The problem with stocking up is that Webfoot keeps promising that she's about to come out with some new PZ! Heaven forbid she actually does and you've got a 10-year supply of pink stuff on hand!

Yeah, personally I am waiting for Webfoot's big "release" and then I'm going to stock up. (Although I don't know if I'll make it for the first run because I suspect that there will be lots of DEMAND for that first batch of Orange PZ that she's promising.) For now, I'm making do, one slab at a time, with the pink stuff I can buy locally.

We can get pink stuff at AC Moore and Hobby Lobby (both have coupons on a regular basis). Have occasionally found a Michael's that has it.

Have you checked any truly local art supply stores. We have several of those which carry all sorts of options. They tend to be more expensive but you said you were talking "emergency" basis and we tend to pay more in those situations :).

I'm wondering about local supplies, just in case there is a "carving emergency".

The Micheals near me has a good supply of the pink stuff. It's located on a wall between the car/airplane model kits and kids crafts. (??) Hobby Lobby has minimal stock in the fine arts dept. and JoAnn's doesn't carry it. I've ordered online also but am anxious to try the "new" product that Webfoot is working on when it's available.

Speaking of the pink stuff, I have a small bag with a pink stuff stash, some picture ideas, and some extra carving tools that I keep in my car in case I have an opportunity to carve. Will the heat in the car when parked this summer affect the carving properties of it?

red bird, the heat will soften it. toss it in the freezer for awhile to firm it back up

Thank you. I guess I can keep some in my purse since I don't leave that in the car.

It is still carvable but it will be softer

Yeah, personally I am waiting for Webfoot's big "release" and then I'm going to stock up. (Although I don't know if I'll make it for the first run because I suspect that there will be lots of DEMAND for that first batch of Orange PZ that she's promising.)

Um.... I don't think you're going to have to worry about not getting in on the first run of of material very much. In order to take advantage of production run economies and keep the price as low as I can, I'm asking for bids in the 5000 pound range. That's part of why running both colors at once would be a stretch. It's a *big* investment. Happily, I don't think they'll be too far apart. Between people buying the first color and a windfall that should land sometime in July, I should be able to follow up with the other color pretty soon. Of course, I will have to set up my house so that there are fox and goose paths among the stacks of carving material to allow navigation from one room to another!! *LOL!*

Webfoot

I will have to set up my house so that there are fox and goose paths among the stacks of carving material to allow navigation from one room to another!!

Don't worry, your home being overrun by carving material won't last long!

Romana

Out of curiosity, how many medium-sized slabs does 5000 lbs make? Does it fill your living room?

Out of curiosity, how many medium-sized slabs does 5000 lbs make? Does it fill your living room?

Well, the old PZ Kut weighed just under 1/2 pound for a 4.75 x 10 inch sheet. I'm not sure yet what size the new sheets will be, but if you think in terms of the old ones (that depends on who I choose to do the extrusion for me), that's over 10,000 sheets of PZ Kut. Yep, that would fill my living room. Happily, I do have a basement, but it's going to take me a long time to haul that much material downstairs. Between hauling and cutting, I won't have to do my upper body exercise routine for a loooong time - and my legs should get really strong, too! LOL!

Webfoot

I'm asking for bids in the 5000 pound range.

Are there going to be any test samples before placing that order? I'd hate for you to get in a coupla tons of stuff that turns out not to be popular with carvers.

Yep, that would fill my living room. Happily, I do have a basement, but it's going to take me a long time to haul that much material downstairs.

Webfoot, I dunno how much expertise you have in structural engineering, but if you have a basement you have a floor above the basement -- and it might not be rated to hold 5000 pounds of rubber. At the very least, I'd suggest you spread that stuff out as much as possible, and stack it as close to the supporting walls as possible.

-- Kirbert

Thanks, Kirbert! I had actually been worried about that. I appreciate the suggestion of putting it close to the supporting walls. That makes a lot of sense. I had planned to spread the weight around, but hadn't thought about placement in quite those terms. :)

Webfoot

Yes, I will be getting a small lab run done - I don't really want a 5000 pound disaster. I'm pretty confident that it will be what we've all been waiting for, though. :)

Webfoot

The problem with stocking up is that Webfoot keeps promising that she's about to come out with some new PZ! Heaven forbid she actually does and you've got a 10-year supply of pink stuff on hand!

For you yes, you carve these fabulous little perfect carves on what could easily be my scraps. But for some like me who carve larger stamps and often make mistakes that require re-carving I don't think there's such a thing as too much supply! And besides like someone else said, there's gonna be a wait when the new stuff comes out.

And besides like someone else said, there's gonna be a wait when the new stuff comes out.

Actually, the only wait once it arrives on my doorstep is the time it takes for me to take pictures, get it listed, cut up some sheets and get it into the mail. I can't imagine selling all 5000 pounds any time soon - even in my wildest dreams. Just to give you an idea of scale, I got about 1800 pounds of the Firm Kut 14 months ago and I still have enough to last several more months. Stampeaz may look like it's a big operation, but it's really not. It's a very small, one-person act of love that's run nights and weekends by a crazed carver and letterboxer. My day job allows me to subsidize the research on new materials and the eventual purchase of them. I do hope to recoup my investment in this project over the next several years, but I'm not going to hold my breath! I have to say, however, that I plan to spend less time working on formulas and testing and more time carving and letterboxing, once I have this thing licked!! Do you realize I've been working on this nearly two years now?? I really must be stubborn and insane! LOL!

So, I haven't had anyone say that they wouldn't be happy with the interim solution of orange if it takes me another few months to find the compound needed for the white and put together the cash for another run. I think that makes it worth going ahead as soon as I have the test samples, bids and shipping costs in hand.

