Speedball Deluxe Block Printing Kit - Includes Inks, Brayer, Bench Hook, Lino Handle and Cutters, Speedy-Carve Block, Mounted Linoleum Block

I loved learning a new skill. The value of this product is on point.

Great!

A reasonable starter kit. The cutter handle is plastic but does not unscrew to store the cutters. A minimal amount of ink - enough to do a few prints. The lino is mounted on a wood block - nice. You would have to add some good paper to make this a usable gift. I found it on sale and the lower price ($30) was necessary to make me feel the contents were worth the money.

Excellent!!

it was a great product and i did well in the class that i had to do block printing for!

Excellent purchase for beginners!!

Im new to blockprinting and this kit is perfect! I already tried the lino and rubber and I prefer the lino. I didnt use the carving tool because I use the ones from Power Grip which are better quality. The inks are excellent, I love them and Im ordering other colors right now. Im a water based artist, easy to clean, no odor, so I recommend them, the colors are basic but they are nice. The tubes are small, but I think its enough for starting, you can try them and learn about them this way and then order more. Im not sure if Im going to use the extender, so I cant review it.

i should have just bought the items separately. i like speedball but they threw all of their cheapest equipment into this kit and its kind of crappy. same price to just buy them individually and youd get better quality! came with a nice little how-to for printmaking, though.

Blade handle is a little flimsy but all other items are high quality.

This set has all the basics: a bench hook (also used as the inking plate) which keeps you from cutting your hand when carving; soft and hard (mounted) linoleum, cutters (stored in a plastic handle with a chuck) ink, ink extender and a brayer (the roller.) No baren or buren--the pad used to press the paper and burnish it onto the block to impress the ink evenly. You can use a large spoon or buy one from Speedball. The hard linoleum (the yellowish kind) is what I used many years but this piece is way too tough. As to using a bench hook as an inking plate, I say no. Get a pane of glass or plexiglass (if glass, duct tape all the edges.) Use that plate to roll out your ink with the brayer. This ink is water soluble and washes off, but if you are seriously printing, often oil-based ink is preferable but its messier. Ive also used oil pastels to make monoprints on blocks. You can press directly to print from oil pastel applied to the block, but spraying with a solvent like turps or (what we used in past, may not be a good idea) rubber cement solvent lets it transfer more deeply. I print on mulberry paper (Hosho paper, usually. This is the traditional paper for sumi-e ink brush painting, calligraphy and also ink block printing. This set has nearly everything, and though I prefer a wood handle for my cutting tools, the plastic handle is fine and the set is a very good value for starting to print. Only the mounted block was not great, being way too hard to cut and I would not recommend using it for kids, as they might press too hard on the tool, skid off and cut themselves.