Nnooooo, indeed. Lettra is incredibly thirsty. It can really soak up letterpress ink, so I can only imagine what it does with watercolor … terrifying.

I tried to recommend this, but the bride’s grandmother was hand painting full-color watercolor flowers for each of her 5 pieces. Yeaaaaaaah. So, that complicated things.I actually found a local printer in town who has done offset printing on Lettra Digital (and Savoy Digital, my preference), which is about 90lb instead of the standard 110lb. They…[Read more]

Um, yeah. That’s a great deal, indeed. Thanks for sharing their name! I’m totally going to get in touch now.

This is really great, Danielle. Thank you so much for sharing! I now really want to pick up a halftone test plate myself and see what different results I get on my presses. The links on your blog post were also really inspiring. I went to the website of Concord Engraving and it said they’re under construction? Is their website just not … updated? 

How’s your experimenting going? 

Sold! (As of today.) Thanks for asking! I’ll delete this thread.

Are you asking about multiple colors and halftones or single colors and halftones? I just took a letterpress intensive last week and we talked some about halftone printing; I can always send my professor an email if you’d like. He’s got some experience with halftones and letterpress, even showing us a 4-color postcard he printed for an event. It…[Read more]

You’re printing your hand-carved blocks using a letterpress printing press? That counts as letterpress to me! 🙂

Still available! Get this adorable thing out of my studio!

Lemon juice + vinegar = natural, easy rust cleaner. It’s the best.Then, of course, oil that baby up and put it to use. I don’t see the need to take the press apart unless is’t really nasty. 

Thanks! That’s helpful. With a tabletop hand press, you won’t get as deep an impression as you could with a platen stand-alone press. I have never used an Adana, but I know the mechanism for closing the platen is different than my C&P Pilot. I definitely think experimenting with packing (I think you want hard packing for a crisp, deep impression)…[Read more]

Really hoping to get this lovely press out of our basement and of use to someone. Again, definitely a bit more open on the price. Let me know if you’re looking for a Pilot. Perhaps my caveats make things sound worse than they are …? 

What kind of press are you using? What size is your printed area? You won’t get much of an impression depth if you’re printing a large area on a small press. Usually you’re limited to about 1/4-1/3 of your base size in order to get a decent print, especially if you want an impression. I have only dampened Lettra in order to get better inking…[Read more]

Wow! A Ludlow! I have never seen one in person, only on Youtube. How exciting!

Did you get an answer or did you end up doing it yourself?

This is a good question.I really struggle with this because you never know when you’ll see returns if you charge a percentage of sales. I’m hoping some other folks will chime in!

I also second the vote for a 6×10 C&P Pilot tabletop press. I absolutely love mine. It’s a great introductory size. If you are used to a Vandy proof press, there is also the Showcard. It requires inking by hand (with a brayer), but we have a Model B Special that weighs 200lbs and sits nicely on a worktable in our basement shop. Between our Pilot…[Read more]

Are any of your racks still available? I’d be interested in one if they are!

I’d go ahead and get a 12×18 if I had no barriers. If you’re comfortable with a machine of that size, I think it’ll totally be worthwhile. The printing area and strength of the press will be nice to have around, even if it is a giant beast of a machine. 🙂

I live in Virginia, unfortunately. I don’t even live in NoVa. If I lived closer, I would be so excited to borrow your press! I’d happily make room for such a thing in my workshop; it would be good friends with my Pilot and my Showcard, I’m sure. Alas, I’m not close enough!