Eraser Carving 101

To get started with Eraser Carving you will need the following tools and materials:

Erasers: PZ Kut, Staedtler Mars, etc.
Carving tools: Lino blades and handle
Carving knives: X-acto, Chartpak, or Testors Hobby Carving knife
Red felt ink pad
Hand drawn pencil design on tracing paper, or
Xeroxed design & Acetone Nail polish remover
Old magazine or cutting matt

Step 1- Prepare the eraser.

Either pencil draw your design onto tracing paper or Xerox-copy a design to desired size.

With tracing paper:

Turn pencil drawing face down onto eraser and rub image off onto eraser.
Lift paper off checking that you transferred it all.

With Xerox copy

Put face down onto eraser material and with a dab of acetone nail polish remover on a cotton ball, gently but firmly rub or press the back of the design. It will transfer onto the eraser.
Carefully lift off design, making sure it is all transferred.

Or
You can also use a dry, hot iron to the back of the paper, holding it firmly, face down, onto the carving material.
Press the iron down onto the paper, the heat will make it transfer.
Carefully lift up a corner to see that it is transferring.

Step 2 - Carve the eraser!

Place eraser to be carved onto a matt or magazine to protect your table and hold the carved bits. Using your preferred tools, begin carving away the WHITE area only. The black is what you leave.

Begin carving out the small, fine areas first, using the Lino #1 blade.

Eraser Carving Tips:

Carve away from the design, holding the knife at an angle away from black image. The Lino tools have this angle feature in the blade. This way you do not undercut the printing area.
Example: ___/ \___/ \____
Always carve away from yourself.
Move and rotate the eraser as you carve.
You can not replace what you cut, so go slow and carefully.
Watch your hands, do NOT cut towards you or your hands. Blades can slip....ouch!
Use the #4 and #5 blades for carving out the larger areas.
As you carve, use the red felt ink pad to stamp your image out, showing you how you are progressing. It will show red on the eraser to identify where you still need to carve.
When the carving is done, use a knife to carefully trim away the excess around the design. Leave about 1/4 inch border. Temporarily mount the carving onto a clear acrylic block using double-sided tape.
To use the Carving knife make an angled (away from the design) cut in one direction, then turn the piece around, and go back and cut a little further out in the other direction. The piece should almost pop out .
You can make tiny zig-zag cuts by barely moving your hand to right and left. These TINY cut areas will show up when printing.
It's much better to cut small and increase cut later if desired.
These knives are very sharp. DO NOT let young children use them!