I wanted to explore some basic tools for making prints with trash. You don’t need a lot and many can be made with some simple materials. I’ll do another post about DIY tools. I’m making a comprehensive list here, BUT at the most basic kit you’ll need some sort of needle tool, a craft knife of some sort, ink, a way to apply ink, and a way to wipe away ink, as well as a way to print your plates. I’ll get into a whole post about presses and alternatives.

The most basic of tools is a needle stuck into a piece of wood. A sharp sewing needle stuck into a piece of medium sized dowel works great. (Yes this is DIY but also worth mentioning in the most basic of basic tools.) As for what size needle? I always been a fan of #20 sharp tapestry needles. These are nice and sharp and have a nice size. They don’t bend easily and work well for this purpose and as a basic awl.

The next most basic tool is a score and fold tool from Dollar Tree. They have another tool called a picker, more generally it’s called a vinyl weeder. It’s used to pick the junk out of your vinyl cuts. Either of these tools sport a sharp steel point that works for slicing a line into tetrapak and other trash.

The next step up is a tungsten carbide machinist’s scribe. These almost always arrive in a multipack with extra tips. In a machinist’s shop the tips dull and break but on paper it’ll take a long time for that tungsten carbide to dull. These feel like a pencil and are very sharp. These are now my go to for trash printmaking. They feel good and work really well.

The most traditional is the old twisted steel scribe. These are about the same price as the machinist’s scribe, but IMO less comfortable and more dangerous. I have drilled holes into corks to make the twisted steel a bit more comfortable. You usually get two tip sizes but I can never tell the difference between the two.

Another typical tool set you’ll see with tetrapak and trash printmaking are clay tools reimagined to make marks. The clay awl (and any other awl really) works great. But I find quite narrow and needing a cork handle added. The score tool is a great way of scratching in multiple lines into a soft material. Of course the score tools can be reshaped and even sharpened to get the line you want. The score tools if used for a longer period of time will need a cork handle added.

Another tool is basic sandpaper. 60 or 80 grit works great. The paper is layered over the image and then rubbed into the surface to create small pinpricks or you can lightly sand the surface to create small scratch marks in the surface. This works best with tetrapak and plastic layered materials and works less well with plain card materials. It’s best to use a light hand with the sandpaper. For $1.50 at DollarTree you can get all the sandpaper you’ll ever need for trash printmaking.

Another must have for trash printmaking is the handy Exacto or craft knife. This is a spot where I won’t recommend the DollarTree craft knife. They aren’t very good and break in use. A real Exacto is about $6 while you can get a “hobby knife” set for double that and get a bunch of handles and blades from Harbor Freight. The reason to get a real one or one from Harbor Freight is that the internals are metal and they’ll last.

Next knife for trash printmaking is what I call a click knife. Many call this a craft or utility knife or box cutter. This is a knife with a long blade that slides into the handle and the blades break off to get a new tip. The utility knife from DollarTree is surprisingly nice and you get a 3 pack. That said, the Olfa handles I own have never broken, feel comfortable and just work. Swapping out the blades is a piece of cake and the blades do not slip. You can often find the Olfa handles at Lowes and I’ve seen them at Michael’s. Replacement blades are cheap and easy to find.

Blades for these knives are available in 30 and 60 degree angles. The angle you’ll find the most often is the 60 degree, this has a sturdy point that is useful. The 30 degree point is more like an Exacto #11 pointed blade and more useful for detail work.

A self healing cutting mat is useful for cutting out shapes and making plates. Mini mats are available at DollarTree and work quite well. Larger and better mats are available at any other craft store.

A really useful tool is a piece of no slip cabinet liner. This can be useful if you have issues with your piece sliding around and slipping. I don’t always use this with trash printmaking as the squishiness can make it harder to carve pieces, but I do use it when inking. This is a spot where DollarTree saves some money. The shelf liner doesn’t need to be fancy and it does save skinny parts of plates from bending due to slipping. As it gets too inky it’ll stop working. It can be washed, but not dried in the dryer. I usually hand wash with dish soap and water and hang to dry.

Since I’ve started to think about inking the plates, paper is a totally necessary part of the inking process. I use a lot of old flyers, phone books, packaging paper, magazines, and catalogs. Anything with a matte absorbent surface is good for this. I have a stack of catalogues and magazines that I use and reuse. The ink dries out and I reuse that surface for as long as I can. I do end up putting a lot of the inky paper into recycling.

Another tool that you can make or DIY is scrim or tarlatan. This is not totally necessary IMO. Scrim is basically cheesecloth that has been starched or sized and dried flat. You can do this yourself by mixing up a batch of starch based glue and soaking cheese cloth, wringing it out, and drying it flat.

For inking, a small piece of cardboard can work to scrape ink into the lines. As can an old brush. If you have access to silicone caulking squeegees, these are great. My favorite tool are cheap soft toothbrushes from DollarTree. They do a great job scrubbing ink down into the lines and not applying too much ink.

While I’ve put together this comprehensive list, you really can just use what you have on hand. If you have something that can incise a line into the soft surface of your trash, you can print with tetrapak and other trash. An Exacto knife can do almost everything you need just by turning the blade up and down. Heck if you have a click knife, you have what you need.