Oops, I forgot

 This should have been in the post I did a few hours ago but it slipped my mind.  Rather than editing the old, I'll just do an addendum.

Re: Wood Engraving.  Traditionally the end grain of different types of wood have been used since the beginning of the craft to carve into.  End grain because you can cut in any direction without fear of tear out.  Not quite sure when, but a replacement for end grain wood blocks was developed by Dr. Richard Woodman using epoxy mixed with fillers to obtain a softer cutting surface.  He called it Resingrave.  He is now in his 90's and has stopped production of it but released his formula to the world.

Here's a reference to it.  Resingrave

I gave it go.  I'm making it in two foot by two foot panels and then cut it into whatever size I want.  It's a different experience cutting on it.  Whereas cutting end grain wood requires a deft touch, Resingrave demands an even lighter stroke and then going back into the line if you want to widen it.

First panel I made I stuck to his original directions, second and third I made a vacuum chamber to cure the panels in.  The vacuum sucks out all the tiny bubbles that mixing the epoxy makes.

Some pics.

Bonus Pic