Clear Resources on Adana / Letterpress

hey all.

 

we have recently (well, almost 9 months ago now,) purchased an Adana eight-five letterpress, and have mostly left it up until recently. The rollers are new, we have a boxcar case, a couple of typefaces, and some photopolymer plates that we’ve designed. Our main issue currently is workflow ? how do you guys work with a press like this when doing a good run? I feel like we are missing a few things, like gauge pins and typman.

 

what we have done on the press has turned out sloppy at best. i think a lot of it has to do with workflow. we’ve been trying to get some good paper to get some reasonable impressions on the paper (is this even possible with this press?).

 

i guess a few questions i have are : if you have an adana press, what does your workflow look like, whether it’s setting type by hand or with a photopolymer plate? is it a requirement to have it mounted on a table? right now we are working on a floor. forgive the stupid questions, i’m sure it’ll get better with time. 

 

we are super excited to start using the press, but all our experiences so far have been so frustrating that it’s becoming disheartening.. thanks

Hello Jeffery,

Congratulations on your Adana purchase. It is certainly possible to produce some really great work on an Adana. I’ve seen some lovely books and other ephemera at Wayzgooses here in the UK that were printed entirely on an 8×5 Adana.

I’m a relative new-comer myself, and find that the actual printing takes no time at all compared to the type-setting and make-ready. I guess it helps to know the limitations of your press. By ‘reasonable impressions’ I’m assuming you mean even printing rather than deep impression?

My Adana is mounted on a little school desk, which is a little low, but I’d suggest that you mount yours to something for ease of use. Personally, I don’t use gauge pins or a typan as such, as I find that with some trial and error, it’s enough to tape a piece of leading to the packing material in order to centre my paper.

The thing I keep trying to remember is patience. It may sound trite, but the more care I take with the make-ready and set-up, the better the work turns out. Everything takes longer than I expect, and any attempt to hurry the process or cut corners shows in the finished product.

Good luck and happy printing!

Lizzie

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