A brayer is a hand-tool used historically in

printing Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ...

and

printmaking Printmaking is the process of creating artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand processed techniqu ...

to break up and "rub out" (spread) ink, before it was "beaten" using inking balls or

composition roller A composition roller is a tool used in letterpress printing to apply ink to a bed of type in a printing press. It consists of a cylinder made of a substance known as "roller composition" or simply "composition", a mixture of glue and sugar (in t ...

s. The word is derived from the verb to "bray", meaning "to break, pound, or grind small, as in a mortar". A brayer consists of a short wooden cylinder with a handle fitted to one end; the other, flat end is used to rub the ink. In the late nineteenth century the term was applied in the United States to a small hand-roller, "used for spreading ink on the inking table, and for applying it to the distributing plates or rollers connected with presses". Such small rollers were sold as "brayers" from at least 1912 and later in the century the term was applied in the U.S. to hand-rollers of all sorts and sizes. It retains its original meaning in Europe.

Materials

Brayers in the original sense were generally made of wood (though Southward refers to their being made of "wood or glass").John Southward, ''Practical printing'' (4th edition by Arthur Powell. London: "Printer's Register" Office, 1892), page 370. Later, rollers could be made of composition,

vulcanized rubber Vulcanization (British: Vulcanisation) is a range of processes for hardening rubbers. The term originally referred exclusively to the treatment of natural rubber with sulfur, which remains the most common practice. It has also grown to inclu ...

sponge Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate throu ...

acrylic Acrylic may refer to: Chemicals and materials * Acrylic acid, the simplest acrylic compound * Acrylate polymer, a group of polymers (plastics) noted for transparency and elasticity * Acrylic resin, a group of related thermoplastic or thermosett ...

polyurethane Polyurethane (; often abbreviated PUR and PU) refers to a class of polymers composed of organic units joined by carbamate (urethane) links. In contrast to other common polymers such as polyethylene and polystyrene, polyurethane is produced from ...

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hog ...

. They are formed around a shaft or core and often attached to a wooden handle. Some rollers have an all-metal support, while larger examples may have two handles to allow for two-handed use (to allow the heavy roller to be controlled and in some cases to apply additional pressure).

Process

The printer uses an

ink knife Ink is a gel, sol, or solution that contains at least one colorant, such as a dye or pigment, and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, reed pen, or quill. Thic ...

to lay out a "pad", mound or streak of ink on a smooth inking plate, originally made of polished metal or stone. The ink is then rubbed with the brayer until an area is smooth enough to beat with the ink balls or roller. In contemporary printmaking, commercially-available inks are often smooth and soft enough that they do not require braying before they can be rolled (and thus a more-fragile glass sheet may be used as an inking plate). The roller is passed systematically across the surface to produce an even layer of ink. The roller is then applied to the

forme Forme may refer to the following: * Forme (printing), a chase with type locked up ready for printing * Forme, Škofja Loka, a settlement in Slovenia * Forme Tour, a professional golf tour See also * FORM (disambiguation) * Form (disambiguation) ...

, block,

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

or plate so that the ink is evenly transferred to the raised or receptive areas before the next stage of transferring the ink, by moderate pressure, to the printing surface or

offset Offset or Off-Set may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Off-Set", a song by T.I. and Young Thug from the '' Furious 7: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'' * ''Offset'' (EP), a 2018 EP by singer Kim Chung-ha * ''Offset'' (film), a 200 ...

substrate.

Uses

Brayers are rarely used in contemporary printing and printmaking to break up and spread ink, except in cases of historical reconstruction or when a printer has made his own ink and it is too thick to spread without the use of a brayer. Rollers are primarily used for

relief printing Relief printing is a family of printing methods where a printing block, plate or matrix, which has had ink applied to its non-recessed surface, is brought into contact with paper. The non-recessed surface will leave ink on the paper, whereas t ...

, leather rollers almost exclusively in

lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

and sponge rollers are used only for

paint Paint is any pigmented liquid, liquefiable, or solid mastic composition that, after application to a substrate in a thin layer, converts to a solid film. It is most commonly used to protect, color, or provide texture. Paint can be made in many ...

scrapbooking Scrapbooking is a method of preserving, presenting and arranging personal and family history in the form of a book, box or card. Typical memorabilia include photographs, printed media, and artwork. Scrapbook albums are often decorated and frequ ...

and other craft applications.

References

Sources

* * {{Letterpress Printmaking Letterpress printing