"Hey, can you move over just a little bit?" --Adjusting a kento.

This is the first time I've done this so I post these photos and my comments as an invitation to any who have done this before, often or just better to comment below on improvements.

As I mentioned in my last post I was pretty precise in cutting my original kentos.
I either use a Kento-nomi ( a flat chisel used just for this purpose) or the hangi-toh being carefult to split the black line that is my guide.
But sometimes, despite being careful, or if the wood shifts or expands more on one block than another one has to adjust the kento to allow for this shift.

This is the problem.

I'll let the following photos explain things but here is a summary.
A flat chisel is used to cut a groove next to the existing kento.
Using a slender, wedge of hardwood, tap it in with a hammer. Cut it flush with the kento and get back to printing.
As this was the first time I try this. I cut a sample kento on the edge of the block to try it out.

Above is the drawn "test kento" and the registration guides I cut from them.
Below are some cherry wedges I split off from a small block with a wood chisel and then sanded into a wedge shape with a sanding block and some 220grit paper.
(Ignore the Aisuki chisel which is just there for scale).

These were tapped in with a hammer.

Next was to trim it flush without having it pop out.

Here are the finished corner and edge kentos with the trimmed plugs.

Testing the kentos:

These are a bit ragged as my cherry blocks are a little thin (1cm thick) and the groove I cut next to the existing kento with a chisel seemed a bit too shallow. Tapping in the wedges was harder than I thought and some of them split or broke and had to be resanded and replaced.
Cutting them off also was harder than it should have been. Several popped out from the leverage of cutting them.
But if imperfect these do what they are supposed to.
As you can see from the last photos, they hold the paper edge a good 1-2mm off the old edge and should fix the problem.

Short Cuts and Long Cuts

Sometimes trying to cut corners just makes the path a whole lot longer.

I ordered paper for my last print directly from Japan and when I saw that they also offered blocks of small, postcard paper in 4" X 6", 50-sheet blocks I thought it was a great idea.
I'm working on a postcard sized print for the Year of the Rabbit.
So I ordered 2 packs or 100 postcards. "Wow, these are already cut to size",
"think of all the time I'll save.....".

Then, I needed blocks. I ordered blocks too at 4" x 6" size. Since the paper is already pretty small, I'll print right to the edges so I don't waste any paper.
"think of the money I'll save on smaller blocks and I won't waste any wood or paper scraps....."
Usually I carve my registration system into each block using the traditional kento system of corner and edge stops that are part of each woodblock.

This is a traditional kento system of registration:Here is the corner stop or "kagi kento"

The corner kento is carved in a lower corner of the block and the corner of the damp paper would normally seat into this to line up each time it was printed. Another straight edge is carved to catch the lower edge of the paper; this is instead the line stop or lower edge stop called the hikitsuke kento.

Together, the pair of these carved niches allow very precise registration of multiple colors and multiple impressions. You can place the paper down EXACTLY where you want it using this system.

But I had decided not to use this system....but to use a jig, a floating L-shaped accessory that would carry the corner kento and registration marks and would be the same for each block. This way I wouldn't have to carve the kentos for each block but could use just ONE for all of them.....

SO, I had to make a little jig, that would hold the blocks still and allow me to lay the paper down evenly. But the kind of jig that allows me to place a piece of damp paper directly down on a block of the same size just isn't accurate enough for the print I'm planning so, I had to abandon the first jig, build another, I go out and cut paper 5" X 7" so I'll have enough border to work with.

But, as my blocks came from two different sources and are different heights, the slight difference in height meant the thinner block was harder to control in the jig and ended up printing off-register from the rest which I figured out with the first full-color proofs when my yellow color printed way off. I've spent the last two days trying to fix it.

Today I finally broke down and made a SECOND jig for the yellow color, wrong-sized, off-register block.

I printed a black copy from my key block using Jig 1 on dry paper.
Then, using a small blade, I cut out the small parts that will print off my yellow block. Then using the new jig, I placed the yellow block in it, and placing the printed copy on top and peeking through the holes, I could line up the cut out with the corresponding raised portions of the carved block and the edges of the paper will now demarcate where to place my new registration marks for the yellow block.
I used blue painter's tape instead of cutting into the foam board I used so I can move them if necessary after proofing.

Tomorrow I hope to reprint a color proof to see if they now all line up.
But already I know I'd have saved a ton of labor and been done already if I'd just taken the "long way",
planning on using paper a bit bigger, carving blocks on boards a bit bigger too, and trimming down to size afterwards just accepting that there will be some "waste" paper and wood but a huge savings in labor, time, energy and precision.