Speedball Block Printing Baren - Comfortable Wooden Handle, Made in the USA - 4 Inches (4139)

I use this baren for all my gel plate prints and works just fine. It has a great ergonomic design with a sturdy wooden handle. Slides easily over the print paper, assuring a tight grip of paint between the gel tablet and the printing paper. You can do the same with a bottle or some other object. It's not a must that you should have this barten but it provides great facility and control when smoothing the paper. If you print daily, I'm sure you'll appreciate the ergonomic comfort it provides. It is a bit on the pricey side. It's not cheap. But it is well constructed and should last longer than its cheaper and mostly plastic alternatives.

It’s a great tool to have for Linocut printing. I have been using it at my art class and it’s easy to use for kids. I think it’s a must in that medium. Reasonably priced. Good quality.

I've recently started making lino prints and I have been struggling to get even results in large inked areas using a spoon to rub the paper against the block. After some reading I ordered this Speedball baren in hopes of getting crisper prints with more even ink coverage. The build quality here is pretty adequate. The wood handle was comfortable to hold and press with my adult sized hand. The pressing surface is covered with some kind of mesh but it glides very smoothly over the paper as it presses down. The results are promising, after a little practice, I'm able to get much more even ink coverage on the paper so far and I find it a better overall experience than I had with the spoon. Until I can get a actual press, this seems like it's going to get a lot of use.

I'm pretty happy with this and it holds together well, even if not all of the parts feel like they fit together perfectly. It can withstand a ton of pressure without feeling like it's going to break - but because of the slightly misfit parts, it has a few snags around the metal edge that poke me sometimes, and the handle feels just a little crooked. Either way, it functions fine as an entry-level tool - but it's not a precision piece.

No complainants

Very pleased- buy quality, expect quality and here, you get quality.

Just discovered this gem of a tool. I've been rubber stamping off and on since the early 90's and recently took up stamping on blank ceramic coasters. It was difficult to exert enough pressure to get a clean and even image. Enter the Speedball Block Printing Baden and viola, clean, crisp images are a breeze. So happy to have found this.

I use this baren for smoothing and pressing paper down during monoprinting using a Gelli Plate. The surface texture is very smooth and doesn't catch at all and the handle is comfortable. It's a good value for the price.

Buen producto, cumple su función cuando se sabe usar correctamente. Aún así, siempre vale la pena tener una cuchara de madera a mano si se necesita algún retoque. El baren funciona muy bien pero es importante recordar que está pensado para papeles de poco gramaje, a mayor gramaje más difícil será estampar con él.

Does what it is supposed to. Very good quality product.

Ottimo baren

Indispensable. Pratique. Efficace.

Cumple su función a la perfección. Excelente material!