For the convenience of beginners, the most important tools and materials in learning are introduced as follows:
(1) working tools
1, printing knife
Seal cutter is the main tool. Its thickness, length, weight, knife angle, sharpness and flatness will directly affect the carving effect. Choosing a printing knife is just like choosing a writing brush, which will affect the expressive force of writing. Of course, there is also a process of mastering it, so you should consider your hobbies and habits when using it from a distance.
(1) blade, generally carved with a flat knife. Both sides are open, and the two corners of the knife edge need to form a 90-degree angle. If the knife edge is 90 degrees, it is easy to slide the knife when carving, and it is not easy to carve accurately and straight.
(2) The sharpness of the blade is directly proportional to the height of the inclined plane with two openings. The high slope is sharp and the low slope is dull. From the side of the knife angle, the rake angle of the blade should not be too sharp or too blunt, and generally it is appropriate to be 45 degrees to 15 degrees. The angle is too sharp, and the carved lines are easy to be smooth and lack implicit tenacity; If the angle is large, it will be blunt, and the lines carved out will be brittle and often lack a refreshing feeling.
(3) The fineness, weight and thickness of trees are generally determined according to their own habits and preferences. Generally, trees are heavier than their ancestors, and thinner trees are lighter. Heavy, falling force, help; But overweight and inflexible; Thin and light, easy to carry and flexible, but if it is too thin, it is not easy to carry and stress. Generally, two light and heavy ones can be prepared. For heavy hands, it can be about one centimeter wide and two or three millimeters thick. For the smaller one, it can be 6 to 7 mm wide and 1 to 2 mm thick.
(4) The length of a knife is about15cm, which is slightly higher than that of a tiger's mouth. In the process of carving and transportation, the contact time is too long and the swing is large, which affects the stability and accuracy of knife transportation. It's too short to carry and focus easily. When you are a beginner, you can usually go to a painting and calligraphy club to choose finished products. If you can do it yourself, you can do it according to your own preferences. The pavilion can be wrapped with thin rope (plastic rope, rattan skin or city strips, etc.). ), which is conducive to grasping the strength when carving, and at the same time, it can avoid hurting fingers or Yin Shi when the handle slides during carving.
2. Pen, ink and inkstone
Used for copying, drawing, extension, etc.
(1) Generally, two pens should be prepared, one is new and the other is old, which are used for copying, manuscript drafting, anti-calligraphy and inscription. A wool varies in size, the big one is used to write Yin Gao, and the small one is used to dip in water to extend the boundary.
(2) One ingot of ink, one ingot of oil and one ingot of smoke ink, or a bottle of good calligraphy and painting ink (such as China ink stick and Cao Sugong ink). ). When using it, it should be ground to avoid exudation. After grinding with vermilion ink, smear it on dark Yin Shi, and then ink it on the book, which is clearly visible and easy to carve. Sometimes, although the manuscript is wrong, it can be revised. Generally, this method is used less.
(3) Two small inkstones can be prepared. If you don't need to grind cinnabar, an inkstone will do. Ordinary bluestone inkstones can be used as inkstones. But it should be smooth, moist and easy to ink. A good inkstone is certainly better. In general, it is necessary to keep the inkstone clean, especially when ink is used for inking. Be sure to wash the inkstone in advance, and then grind it, or the ink will be black. With Su Mo's rubbings, it is easy to ooze ink after mounting.
3. Sandpaper (emery cloth is better)
To polish Yin Shi, you can usually prepare a thick piece, and a thin piece of water sandpaper can be prepared. If there is no sandpaper, you can also use flat fine cement board or masonry.
4. Yin Chuang
Yin Chuang is used to fix seals, so as to save time and effort when carving, especially when carving hard materials or small printed matter. Generally, it is a soft printing material, such as Qingtian and Shoushan stone. Or a larger seal is supported by the left hand, or Yin Chuang can be omitted. There are two kinds of wood and metal in Yin Chuang. Generally, wood is the best, which is both applicable and easy to buy. Even if you can't buy it in the market, you can copy it yourself.
5. Printing
Printing is used to brush the printed surface. One is to brush off the stone chips when carving, and the other is to brush the printing surface before ringing the bell to avoid the dirt such as stone chips from bringing people inkpad. Generally, a small brush or toothbrush can be used instead.
