SGHUO 8 Pcs 4" x 6" Green Rubber Carving Blocks for Stamp Soft Rubber Crafts, Soft and Easy to Carve, White Outer Layer, Green Inner Layer

I bought this lino on a whim; I usually use the pink Speedball lino but this was cheap and I i was curious. I’m really really impressed with this lino and it’s become my go-to lately. It carves very easily and lets you get just as detailed as the SB Speedy Carve. It’s very good for beginners and excellent for those interested in making “stamps” as opposed to traditional block prints. What’s impressed me is how good it is at holding ink: when I’m testing a cut I’ll use a cheap watercolor marker (think generic Tombows) and this lino allows for wonderful prints. All pics I’ve included are using watercolor markers. It also cleans up easily with dish soap and can be mounted to wooden blocks using gorilla glue just fine. I’m in love! A big caveat, though: this is definitely more comparable to SB Speedy Carve, not to SB’s golden or Richeson battleship. It’s not as firm as the golden or battleship and, as a result, cannot be easily used for incredibly detailed work.

Terrible terrible linoleum for printmaking 1 - It’s very soft which while in some ways makes it easier to carve but when trying to do smaller more detailed work the material flexes and bends with your blade because there isn't enough resistance to allow a fine cut. If you like detailed work this block is not for you. 2 - This softness also affects the printing process itself, as the material will bend/smoosh as you press the paper to it causing smearing. 3 - Its way too smooth. I even tried to add some texture to it by sanding it a bit but it made little difference. It is impossible to do a stencil transfer with matte medium as the adhesive just slides off with the laser print ink. Its also annoying when you are printing because it makes is difficult to roll a uniform ink texture and sometimes ends up splotchy with pooling in places despite your best efforts 🫩 Two stars cuz I guess the two toned is nice and all but even that fails because the upper white layer is so thick you have to cut relatively deep to see the green. Mostly two stars so this review doesn't get buried. Usually don’t write reviews here but this material was so frustrating I need to save other printmakers the grief. Took a chance cuz broke artist vibes but ultimately a waste of money and time.

I’ve been using this material for a long time - I make and sell hand carved stamps and it’s normally great. This time it seems different, kind of crumbly and too soft. When I transfer pencil drawings onto it, the graphite sort of disappears if it’s even lightly rubbed, as though this was a soft eraser. This caused my carvings to look terrible because it won’t hold a fine line. It looks like the same material I’ve used and loved for a long time but the quality took a nose dive. I don’t know if it’s just a bad batch or if they’re using lower quality material, I’m afraid to order any more of this and that’s really disappointing. In the picture, the top image is the original that I carved years ago into speedball pink stuff, the bottom image is how it came out using the white/blue material I received. Everything looks choppy and messy, she lost an eyelid because the material crumbled. I can’t send this to a customer. Super frustrating.

I think someone is hacking this listing. Why would you list something as poor quality, even if it was? I trusted the reviews and decided to take a chance. This stuff is wonderful. It carves and prints beautifully. I don't carve deep enough for most prints to really take advantage of the green interior (maybe a hint of green shows) so I paint a thin layer of cheap acrylic paint on the surface, otherwise it's impossible to tell on the white surface where I've carved and where i haven't, but that's a good practice anyway and it washes right off once my block is carved. This stuff carves like butter, doesn't crumble, and prints beautifully. I've printed using Akua, regular Speedball block printing ink, and Golden Open Acrylics and all three printed beautifully with these blocks. I wish they came in larger sizes, I'd have no need to ever buy the expensive stuff again. I received my order 2 days ago and I'm already reordering. DEAR MANUFACTURER: Please make this product available in larger sizes for large printmaking!

good rubber for stamp reliefs, good texture, good density, good pliability - not stretchy