Thanks, Jen! I’ll totally do that this week. 🙂

Oh, really? Well … then … I have a lot of freedom! Also, an excuse to buy more metal type (I just bought a few typefaces when we bought our Showcard signpress). Aaaah! Maybe now I have too much freedom. Heehee. Yay!That makes me so happy. And a little giddy.

Jessica, did you ever get in touch with Mr. Hopkins from Mr. Kent’s post here? If so, I think I may have to send an email as well. I’ve just started growing my type collection, and having a bunch of those miscellaneous (but fun) signs and symbols seems very useful!

I have a Howard hot foil stamp machine … is Kingsley type compatible? I’m having a horrible time finding type for my machine (short of buying some new, I guess). 

You may need to invest in new rollers! They aren’t too old, but you never know how they were used/stored before they came into your hands. That said, my rollers are only about a year old, and I sometimes have similar issues. After taping my rails (one more than the other) and adjusting my platen (and/or packing), I’ve gotten some better results,…[Read more]

Photos, please!Are you using a deep relief base or a standard base? Are you using the right kind of plates for your base (K152 for deep relief, for example)? Do you have the “lollipop” roller gauge to test your roller height and check for the evenness of inking? Also, do you have the platen leveling tool from John Falstrom?Both our C&P Pilots a…[Read more]

What kind of platen press is it? Is it a tabletop press or an 8×12? If so, I highly recommend John Folstrom’s platen leveling tool:http://www.perennialdesigns.net/?page_id=1358We just used that to level the platens on our two old rustbucket rescue C&P Pilots and it worked great. Very little physical instruction needed; it’s pretty self explanatory…[Read more]

Here is another thread on the subject; I posted a couple of nice references for getting started.

Welcome to LoLP! 🙂 I’ve already enjoyed your lovely paper. Glad you moved safely. Moving a letterpress was stressful enough for me … I can’t imagine 4 semis of stuff. Ever. Yikes!

It’s hard to find that part. I’ve been told by other printers that you can DIY something similar with metal pipe. I’ll have to see if I have any reference in old emails and try to get back to you here.

There are some great references on Flickr. Most people don’t like to share their edge painting secrets. Meh.Here is one from Ladyfingers (just scroll a bit more to the right on their photostream to see more after this image):http://www.flickr.com/photos/59953150@N07/6069943436/in/set-72157627493081608/And also this…[Read more]

As another graphic designer using letterpress printing to expand her business, I’d recommend going for a C&P Pilot as well. Yes, it’s an investment of about $2500, which is a lot, but if you’re going to cough up that much for a press, get a Pilot instead of a Kelsey. You’ll get to love your press and then want to do more with it (as in bigger…[Read more]

I was about to suggest … why not both? Flickr is just a good repository of all things photo, and it’s easy to grab a link from there to post into Tumblr. It’s somewhat of an “extra step,” but I don’t really consider Flickr social media. Is it? I guess. If you have to choose, I’d go for Tumblr. The following/liking/sharing aspect of Tumblr makes…[Read more]

Hello! You may want to check the alignment of your platen:http://www.apa-letterpress.com/T%20&%20P%20ARTICLES/Press%20&%20Presswork/Leveling%20the%20platen.htmlDo you own a roller gauge? That may be something else to check, even if you’ve taped your rails. You can sort of use your roller gauge to check if your platen is level, too. Briar Press has…[Read more]

Well, we went for it! It turned out the press was actually a 10×15 instead of a 12×18 once we got the serial number, so it was, uh, a little bit lighter than expected (you know, 1500+ lbs instead of 2500+ lbs)! However, it did come with a bonus Kluge automatic feeder system, which I hope to remove during the clean up process. It was an adventure…[Read more]

I have an Intuos 4 (not the newest model) and I still love it. It works seamlessly with both Photoshop and Illustrator. I really love the freedom it especially gives you in Illustrator when it comes to making lines just the way you want them. I found this particular tutorial very helpful for learning to create custom line art with my Wacom in…[Read more]

Wow!! I’m afraid to read that out loud to the hubbs right now. Hahaha. That’s really sobering. Thanks for the true story! I don’t think we’ll be putting it into a truck bed, but definitely figuring out what to tow it with in a flatbed trailer. Although, after what you wrote, maybe an enclosed moving truck (14′) would be a better idea, though I d…[Read more]

Oh boy! Well, I’m waiting on the serial # because by the photos, I’m not sure I’m convinced it’s a 12×18. It may end up being a 10×15. Either way, it will be difficult to move. I’ve read that I should disconnect the motor and lock the plates down (possibly before removing the flywheel) to make sure it’s easier to move, has a good center of g…[Read more]