have one block so I would order extra linoleum as well. because you will definitely get hooked once you see your prints! (I actually ordered raw linoleum from Dick Bleek because they had much better deals than the ones I found at Revain. Local Micheal's no longer sells printing supplies.) So after I drew my female face design and transferred the design to the block It took me about 3 hours to carve. It had a few small details that I thought I could do neatly. but because the block was so hard, I found my cutter pretty much stuck. I'm surprised it didn't cut itself! Everyone always says how dangerous that can be so I almost expected it. I have to say that I am very satisfied with the result of my prints. I really thought my first linocuts were going to come out pretty crappy, but I really think they came out great. Can I recommend this set? Of course, just pay attention to what I mentioned above. I really thought my first linocuts were going to come out pretty crappy, but I really think they came out great. Can I recommend this set? Of course, just pay attention to what I mentioned above. I really thought my first linocuts were going to come out pretty crappy, but I really think they came out great. Can I recommend this set? Of course, just pay attention to what I mentioned above.