6. Brown broom
Commonly known as "brown tiger", it is used to expand border payment. Calligraphy and painting clubs in big cities sell them. But generally sold in the market, the thickness of brown silk is not picky, and it is easy to damage the paper when used. Choose a finer one when you buy it. When I first used it, it was too hard. It can be rubbed on a hot iron plate, or it can be rubbed on a gravel or cement floor to make it soft, and the brown silk becomes thinner and sharper, and then rubbed with a little vegetable oil to make it smooth. If it is not easy to sell in the market, you can also bring your own brown silk. Choose a round, straight and thin one that can be tied into a brown broom with a diameter of about 2-4 cm and a length of about 5-8 cm, and leave one cm at both ends, or you can use it.
7. Tobao
Used for boundary extension. The method of wrapping is: firstly, take hardcover paper, cut it into round blocks about the size of coins, wrap it with new cotton with a slightly thicker bottom, then wrap it with a layer of plastic paper and serge cloth, and finally wrap it with a layer of soft fine satin (or polyester instead) to make it flat and spherical, and tie the neck tightly with thread. Extended packaging requires a tight dressing and a smooth surface.
8. Yin Gui
Ingui is used to frame the position of the seal when printing the clock to make it impartial. Or for copying, that is, the first ringing printing is not clear and heavy enough, and the ringing can be repeated two or three times to make the printed text thicker and brighter. Silver laurel made of wood or whole genus can be used. As long as the measuring angle is 90 degrees, each side is about 3 to 4 cm long and about 5 to 10 mm thick. When printing the clock, you should specify the position first, and the seal should be close to the bell cover in Yingui. When copying, Yin Gui held it up and held it still. Dip it in the inkpad and ring the bell in the original silver cabinet. Generally, the bell jar is skilled, and it is not expensive.
9. rib printing
Used for mixing inkpad. If the inkpad is not used for a long time, the oil will sink and ooze, separating the oil from the mud. Therefore, it is easy to freeze after a period of use, or when it is not cold, so it should be stirred frequently to make it even and moist, as new as old. Before mixing in winter, you can change it in the sun for about half an hour, and then mix it. Generally, calligraphy and painting clubs and inkpad shops sell printed tendons. If you can't buy it, you can make it yourself. The material can be bone or bamboo. It is best not to dye it easily.
10, small glass mirror
Used to check the positive and negative and accurate time of printed words in Yin Shi. Small glass mirrors that are common in the market will do.
1 1, others
Such as Yin He (or printing sleeve) to protect the seal, hard rubber pad for bell printing; Cut Yin Shi's hacksaw, wipe the seal with a soft cloth (or a small towel), etc. You can prepare according to the situation, but you don't have to prepare right away. Some things can be used or not, and other things can be used instead.
(2) Materials
Seal cutting materials include Yin Shi, inkpad and paper.
Yin Shi 1
Seal materials include copper, stone, bronze, jade, wood, teeth, bone, brick and plexiglass products. But now, as wood in seal cutting, stone is the main material. Lithographic materials have been used by Indians since the Ming and Qing Dynasties because they are soft, brittle, greasy, moderately hard, easy to cut and can show the unique charm of stones. At the same time, it also promoted the development of seal cutting. There are many producing areas and different textures in Yin Shi, among which Qingtian and Shoushan Stone are the best, with large output, cheap and good quality, which can be bought everywhere. Yin Shi is briefly introduced as follows:
(1) Qingtian stone is produced in qingtian county, Zhejiang Province, with fine texture, moist, not hard and not dry. Easy to carve. Colors are yellow, white, cyan, green, black, gray and so on. Among them, frozen is more precious. That is, the stone is translucent, such as light freezing, fish brain freezing, door sealing and so on. Qingtian stone is not as beautiful as frozen stone, but it is also a good product in printing materials. It is an ideal material for learning seal cutting.
(2) Shoushan Stone is produced in Shoushan Mountain, a suburb of Fuzhou, Fujian. Stone hinge Qingtian stone is slightly greasy, and the knife is not as smooth as Qingtian stone, but it is delicate and smooth, and it is also a good product in printing materials. Rich in colors, such as yellow, white, red, blue and cyan. One of the more precious is Tian Huang. Tian Bai, Niujiaodong, Guamanghong, etc. , is the treasure of the world.