Woo hoo! Light at the end of the tunnel!

Webfoot (who hopes it's not another train!) ;-)

For you yes, you carve these fabulous little perfect carves on what could easily be my scraps. But for some like me who carve larger stamps...

My typical stamp is 2" x 3". Just how big are yours?

So, I haven't had anyone say that they wouldn't be happy with the interim solution of orange if it takes me another few months to find the compound needed for the white...

Well, especially if you have a half a ton of Firm Kut to sell yet!

Now that we have PZ news (and good PZ news too!), the next most urgent order of business is.... how is the chicken doing??

a.

I git my first batch at the art supply store next to the local university that caters to their students. Worth a try if you have a large U or art school nearby.

Lon

For you, Webfoot, or anyone in the know. Can the orange be carved out with a needle? That is what I am using more often than not, lately. So am thinking of getting some of the orange once more if it works. I tried it once before, when I first started carving, but had trouble seeing it well, but I have my trusty magnify/light now...it may be that I still won't be able to use it but worth the try I figure...

Can the orange be carved out with a needle?

Orange is better than white for needle carving, IMO. Shows where you've cut.

GJ

Now that we have PZ news (and good PZ news too!), the next most urgent order of business is.... how is the chicken doing??

Ah, the chicken! I can tell that I have been remiss in keeping up my blog and doing the usual chicken updates. I'll have to get back to that. :) She's doing well and still ruling the roost. When I was up in Michigan earlier this month, I had a grand time turning over logs and rocks for her. When you're across the yard from her and call to let her know you're going to turn a snack bar over, she comes running full tilt with wings flapping to get there as fast as she possibly can. Then she talks and chirps as she happily hunts everything under the rock or log. There's this sound that she makes when she's particularly happy with the haul that is so cute - it's like a chicken purr. It cracks me up every time. Which is why I keep turning over rocks for her - it's like we're both saying, "Do it again!!".

Webfoot

So glad to hear that she is doing well! Thanks for the chicken update. :-)

a.

interim solution of orange

mud is very patiently waiting for the return of orange : )

When I was up in Michigan earlier this month, I had a grand time turning over logs and rocks for her. When you're across the yard from her and call to let her know you're going to turn a snack bar over, she comes running full tilt with wings flapping to get there as fast as she possibly can. Then she talks and chirps as she happily hunts everything under the rock or log. There's this sound that she makes when she's particularly happy with the haul that is so cute - it's like a chicken purr.

I know that sound. When SWMBO had chickens, I'd go out in the woods and find a rotting log that was full of grubs and start hacking it apart with an ax. Stupid chickens would get so excited they'd jump up on top of the log while I'm trying to chop it.

We have a sloping driveway, and one thing we'd do for entertainment is feed them grapes. We called it "Bowling for Chickens". You'd roll a grape down the hill and watch a chicken follow it, her little head bobbing back and forth a mile a minute tracking that rolling grape. Seems like they couldn't get a bead on it until it stopped, so they'd follow it all the way down the hill.

We also loved feeding them spaghetti. They loved the stuff, but one quick peck and they'd have a strand all wrapped around their beaks. Then another one would try to steal it.

One time one of them found a rubber band. We couldn't figure out what was going on at first, since we didn't put the rubber band out, dunno where it came from. All we knew was that two chickens had found something and were stealing it from each other, back and forth, about every quarter second, you couldn't even keep up with how fast that rubber band changed beaks. Snapsnapsnapsnapsnapsnapsnapsnapsnap. Looked like it'd go on forever until we grabbed the rubber band ourselves; probably not a good thing for a chicken to be eating.

Oh, that is so funny. I'll have to tell my brother about "Bowling for Chickens". There's a fantastic hill that should be great entertainment - for both him and that lucky chicken.

Webfoot

I forgot to relate one of the most endearing tales. We had a homemade chicken coop, and every evening at dusk the chickens would all file into the coop and then we'd lock the door to keep the predators out. Yes, an actual padlock; raccoons are amazing critters, a simple latch won't stop them. Every evening as SWMBO was rounding up the chickens, one of the last chickens we had, a Buff Orpington we named "Buffet", would circle around behind her and jump up and bite her on the butt. Then it would sit down and expect to be picked up and hugged before it'd go into the coop for the night.

Most of the chickens we had over the years met with bad ends as we live among raccoons, foxes, hawks, you name it. But we got better at protecting them, and Buffet lived six years and died of natural causes in SWMBO's arms.

Then it would sit down and expect to be picked up and hugged before it'd go into the coop for the night.

They really do have funny little personalities. My brother's chicken loves to sit in his lap and she also has a way of giving my sister-in-law a little kiss on the cheek when she's being hugged. It's really fun to watch. Buffet sounds like a real character! :)

Webfoot

When Mega Monkey was in preschool, one of the moms brought in one of the family chickens to share (it's a co-op preschool). As the kids were in a circle, she sort of hop-flew right over to MM and landed right on his head! He couldn't figure out whether to be scared or laugh hysterically, so he was sort of doing both. It was pretty funny, with everyone trying to get her off of him and him laughing/ kinda freaking out. The mom said the chicken had never done that to anyone before. Well, the following year, as we were planning another chicken visit, we were all joking about it and the mom said not to worry, the chicken had not flown onto anyone's head in during the entire year since the last visit. So the chicken came to visit again and I swear to you, that chicken went right onto my son's head! Everyone was laughing and trying to take a picture at the same time. Not sure if my son has a head that resembles an egg, or what, but that chicken wants to be on his head...no one else's, just his!