I have carved: Pink (the old good stuff and the range of "new"), Orange PZKut, White (MZ, NZ, OZ, PZ and mystery), Eco Karve (brown); Moo Carve, old gray stuff (crumbly), new Gray-Z and Tan-Z, as well as refrigerator magnets (thin), Barbie skin, chocolate candy bar (loved eating these carving scrap nerdles!), Linoleum, balsa wood, staedtler white erasers, Japanese SEED, SLQ, a potato, zucchini, carrot, brayer, and a number 2 pencil eraser (small). I am sure I am missing some too LOL! I carved the most stamps using old Pink so by volume it would be my favorite. Next most used carving medium is SLQ, then probably PZKut. My favorite currently is SLQ because I have good practice with it, but Tan-Z is slowly growing in enjoyment and practice. I like mediums that are stiff enough to hold great detail but not so stiff they create cramps while carving. Being a gouge only carver, and one who holds the medium in my hand while carving, too firm materials cause fatigue faster, even if they can hold details well (OZ absolutely comes to mind for this).

That big list reminds me that I have carved pink erasers. In fact, my very first two stamps were on erasers. The biggest problem is that they are meant to disintegrate with use.

Yeah, the pencil erasers harden over time too. I forgot to add to my list the giant "Big Mistake" erasers, as well as the "themed" Halloween or other eraser types where the image to carve is already part of and the shape of the eraser itself (i.e. a pumpkin, bat, tooth, toothbrush, zombie, etc). Those are fun to carve :)

I've carved on many materials but my favorites are #1 the thick Japanese. I love the denseness, firm but soft to carve on; #2 right now I have some good pink stuff that I am rather enjoying carving; and #3 SLQ, although I haven't carved on this for awhile. I have a couple pads of it now waiting to try out again. I've tried some Chinese material and the clear gel-like material was was good but hard to see and very expensive.

I tried the butter-kut from Stampeaz and originally liked it, but it has a texture that I didn't care for. My real no-nos are the cheap blue stuff, and from Dick Blick there was some tan material and some really think dark gray that were unusable.

I loved the old PZ Kut, and currently use OZ Kut. I haven't had a chance to try the new stuff yet. I find Pink is too soft for me.

BB

I have carved: many iterations of Pink, starting with the old good stuff and moving through the range of "new", Orange PZKut, White (MZ, NZ, OZ, PZ and mystery), Eco Karve (brown), new Gray-Z and Tan-Z( the thin test materials and I'm now trying the thicker material), Linoleum, and Japanese SEED. I have a sample of SLQ, but haven't used it.

Hands down, Orange was my favorite. I am primarily a knife carver, though I switch back and forth between knife and gouge easily. Orange was a joy to carve with an X-acto knife... beautiful thin lines, easy to cut, easy to go back and make lines thinner, inked up nicely. Old Pink and white PZKut would be my next favorites.

As a blade carver, I am strictly use Pink Stuff. The only other material that I have liked is PZ Orange; I really miss that.

I am able to carve pretty significant images using the pink. I realize that it can be relatively soft but I'm able to do what I need. Magnification and light allow me to get really fine details.

As a blade carver, I find that the harder materials more difficult to work with as they don't tear the way I need it to.

Dick Blick has a new material to replace the old 'grey stuff' (which was very rubbery). This material is two layered, with a grey half about 1/8 thick and a white half about 1/16 inch thick. Available in numerous sizes. Cost point is similar to pink, and more expensive than the old rubbery grey. Texture is similar to pink stuff, but copies do not transfer using the iron/heat method.

https://www.dickblick.com/products/blick-readycut/

Will let you know if I like it better than my default pink.

LB

Barbie skin...that's a little creepy but I get it! Interesting...

I carve different materials for different things. Pink if I want something pretty, fairly good detail and a quick carve. OZ if I want SUPER detail and don't mind applying extra time carving and pressure. Tan Z if I want something that prints FANTASTICALLY with my press and relief inks. This stuff if I want to use my press and carve quickly. It's sort of a cross between lino and pink, but it doesn't like stamping inks. It carves like a dream.

This stuff if I want to use my press and carve quickly. It's sort of a cross between lino and pink, but it doesn't like stamping inks. It carves like a dream.

So, that stuff is used where linoleum would be used?

I think so, but it is MUCH more pleasant than lino.

This looks a lot like the unmounted Richeson easy to cut lino that I got from Utrecht. The picture on Utrecht's site is lighter than the lino is in person.

I found it easy to carve, but tough to pull prints by hand. Lots of cleanup of the chatter before printing. What press do you have?

I picked up a small slab of that material from Dick Blick. Absolutely do not do a wash of acetone on it! The acetone essentially melts the material. I'm not sure how to use it at this point.

I have pretty much used all the things (this month! Haha). I bought some different versions of the layered Japanese things, one was too soft. I had issued getting transfers on it, too.

My faves are the orange and white PZ, OZ and then Tan-Z. Tan-Z is firm enough to get detail but has a consistency I'm not sure I love right now. It is easy to carve, though. The crazy-grey is okay, but I'm glad she got some more improvements. Pink is WAY to soft for me to carve any amount of detail.

I carved my first stamp with the Tan-Z today and I'm a fan! It holds detail like OZ, but it's not as tough. It's also more forgiving of less than perfectly sharp tools.

I am completely crazy about it. It's definitely the firmest material I've ever carved, but it's not fatiguing and I feel like greater detail is possible now for me. Takes different inks very well, don't think I could be happier with it. Thanks again, Webfoot!

Geeze, you're making me want to try some! I've already spent too much money recently.