Stardust from outer space!
Carborundum is a form of stardust originating outside the solar system.
carborundum in its ‘natural’ form
It was discovered in a meteorite that landed in Arizona.
Because of its interstellar origins it is very rare and only minute amounts of natural carborundum exist here on earth.
Its nice to remind yourself of this exciting and romantic history, which is little known now it is manufactured here on an industrial scale.
Carborundum made on earth
carbon and sand being transformed into carborundum
Luckily you don’t have to wait for a meteroite: this useful material is made by combining sand and carbon at very high temperatures.
Known as “silicon carbide”, it is generally used as an abrasive (eg wet and dry sanding papers) or for sharp cutting edges on tools like saws. You can also come across it as grip tape on skateboards and other slippery surfaces.Gritty printmaking
The carborundum printing technique was invented in the 1930s. This basically involves glueing or painting carborundum powder onto a printing plate and inking it up with the intaglio process. The gritty surface holds ink and produces prints with strong colours and tones. Prints made in this way can have a very ‘painterly’ quality.Several forms of carborundum are useful for printmaking: Powder, Paint and Paper.
Carborundum powder
a pile of carborundum powder
You can use silicon carbide (“carborundum powder”) or aluminium oxide (“emery powder”)
It comes in different grades generally fine medium and coarse. If you are not sure which to get I’d suggest fine to start with. The powder is non toxic but fine dust can irritate eyes and lungs, so take precautions to avoid it flying around everywhere. You can buy it quite cheaply from hawthorn printmaker, or other printmakers suppliers. Carborundum paint For a home made version mix carborundum powder with pva, wood glue or acrylic paint. Wherever you paint it on your plate you will get darker tones. You can also buy ready made paint This is wonderful stuff! Very easy to use, needs no sealing, sticks to any plate surface. It is an acrylic paint which is loaded with carborundum powder. I stumbled on it by chance while looking for other paint and am surprised to find that other printmakers don’t seem to have discovered it – yet! When it is dry (doesn’t take long) it will not re-wet and stick to the printing paper in the press so it doesn’t need any shellac to seal it.Carborundum paper
A range of carborundum papers
Also called “wet and dry paper”, it is used to get a smooth finish on surfaces like car body panels before painting.
When you stick it onto a printing plate it provides a flat even texture and is good to use as a base layer.
Grit size Wet and dry comes in different grades which are described by a number that refers to the grit size. This represents the number of holes per linear inch in a sieve screen – they range from 40 (very coarse) to over 400 (very fine).
this print has wet and dry paper as a background
40 – 60 = coarse
80 – 100 = medium coarse 120 – 150 = medium 180 – 220 = fine 240 or more = very fine The grit size and grade are stamped on the back of each sheet. Sheets are normally 280 x 230 mm I find a good source of wet and dry paper is Poundland where you can buy packs of different grades for £1. If you would like more info on the technical aspects of carborundum production this is a good website; http://www.tygre.eu/cms/project/production
What exactly do you mean here. this print has wet and dry paper as a background
Do you mean that the plate was printed on wet and dry paper? Or that the plate was wet and dry paper.?
mvidibor@yahoo.com
The printing plate has ‘wet-and-dry’ sandpaper glued to it. ‘Wet-and-dry’ paper is ready coated with an even layer of carborundum so it makes it easy to add it to a printing plate. You will find it in diy stores as it is generally used for sanding paint work before re painting it.
Sorry if it wasn’t clear – hope that helps
Great story about how carborundum was discovered here on Earth and used by painters. Who wudda thunk it?! And I’m not surprised it’s actually stardust because I discovered its spiritual nature also. About 50+ years ago I was a college drop out trying to become an adult in Sout’ Loosiana. I had landed a job as an insurance adjuster a couple of months after dropping out but I couldn ‘t even spell adjuster. My supervisor and mentor later told me I got the job because I told him I wasn’t interested in a job, what I wanted was a career. So there I was in this body shop listening to some customer rant about the lousy paint job on his car. When he ran out of air the body shop manager, who probably landed in Nu Awlins with General Jackson, said, “Well, you give that bright shiny paint job on your front end six months in this goop we call air here in Loosiana and I guarantee you the front end of your ride will look just like the rear end. Or give me another $300 and I’ll make the rear end look like the front end…..all bright and shiny…..for about six months. The ex-ranter left shortly thereafter fat, dumb, and happy in his soon to be front end looking like the rear end car. That’s when I asked ol’ Crusty about the sign on the wall behind his desk that said, “NON CARBORONDUM BASTARDI.” “That”, he said, “keeps me grounded, reminds me that I live in the real world, not some fairy tale rose garden.” “How so,” says I. “What does that sign mean?” Crusty says, “It says, ‘Don’t let the bastards grind you down.” I grew up a little bit that day about life and dropping out probably because we’re all made out of stardust. Hell, I didn’t even like Mechanical Engineering.
Thanks for your carborundum musings Jon – why do things always sound better in Latin!