If Jessica and Kseniya are taking a break for 2014, I suppose it might be appropriate to announce that the 2014 national Wayzgoose is (tentatively yet) heading for Two Rivers, Wisconsin, where Hamilton Wood Type’s new headquarters will be accessible. It was a delight to have as featured presenters Kseniya Thomas, Jennifer Farrell, and Jessica Spring at the Wayzgoose in Chandler, Arizona, this June, and the Two Rivers meet may be more convenient for members of Ladies of Letterpress next summer. Announcements on the Amalgamated Printers’ Association website.

David L. Kent, archivist APA and a real Laddie of Letterpress 

Bill,

  Yes; thanks. Needleman has obviously ridden this hobbyhorse to bits. A very fine piece showing how the scientific process can be abused.

Bill, Internet Explorer cannot retrieve your citation. Alternative?

 

Hi Anne,

  I think I may have a solution to that inoperative C&P. Dave & Beth Seat are a couple of very savvy letterpress printers and equipment machinists (who travel around the US continuously), most of whose work involves troubleshooting linotypes and presses including C&P/Pilots. I have just contacted them; they are now working in Portland, and will be coming right through Flagstaff sometime after July 15th. Would you like them to stop by and fix that truck/roller problem for you? Since your press purchase partly involved my advice, I would be willing to foot the Seats’ charge for a diagnosis and fix (which should not be that much). If you would like to make a definite time & place appointment with them, email them at: info@hotmetalservices.com. I am not about to accept a nightmare involving an inoperative press for you and Wilson (& the middle names) Thomas!

Sonja,

  Best source for identifying 20th century American cast type is Mac McGrew’s American Metal Type Faces (etc.) If you have some European cast faces, there are members of APA who can likely identify it if you provide a proof. If you find a stubborn face, I’ll have a go at it.

David L. Kent, archivist, Amalgamated Printers’ Association

Jen,

  This event should be more widely known. A newbie letterpress printer can be confused by the prices for various presses. When I bought a Kelsey 6×10 in 1980, I paid $150, which included a font of type, cabinet with cases, as well as the press. When Kelsey went bankrupt about ten years later, the price of a Kelsey shot up to $750 and has remained there since then. People should realize that although presses are less available now than formerly, there is a difference between West Coast prices (aimed usually at institutional budgets) and Midwest prices (geared toward individual buyers). If you pay more than $1000 for a Kelsey or a Craftsmen (not Craftsman; that’s a floor model, different animal), you’re wasting money. The best source for a reasonably priced tabletop press is a letterpress dealer. Those include Don K. & Craig Black in Canada, John Barrett’s Letterpress Things in Massachusetts, Fritz Klinke at NA Graphics. There are a few who buy entire letterpress shops, such as John Horn and Paul Aken, who frequently offer an unexpected bargain. These are all letterpressmen with long experience, who will charge a reasonable price for what they sell. For typefounders who will cast new type for less than an arm and a leg, check out Richard Hopkins in WVa and Sky Shipley in Arizona. Best rule of thumb is shop around, ask a long-time printer or two. Some will say disregard the tabletops, but with attention to make-ready they will produce as fine an impression as any other press. Anyone want to argue price with me, go right ahead….

Dear Nancy, This is an outrage. Typemetal is quite different from oxidizing lead, and poses no harm whatever to anyone using it. There are numerous studies on the web demonstrating this, and OSHA has acknowledged it. No-one should allow these ignorant troglodytes to toss out lead type (which is actually an alloy of lead, tin, and antimony). The “expert” cited above should have his diaper changed and be sent home to mother. In my humble opinion, of course.

David L. Kent, archivist, Amalgamated Printers’ Association, and member of Laddies of Letterpress

Jessica,

  I can give you a better reply now: In 2005 one of the letterpress giants, Richard Hopkins, cast a font of 117 miscellaneous astronomical and other characters, which he offered at $28.00 postpaid in the U.S. This font is unbelievable; it has all the “squiggly things” a customer might ask about using. Astronomical characters in three versions, playing card pips, two versions of the moon’s quarters, sun, earth; mathematical (such as integral, homologous to, proportion, infinite), commercial (such as registered, copyright, account of–and three sizes of @ cast on a 10-point body), and such odd items as trine, conjuncture, and others to delight an astrologer’s heart.

These are fun to use in design. For example: A sextile, if you do not know, looks like an asterisk exploding with excitement; my daughter incorporated two sextiles in her wedding announcement last year. This font supplies at least three of each character, often six. Rich’s address is: HIll & Dale Private Press & Typefoundry, 169 Oak Grove, Terra Alta, West Virginia 26764 or wvtypenut@frontier.com, and you should contact him before ordering to see whether he still has this casting in stock and current price. Rich has the largest stock of Monotype mats in the U.S., and regularly casts beautiful type fonts at a reasonable charge.

Sarah,

  As Mike says, the place to go is Tarheel Roller. Having tried composition rollers from other suppliers (which give a great impression, but do not last too long), I tried a rubber roller from Tarheel, and David produced a perfect rubber roller at a reasonable price. I highly recommend Tarheel for your C&P press; I assume you can send him the cores, but if not, he can supply them.

David L. Kent, archivist, Amalgamated Printers’ Association

chirologe@hotmail.com

Anne,

 Since you bought the press from Mark Barbour as “working and refurbished”, shoot him an email about this problem, and he will instruct you as to what to do to get the press working. If you need Mark’s email address, email me and I will send it.

David L. Kent, archivist, Amalgamated Printers’ Association

chirologe@hotmail.com

Jessica,

  I can mail you one, for use with 10 point, if you can provide a mailing address. Might be quicker to acquire one at the LOL conference this week, but if that fails, let me know.

David L. Kent, archivist, Amalgamated Printers’ Association

chirologe@hotmail.com

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