Our printmaking roller range…

Here at Ironbridge fine art’s we chose to stock our exceptional quality rollers created by us. We have a wide range of sizes and rubbers available in both our spindle and hand rollers.

With so many rollers being available you might be asking yourself which ink is best for me and my printing methods? In this blog we will explain all you need to know about the types of rollers we offer giving you the knowledge to know which roller will suit you and your printmaking processes.

Hand rollers

Our hand rollers are made from nitrile rubber so they are easy to clean and the results you get are fantastic. As printmakers ourselves we love designing, developing and making the tools that that we use every day. These printmaking rollers are a must have for any professional printmaking studio or workshop.

The built in stand on our hand rollers makes inking rollers easy, simply ink up, and then rest your roller on its stand while you print. When you wish to clean your roller simply sit it on its built in stand and spray your vegetable oil or white spirit onto the roller and wipe clean with a rag. Alternatively we also use Zest it’s printmakers cleaner for a non toxic method, it makes clean up much easier. 

All our hand rollers have a lovely chunky 6” handle, and they all have the diameter of 2” or 3″. We offer singles as well as packs. They all come in Hard (60 shore) Medium (38 shore) and Soft (25 Shore)  rubbers.

Spindle rollers

Our Spindle rollers are made from Nitrile rubber, they are excellent quality, easy clean and they are a dream for printmakers to use. We make our soft, medium and hard Spindle rollers in 3 different sizes.

You can also purchase a Roller Holder for each spindle roller that can sit on the work surface, or be put on the wall these are fantastic and allow for somewhere to rest your roller with ink on whilst printing.

The smallest roller  is 4” Diameter x 10” length = a circumference of 12.56” Making the maximum plate size (for double inking) 10” x 12.56”

The medium roller  is 5” Diameter x 14” length = a circumference of 15.70” Making the maximum plate size (for double inking) 14” x 15.70”

The largest roller is 6” Diameter x 21” length = a circumference of 18.84” Making the maximum plate size (for double inking) 20” x 18.84”

We can also make bespoke spindle rollers for printmaking and holders so if there is a particular size you would like, get in touch.

Rubbers

Soft Blue Nitrile Rubber- 25 Shore⁠
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2″ x 4″ Hand Printmakers Roller come in Soft, Medium, or Hard Spec

The Soft Rubber holds a lot of ink. When printing, your your edges of lines and areas that you have cut, scratched or etched out will appear softer than if you were using a harder shore roller.⁠
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Medium Red Nitrile Rubber- 38 Shore⁠
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6″ x 21″ Medium (Red) Spindle Roller For Relief Printing

The Medium Rubber will help you ink up quickly but not as fast as the softer roller. Edges of areas that you have cut, etched or scratched will appear sharper than if you were using the softer roller.⁠
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Hard Black Nitrile Rubber- 60 Shore⁠
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2″ x 8″ Hand Printmakers Roller. The Printmaker can choose from either Soft, Medium, or Hard Spec of Roller

Using the Hard Rubber to ink your plate will take slightly longer than a softer roller. The edges of areas that you have cut, etched or scratched will ink up precisely.⁠

Thank you for reading!

Happy Printmaking!

All the best,

Ellie & The Team!

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If you have read to the bottom of this blog you are entitled to a free gift, please email Jenny@IronbridgefineArts.co.uk with your preferred printing Relief or Intaglio to claim. Postage of £6.99 will still apply.