Testing Complete

I am happy that we have more choices for carving stamps :)
I have tested all 4 of these carving materials and I have definitely found my personal favorite among them.

They all have very different and distinct characteristics. All are usable for the purposes of carving our own stamps and for block printing.

As Letterboxers, we mostly seem to be familiar with Mastercarve, Nasco Safety Cut, Speedy Carve ("Pink Stuff") and PZ Kut. For the purpose of comparisons, I will compare these new materials to those. Especially to the Pink Stuff and PZ. When I speak of PZ Kut it will be in reference to the WHITE version. Afterall, I never really carved on the orange. Oh....and we wont even consider that horrid crumbly stuff called Speedy Cut. I carve with Speedball Lino Tools and trim the edges with eXacto knives.

I am not the detail carver that some of you are and my eyes are not what they were. I actually have a hard time with blurred vision sometimes so I am not able to do the fine lines so much. Some of you are familiar with my woodcut look or rustic style of carving. So i would love to see what kind of detail so of you incredible carvers can get out of these materials.

The 4 materials I tested:

All transfered well using the transparency method.
All inked well with no beading of ink.

Flexible Printing Plate - super thin at only 2-3mm thick. Off white colored. It has an adhesive backing. I was surprised that this stuff was not harder to carve than it is. Of the 4 this one is probably the least likely to be a favorite for most carvers because of it's thinness. However, it makes it perfect for mounting the material to something like a roller. Extremely flexible. Space saving. Mounts to foam well. Carving feel is probably between Nasco Safety Cut and Pink Stuff but slightly denser.

"Eco" Carve - 10mm or 3/8" thick. Brown colored. Completely 100% recycled materials makes up this carving block. No mounting needed. Denser than Pink Stuff but also a bit more rubbery. With sharp tools this material should hold detail but was too rubbery for me to get my corners right. Over time it may wear down with use of marker like Mastercarve does but again it is a touch denser than Pink Stuff so that might not be an issue. Stamps very well with no splotchiness.

Karve Majik - 6mm or 1/4" thick. Bright white carving surface layered over a black dense rubbery base. The purpose of the layers is for the black to be revealed as you carve as to help you visualize your carving. Smooth material. At first I was really struggling with this product. That surprised me. I expected it to be my favorite. I was not getting smooth cuts but then I changed blades and WahLa! Sharp blades are important! ;) Denseness is probably between Pink Stuff and PZ Kut and closer to PZ Kut than any of them as far as the density and color.

Smooth-Cut - 5mm or 1/8" thick. Off white or cream color. VERY flexible. Slightly stiffer than Pink Stuff probably not as stiff as PZ but that may be mostly due to the thin material. Does take fine line and detail. This is my favorite of the four. The Smooth-Cut is the closest to PZ for me because of it's color and it density. I could control my blade the best in Smooth-Cut.

All four products have their own feel and characteristics. None of them feel just like Pink Stuff or just like PZ etc. So the best advice I can give to someone wanting something besides "Pink Stuff" is to give these an honest try. I think I will definitely be using the Smooth-Cut. :)


Keep in mind... I am in contact with this manufacturer about trying to produce yet another material. Maybe someday soon we will have the perfect material...or maybe you will find one that suits you in these that are available now. I have an order in with the manufacturer... so you may order sample packs through My ArtFire and Etsy shops. Those links are always on my blogs and at dixiearts.com. If I can be of help please contact me :)

Good Luck and Happy Carving!