A baren is one of the simplest and most important tools in relief printing. It is a flat, disc-shaped hand tool with a knotted handle, used to burnish, to rub firmly, the back of the paper while it rests on an inked block. That rubbing lifts the ink off the block and onto the paper, so a baren lets you pull a print entirely by hand, with no press at all. It has been at the heart of Japanese woodblock printing for centuries, and today it is the first tool most people reach for when making a linocut or a woodcut at home.
How a baren is used
Using a baren could not be more direct. You roll ink onto the carved block, lay a sheet of paper on top, and then rub the back of the paper with the baren, pressing firmly and evenly until the ink transfers. Because your hand controls the pressure, you can feel exactly how the print is coming up and lean harder on the areas that need more ink. This hands-on control, and the fact that it needs no heavy equipment, is why the baren is the classic way to print relief blocks by hand. For a full walk-through, see our step-by-step guide for beginners.
The traditional Japanese baren
The traditional hand-made Japanese baren is a small marvel of craftsmanship, built from three parts. At its heart is a coiled cord, a flat spiral of braided fibre that provides the pressure. This sits on a backing disc called the ategawa, made from thirty to forty sheets of fine paper layered with lacquer. The whole thing is then wrapped in a bamboo sheath (takenokawa), twisted at the top to form the handle. The finest sheaths come from madake bamboo. Making one is painstakingly slow: the disc is built up a sheet a day over about fifty days and then left to dry for a year, and the bamboo cover may need re-wrapping after just a day's printing.
Modern barens
Few printmakers today build a traditional baren, and many good modern alternatives exist. There are ball-bearing barens, with tiny metal balls set into the base for smooth, even pressure, and inexpensive plastic and nylon barens. Simple substitutes work too, from a large wooden spoon to the smooth round base of a glass jar. At Ritualis Press we make two modern barens of our own: a glass baren, a smooth glass disc that glides over the paper and lets you see the print forming, and a wooden baren that brings the warmth of the traditional tool to everyday printing. You can read the stories behind them in our posts on the glass baren and the wooden baren.
Baren or press?
A baren and a printing press do the same job, pressing paper against an inked block, in very different ways. A baren is cheap, portable and wonderfully tactile, ideal for linocut and woodcut prints at the kitchen table. A press gives firmer, more even pressure and makes larger editions easier, but costs more and takes up space. Many printmakers happily use both. Browse our full range of printmaking barens to find the right one.
Barens at Ritualis Press
Whether you are pulling your first print or building a studio, a good baren is one of the most rewarding tools to own. Explore our glass barens and wooden barens, pick up a linocut kit to go with them, and see where the baren fits in the wider world of printmaking. The glossary explains any other term you come across.