It may always pick up ink on the ridges, but depending
on how large the stamp is, you may be able to prevent
it from printing. Mount it on a piece of wood with
Goop. That may help keep the stamp rigid enough.

Leapin' Lizards


--- Jay and Amy wrote:
> Hi again!
>
> I am having a little bit of trouble with my stamp.
> I am carving on
> the SpeedyBall pink stuff and there is one big
> section of the stamp
> that should be all white (does that make sense?
> hmm...meaning there
> should be no ink on it). My problem is that no
> matter how much pink
> stuff I shave off, there are these little lines or
> ridges that pick
> up ink and tranfer them to the paper. I have gone
> back numerous
> times and shaved off more pink stuff, but more spots
> appear that pick
> up ink. Any advice on how to solve this little
> problem of mine?
>
> Thanks,
> Amy (& Jay)
>
>


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What I believe to be happening is that you are carving a fairly large stamp
and you're getting a bulge. IN other words, the are that should be "blank"
or "white" or "no ink" is bowing down when you ink it and when you stamp it,
causing the spots/lines to appear. The way that I stop this is to mount the
stamp to some type of hard surface, just like commercial stamps are mounted.
I use 1/4" thick, cut to size, wooden blanks that I've made in my woodshop.
I'm sure you could find something laying around to use. The purpose here is
to stop the soft stamp material from bowing or bulging when you press it
into the ink pad and then when you press it to make the impression on the
paper.

I hope this helps.

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One thing I have found is that you have to be mindful that the more you shave
off, the thinner and more pliable that "white" area gets. So if you are
testing it out and you ink it up and then press it onto the paper, the more pliable
section may be pressed into the paper and show up....BUT if you are going to
mount the stamp when it is finished, the pliable area will be glued down and
most likely WON'T show up when you print. I found that out when I finally
mounted my signature Rustypuff stamp. Mounting it on wood eliminated the problem of
stray marks.

-Kim (Rustypuff)


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I've had similar problems and learned I just couldn't press as hard
on the stamp material when stamping it onto the paper. I have never
figured out another way around it. I'm not sure if this will help
you with this specific problem but it was the only thing I could
figure out. I've also sometimes started stamping the newly inked
stamp onto a paper and then, without reinking the stamp, using the
second stamping as the final image. Sometimes, the final result
just looks better with less ink?


dvn2r ckr
--- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, "Jay and Amy"
wrote:
My problem is that no matter how much pink
> stuff I shave off, there are these little lines or ridges that
pick
> up ink and tranfer them to the paper. I have gone back numerous
> times and shaved off more pink stuff, but more spots appear that
pick
> up ink. Any advice on how to solve this little problem of mine?
>
> Thanks,
> Amy (& Jay)

--- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, "Jay and Amy"
wrote:
> I have gone back numerous
> times and shaved off more pink stuff, but more spots appear that pick
> up ink. Any advice on how to solve this little problem of mine?


Is your stamp mounted?
Rustypuff mentioned that this problem can usually be eliminated once
the carving is mounted. I've found that the "pink stuff" is too thin
NOT to be mounted. You really need to consider mounting due to the
thickness (or lack thereof) of the medium.

If you find that there are still marks once you've mounted your stamp
then "clean up" the carving a little more. Honestly, I don't mind
seeing line marks depending on the stamp because it gives a
hand-carved stamp some character. If all hand-carved stamps always
looked absolutely perfect then we might as well buy store-bought stamps.

Phyto

I agree with Phyto I like seeing some imprefections in the stamp when
it adds to the impression. If it doesn't though just add something
to the back to stiffin it up. You only need to carve as deep as the
lowest point of the stamp.

Steve

We have coasters (for drinks) that are about 4" square and made of
hard cork topped with with a smooth plastic. I press with these (and
not my fingers) every time I check the carving. It gives nice even
pressure and it keeps the shallow areas and edges from showing on the
paper.

catbead


--- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, "Jay and Amy"
wrote:
> Hi again!
>
> I am having a little bit of trouble with my stamp. I am carving on
> the SpeedyBall pink stuff and there is one big section of the stamp
> that should be all white (does that make sense? hmm...meaning
there
> should be no ink on it). My problem is that no matter how much
pink
> stuff I shave off, there are these little lines or ridges that pick
> up ink and tranfer them to the paper. I have gone back numerous
> times and shaved off more pink stuff, but more spots appear that
pick
> up ink. Any advice on how to solve this little problem of mine?
>
> Thanks,
> Amy (& Jay)

A coaster is a really good idea - perfect size for
getting a good even press as you test a stamp out, and
good and firm to give a good idea how the stamp will
look once it's mounted.

I can see one of our coasters will soon join the ranks
of the household items on my workbench! My husband
was working on my computer the other day and looked
high and low for his can of pressurized air. When it
finally clicked in my head what he was looking for (I
was only half paying attention to him in the first
place), I sheepishly went out to my workbench and
retrieved his air for him - almost empty. Canned air
is great for cleaning the minute debris from stamps -
but that's another discussion!

Lucy




--- catbead1 wrote:
> We have coasters (for drinks) that are about 4"
> square and made of
> hard cork topped with with a smooth plastic. I
> press with these (and
> not my fingers) every time I check the carving. It
> gives nice even
> pressure and it keeps the shallow areas and edges
> from showing on the
> paper.
>
> catbead
>
>
> --- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, "Jay and Amy"
>
> wrote:
> > Hi again!
> >
> > I am having a little bit of trouble with my stamp.
> I am carving on
> > the SpeedyBall pink stuff and there is one big
> section of the stamp
> > that should be all white (does that make sense?
> hmm...meaning
> there
> > should be no ink on it). My problem is that no
> matter how much
> pink
> > stuff I shave off, there are these little lines or
> ridges that pick
> > up ink and tranfer them to the paper. I have gone
> back numerous
> > times and shaved off more pink stuff, but more
> spots appear that
> pick
> > up ink. Any advice on how to solve this little
> problem of mine?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Amy (& Jay)
>
>


__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Search - Find what youre looking for faster
http://search.yahoo.com

Canned air, that's good! I usually end up washing those
little pesky bits of carving out.

catbead



--- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, Barefoot Lucy
wrote:
>>> snip>>>
> I can see one of our coasters will soon join the ranks
> of the household items on my workbench! My husband
> was working on my computer the other day and looked
> high and low for his can of pressurized air. When it
> finally clicked in my head what he was looking for (I
> was only half paying attention to him in the first
> place), I sheepishly went out to my workbench and
> retrieved his air for him - almost empty. Canned air
> is great for cleaning the minute debris from stamps -
> but that's another discussion!
>
> Lucy