First Steps in Rubber Stamping

Things have been a bit quiet on this blog so I really should post about something. Some may remember that I mentioned becoming interested in carving my own rubber stamps; here are a few of my early efforts.

A few months ago, I ordered a block of Speedball Speedy-Carve and carving tools from a US-based seller on eBay, but whilst waiting for the goodies to arrive, I made a couple of attempts using what I had to hand, my old Stabilo Legacy eraser and a Swann Morton number 11 scalpel. The first effort was this, an aircraft stamp based on the UK road-sign to warn motorists of low flying aircraft:


You can see from the stamp that my carving left a bit to be desired, but I thought this was OK considering the lack of proper materials. The Legacy had a bit left over, so I then created another stamp, this time based on another UK road-sign, a direction arrow:


I had very little eraser left for this stamp, so the arrow is somewhat truncated compared to the original. This is a simpler shape to carve than the aircraft, as it has no curved edges; I was able to cut the lines cleanly with the scalpel and a steel rule.

By now my parcel had arrived from the States and I was able to start carving with the Speedy-Carve. I decided to keep things simple so I carved another version of the arrow, this time in the correct proportions:


The rubber compound in Speedy-Carve is different to that in the eraser material. For one thing, it's nowhere near as porous as the eraser. You can see it above with the slight marbling effect in the stamped image, when the Tombow Brush Pens are used for the ink. On a larger area, the effect is even more pronounced. (It is much less pronounced when a stamp pad is used.)

My next project was a hexagon, one of the symbols used by a favourite band of mine, Boards of Canada.


As one of their best-known pieces is called Turquoise Hexagon Sun, the hexagon had to be turquoise, obviously. Actually, I like the effect this has on the stamped image.

Having had some practice on this, I felt a bit more confident and carved a favourite symbol of mine. Growing up near Heathrow, I saw many old airliners and airlines. Among them was BOAC, one of the two airlines merged to form British Airways, whose symbol was the beautiful and iconic Speedbird. (The rubber on the stamp is blue because I tried stamping it using a Sharpie permanent marker. I am sure that will wear off in time.)



Speedy-Carve is very easy to carve, and has the consistency of a firm cheese like a Cheddar or Jarlsberg. I still have a fair bit left over, and have a few ideas of what to carve next. Actually I have already carved another stamp, but have not mounted it on a block of wood yet. I also have one failure, an attempt to carve this stamp from a Texas Instruments scientific calculator operator's manual which Gunther at Lexikaliker had made into a professionally-made stamp, and which he very kindly sent to me. The design is too intricate for my ham-fisted efforts; I have learned to keep things simple, and go with bold designs. Corporate logos and road signs offer much potential for this medium of expression, but I am sure I'll branch out into other areas such as portraiture.

The stamps shown above are glued to a wood block, with a layer of rubber from an old mouse-mat in the middle to absorb pressure, as the Speedy-Carve does not compress much.

It's been a lot of fun doing this - I hope you don't mind this minor diversion from the core mission of this blog: pencils and pens.

Stabilo GREENlighter 6007

I was intrigued enough by this review at Pencil Talk to search out the Stabilo GREENlighter highlighting pencil at a stationer's some distance from my home. I've used Stabilo Boss highlighter pens for years, but the idea of using a pencil for hightlighting text made more sense. I've found all highlighter pens dry out unless you replace the cap, and of course the process of highlighting demands the reader to use it intermittently, which means having to take the cap off and replace it numerous times during a spell of reading and highlighting. Another reason for using a pencil is that I have found highlighter pens to smear fountain pen ink, and as I use a fountain pen I wanted to avoid that if at all possible.

Based on the Pencil Talk review, I purchased only the yellow version of this pencil; the green and pink variants aren't as good, apparently. It takes a little getting used to, because more effort is needed to leave a useable layer of highlighter than a pen. The hightlighting is more subtle than a pen's. The highlighting core has a smooth, deep waxy feel and glides over the paper, though as I say, it needs more pressure and multiple passes to leave a healthy line.

The barrel of the pencil is triangular in section and painted in dayglo yellow with thin white lines. All information is printed in black, as is the FSC logo.

I've really enjoyed using this pencil and it has found a place in my pencil case. This one is a winner, in my view.

Stabilo GREENgraph 6003

Another quick review of a Stabilo product, this time their "green" pencil, the GREENgraph 6003. This HB pencil, which comes in eraser-tipped and non eraser-tipped versions, is Stabilo's effort at developing, manufacturing and marketing a pencil which is produced from wood managed in a sustainable way. This pencil, along with others in the Stabilo stable, is designed to conform with Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) rules on woodland management; Stabilo as a company has been registered with FSC since 1998. It claims to be "first FSC-certified writing instruments manufacturer and hence a pioneer in the industry". All well and good, though I have just tried (unsuccessfully) to confirm this. Penciltalk tried to check the Chain of Custody for a review of the GREENlighter highlighting pencil, but found the online documentation to be less-than-helpful.

