I earlier went over the process of sanding and finishing blocks in “ONE BLOCK AT A TIME”.
I have since both built a press which I am also using as a forced-air print dryer (more details at a later date). In addition to making drying more efficient, I am looking at making the process of making cherry blocks more efficiently- both in material, time, and money. As I’ve mentioned on Facebook, I order 1/4″ thick, 6″ x 24″ black cherry thin stock from Green Valley Wood Products. Some cherry plywood blocks available online have only 1/8″ thick cherry veneer- too thin for my tastes…
In order to become more efficient, I have looked at material dimensions of the wood and paper first, then designed my prints accordingly.
As you probably know, the kento registration system is great, but there is wasted wood around the margins and it’s very difficult for me to clear the margins in order to create a clean area around the carving. You can see a keyblock separation and the finished block from one of my latest prints in production below.
Instead of using a printing jig, I have been laminating separate pieces of cherry for the printed area and where the kentos will be carved. It takes some precision, but as you can see on the keyblock, I allow for a large margin of error by cutting the cherry oversized by around 1/2″ in case things are off a bit.

![0P0A0471[1]](https://i0.wp.com/tanukiprints.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/0p0a047111.jpg?resize=307%2C640&ssl=1)
The Process
I start by cutting the thin stock cherry. You can see me using a “stop” on the radial arm saw. I also cut 1.5″ x 1.25″ little cherry blocks for the kentos– 2 for each block.











Once again, here are the directions for the later finishing steps and how I used to assemble them. I hope this saves you money- it has for me- these end up costing me (sans labor) around US $5 per single-sided block!