The long handled hanga bake or printing brush, is designed to move the 'ink' across the uneven surface of the block. The broad maru bake is for inking larger areas of the block. It looks a bit like a shoe brush and is made of tightly packed and folded horsehair. The maru bake needs to be conditioned before printing or the coarse cut ends of the hairs will create brush marks in the ink. You can do this by singeing the tips of the hairs on a hotplate or the bottom of a cast iron pan and then brushing over coarse sandpaper or silicon carbide paper. It will work best if soaked for 10 minutes or so before printing. Clean after each session with mild soapy water and store with bristles pointing down.
