It is relatively easy to make an encaustic printing plate and it is even suitable for beginners with a little dry point printing experience. It is necessary to have access to an etching press, however. The plates are either plexiglass or metal and are painted with encaustic medium mixed with titanium white pigment. Why white pigment: you are better able to see the medium on the plate and any other color could tint your paper when it is run through the press. You may make your own encaustic medium per a previous post or buy R&F encaustic paint through Dick Blick or another art supply source. You will need an old griddle or buffet warmer/pot to melt the medium at low heat, bristle brush to paint with (never use nylon, it melts), an etching tool or some other tool to scribe into the wax and/ or plate, and printmaking paper. The paper will need to be soaked and blotted as for an etching so use cotton rag, e.g. Rives BFK. You will use an iron for this process, never use a torch.
It is recommended that a plexi plate of 1/8 in. thickness or more be used. Of course I break this rule and use 1/16 of an inch plexi as I can cut it with a utility knife. I do bevel the edges a bit with a file but with that thickness it’s not necessary. Per the photo of the 2 demo plates, I scribed some lines into the plexi (dry point) as well as the wax. The wax is applied very thinly to areas on the plate and this can be altered by heating it with an iron at any time. I also press foil or other textures into the warm wax.
Setting up the press: I have replaced the thickest center felt with a sheet of 1 inch foam purchased from a fabric store. This also is great for collagraphs when you may want to pick up more detail from the plate. The plate is inked with a card like a dry point and wiped with more care, as you may want to have more ink in the areas with wax. Q tips are handy for cleaning up the dry point areas on the plate. I will sometimes ink and print a blank plate first for a background color (2 plate print). I gave the demo prints to students so I have not provided the finished prints here at this time for these plates.