Just a few more things to buy…but where should I get them from?

Hi ladies,Today, I put the remaining pieces back together and onto my Golding Jobber #6 I’ve been working on since March (yay!) and I’ve slowly been trying to get everything I need to get it up and running in the next few weeks, but I feel like I have a bunch of random stuff I need to get and I’m looking for the best place to get it for the cheapest price, perhaps even somewhere local I can go pick it up, if not, the fewer the places that I have to buy from and the smaller the shipping price, would be great!Here’s what I need:Base — I was thinking I’d just go with Boxcar and get the starter pack and get all the ‘newbie’ stuff they throw in with that…unless you can suggest another route?Ink — I have been obviously poking around the Boxcar website, and I’d love to get the premium rubber ink starter kit, complete with 18 different colors of inks…my thought is to just get what I need to do whatever colors I could possibly have come up now and be done with it…I priced out the same inks on Van Son’s site and it was at least $100 more than Boxcar’s price…any suggestions on where I can get lower priced ink, especially buying as much as I’d like to get?Pantone Swatch Books — Since I’m a student, I’ve been able to find a great price on their Essentials Plus kit for $180…I figured that would last me a while and get some additional books I might use for school yet. Do you have any other suggestions about these?Glass for mixing ink — I guess this is somewhat the ‘standard’ that everyone uses to mix their inks? I made a call to a guy that owns a place close to me, he said he probably had some tempered glass just laying around that I could have since I said it didn’t have to be perfect, but he hasn’t called back yet…I’m looking for a back-up plan if he doesn’t follow up…any suggestions on where to look for glass, or an alternative?Gauge pins — the gentleman I bought my press from gave me a huge box of gauge pins, I believe their Megill’s, but many seem to be rusted and in bad shape, I was thinking I might as well get a few sets of them, which do you suggest getting and where should I get them from?California Wash — I’ve decided that I will be washing my press with Crisco between colors during the day, which I’ll pick up at Costco or somewhere like that, and at the end of the day I’ll clean with California Wash. I saw that XpedX’s online store has it: https://shop.xpedxstores.com/Portal.aspx?CN=3DB1E93B8C3E — anywhere else you suggest I try?Tympan/Packing/Overlay Paper — I am most stumped about this…I know I can get tympan from a lot of different places, where do you suggest to get the best price? As for packing/overlay paper — do I just need to collect scrap paper of different weights to have a good collection of this?Thanks in advance for any suggestions/advice you can give me as I get ready to start printing with my ‘new’ press!–Kristina

I do Boxcar base and plates. registration is a breeze.Ink. Buy the PMS mixing kit and an extra can of white. If you are looking to cut cost on ink, you can get silver 877 and really mix almost any metallic from that. I Haven’t bought gold or copper yet and can mix stellar hues from silver, including gold. I use the white in my mixing instead of tint-base (thus the extra can). Tint-base can be a pain in the butt to print with if there is type in the layout/form – I don’t use it much except for transparencies. Don’t bother with custom colors now, bill the client for that if they want an EXACT (think anal) match. You can mix almost anything.Pantone Books: I don’t think you need a whole set. I only use my uncoated solids book and metallic book. Keep them in a black case. sunlight and shop lights can fade the books.Glass – I bought this great table for $20 at target. It’s a 3 tier glass table and looks totally 80s. I think I found it in the lamps and side tables section. I keep it in a corner by my press with ink on the two bottom shelves and I mix on the top shelf! It’s 1/4″ glass with routered corners.Boxcar sells california wash. I’ve never used it. I buy Nature Wash and use it for every press cleaning (from Gans Ink) to clean my press, even when pregnant and with babies around. I use Gans ink too, it was cheaper. it’s runnier. I’ve since bought a few cans of VanSons and if I were to start over I’d go VanSons.Tympan, I get mine off ebay.Good luck!

I just wanted to say that this was an amazing response to questions I have also been pondering. Thank you!

I was lucky to get a swatchbook from an old printer. I bought the round glass table topper at Target for $20. But a Window glass place can cut you a piece. Or go to a Thrift Store. I have found that I have scratched mine. NA Graphics has everything else. I like the CA wash.Good luck.Courtney

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