In any case, this pencil is a conventional hexagonal HB pencil, finished very nicely indeed in a cheerful spring-green colour with white stripes. There's a bit of user info, including the FSC logo to remind the user this is an eco-pencil, but no country of origin information. The reverse has a stock number and barcode. Mine does not have the eraser.

This pencil writes in similar fashion to the Stabilo Swano 4907 I reviewed a while back. It's OK, not unpleasant, though it has that grittiness I mentioned before. It's fairly dark and leaves a dense line on paper; it's slightly lighter and firmer than a Staedtler tradition HB, but without the smoothness of the latter. In the hand, it's actually quite comfortable, though I did not use it for extended writing. I've put mine in my bag as an everyday pencil, which I feel this is. It's really a competitor to the Staedtler Noris, and is a good quality, workaday pencil. Stabilo has produced a nice one here, and I'd be happy to own and use more in the future. This one cost me 50p in a stationer's here in England (no, not the one I complained about recently). I reckon this could be difficult to find as it struggles to find shelf-space in the shops; most stationers here sell either Staedtler or Derwent.

In summary, then: a good everyday pencil, though still more expensive than a Noris.

Stabilo EASYgraph Right-Handed Pencil

Another quick review, this time of Stabilo's EASYgraph learner's pencil. I bought a twin-pack of these from my local stationer's for £2.00 in September 2010.



This pencil is an over-sized "ergonomic" pencil aimed at the early learner's market and is clearly in competition with Staedtler's Noris Ergosoft range. The idea here is that small children have difficulty holding a conventional pencil when learning to write, but can grip an oversize pencil more easily. Ergonomic pencils usually also feature some form of textured grip surface in addition to the larger diameter. Both pencils have the fashionable triangular cross-section pioneered by Faber-Castell. The Ergosoft pencil has a non-slip finish; the EASYgraph is painted in a cool, dark blue with a greenish tinge, and has a series of gouges in the wood, set at around 45°, to guide fingers to holding the pencil at the right angle when writing on paper. These depressions are set so that the pencil may only be held comfortably in the hand it was designed for, so that a right-hand pencil may only be held for a period in the right hand, and the left-hand model held in the left. The right-hand model has the end dipped in red paint; the left-hand model has a yellow dip. The EASYgraph also has a small panel in which the owner can write their name (presumably in ball-point pen).




The HB lead on this right-hand model has a bit of resistance to it, but leaves a dark, thick line: perfect for small children. It's not too shabby for adults who should by now know how to write, either. Some people have criticised the lead for being scratchy but I've not found this to be the case in the short time I've used this pencil.

I would probably not send my children to school armed with one though, because the EASYgraph stands out a mile compared to a conventional school pencil such as the good old Staedtler Noris HB. It would either attract ridicule from classmates for being a "learner's" pencil or would be stolen or hidden; either would be distressing. Children can also be a bit fussy about their pencils as well, and the ergonomic grip may not suit everyone.

This is one of Stabilo's more interesting pencil designs, and shows that there's still new things to be done with the wood-cased pencil. I doubt that I would use this pencil regularly, but I am glad that Stabilo have taken the risk with this design and I wish them well with it. Oh, and it works well for adults, too.

Stabilo Swano 4907

Quick review time, again: this one is for a pack of four Stabil Swano 4907 pencils. I bought this pack in a branch of Ryman's (a chain of stationers' here in England) for £1.69, which is about 43 pence per pencil.

They come in bright - almost livid - fluorescent colours. The four colours used - yellow, green, pink and orange - match the four basic colours used by Stabilo for their famous Boss highlighter pens. Each pencil is armed with an eraser tip in the same colour as the paint on the pencil, attached by an aluminium ferrule.

In the hand, the Swano handles like any other hexagonal pencil. The wood is good quality and sharpens well, and the eraser does its job adequately enough. The edges are slightly rounded, so it does not dig into fingers. The painting is nicely done and markings are understated; no foil blocking here, just the name, barcode and some serial numbering, but there is no country of origin information printed. I guess these pencils are made in Stabilo's factory in the Czech Republic, but if anyone knows better, please let me know in the comments.

I used one of these pencils for a day or so to write notes at work. The lead is a dark and soft HB. On paper it does not feel scratchy, nor very smooth, but gritty; I can liken the feel of it to writing on sandpaper. It's not unpleasant, but it does not glide on the paper, if that is what you want. This utilitarian pencil is clearly designed for school in mind, and a four-pack should last a whole school year.

In short, the Swano 4907 is a decent-quality pencil that is fun to use but which you would not lose sleep over if it was stolen from your desk in class.