Back to work

My newest press is finally back to work after many, many years of unemployment!

Last week I finished cleaning the rust off the ink disk and cleaned and re-installed the wood feed boards, and yesterday I used her to print samples of some of my new (old) type.

I still need to order a treadle for her. For now, I have to turn the flywheel by hand to print, but it's fairly easy to do and is a good workout for my left arm!



This week I'm hoping to finish printing samples of most of my type. For now, I'm doing a blind impression (no ink) because it's a lot faster than trying to find the time to print a large number of samples with ink on the press. Once I've identified all of the fonts, I'll put the new rollers on her and start printing with ink.

My plan is to have this press dedicated solely to printing with hand-set type and my other press will be for printing with photopolymer plates, which will save me a lot of time setting up for different jobs. In the coming weeks, I'll start adding some new options for personalized cards to my shop. Using hand-set type, I can offer smaller sets of personalized stationery at a much lower cost than when I have to use a plate. Yay!