(3) Changhua fossils are produced in Changhua County, Zhejiang Province. The colors are mostly storage, black, yellow and self-variegated, and the texture is warm and carved. But if it is slightly greasy and slippery, it is not as good as Qingtian Shishuang's tactics. Among them, bright red is like chicken blood, commonly known as chicken blood stone, which is the most precious. Generally, the background color is dry, and there are many sand nails and stone tendons, and the stone hard knife is unpleasant.
(4) Chifeng stone was discovered in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia in recent years, which is similar to Shoushan and Changshan fossils. It's still engraved. Some are as red as chicken blood, and some merchants pretend to be chicken blood stones.
(5) Other products produced in Zhejiang are: large turquoise produced in Ningbo. The color is gray-black, with occasional black spots, and the stone is greasy, similar to Shoushan stone. The baby on the roof is a flower stone. The shape and color are like Shoushan stone, which is relatively loose and fragile. It is Pingyang stone in Wenzhou. The shape and color are similar to Qingtian stone, but the texture is not as crisp as Xiaoshan Hongshi Qingtian stone. Generally speaking, the quality is rough and can be used for practice. In addition, as long as it is soft, brittle, hard and greasy, it can be used for training, such as Laishi in Yexian, Putian Stone in Fujian, Chu Shi in Hubei, clean coal stone in Shaanxi, Fangshan Stone in Hebei, and Yin Shi produced in various places.
2, inkpad
Ink is the medium to convey seal cutting, and its quality directly affects the effect of seal cutting's expression. The inkpad with good texture, printed by Bell, is delicious and calm in color, three-dimensional and spiritual. When the poor quality stamp pad bell is printed, it looks dark or shallow, and some oil stains are leached out, which makes the seal vague and even more ugly. There are many varieties of inkpad, and the red ones are generally divided into cinnabar, vermilion and wide drift.
(1) cinnabar inkpad is dark purple, and some people call it purple sand. It is a kind of cinnabar deposited at the bottom of mortar when making cinnabar. Inks made of cinnabar are bright red and purple, thick and calm, and the most beautiful.
(2) Zhu Piao inkpad is slightly reddish yellow and elegant. The upper layer of fine cinnabar is mixed with silk and oil in the bleaching process. Cinnabar or Zhu Zhu is also mixed with cinnabar or other raw materials, hence the names Babao, Kuihong and Jing. No matter what the name is, as long as it is thick, bright, delicate, bright and calm, it is the top grade. Generally, it costs one, two, three or forty yuan on the market. Generally, novices can buy one or two for three or five dollars. There are many cities that make inkpad, among which Shanghai, Changzhou, Hangzhou, Suwai and other places have better products to choose from, as long as the color is calm and not oily, you can apply it. Someone used to like autonomy! Ink, which is made from the fiber of Artemisia argyi leaves, sand-killing and refined vegetable oil (or castor oil), has a complicated method (for details, please refer to the book Introduction to Seal Cutting published before liberation), and now it is not proud.
(3) There are antique inkpad (dark brown) and black, blue and green inkpad as special venues, but they are rarely used. You can also be idle if you are interested. Ink should be put in a porcelain box. Don't put it in the box, because the inkpad will turn black when it touches metal objects, which will affect the quality. After the inkpad is used for a period of time; It needs to be mixed with printed ribs, and oil, sand and moxa are mixed together, otherwise it is easy to harden. Ink will be used for a long time, or some inks can be mixed properly (processed or sold in an inkpad shop) before being used. It is cold in winter, and inkpad is easy to freeze and harden. Before use, it should be dried in the sun for a period of time to soften it before use.
Step 3 print paper
Used for writing Yin Gao, widening borders and printing off.
(1) can be used to print ordinary white newspapers and rough paper.
(2) Copy paper is thin and translucent, which is used for printing and border extension.
(3) Raw rice paper can be used for edge extension and water absorption, or for bell printing and Yin Gao.
(4) Historical link paper is used for boundary expansion and bell printing. The paper is thin and even, and the best one is Liu Ji and Lian Mian in Jiangxi.
(5) Printing paper is generally sold by painting and calligraphy clubs and can be used for relocation. If you make it yourself, you can use edge history paper, followed by rib paper or thinner rice paper. It is mainly use for sealing and prolon retention of bell cover.
(6) Cardboard It is popular to paste "printing" with white cardboard recently, and the mouth is the same as the commonly used cardboard. Samples can be taken at any time for review or modification, or classified and saved. According to the custom, you can leave it.