A Craftsman is a very similar pull-lever platen press model to a Chandler & Price. They were just manufactured later and into the 20th century. You can lift most table top models very easily.

You can disassemble a standing flywheel platen and get it through a tight place (says me who has one in my home basement.) It’s not ideal though, and very heavy. I used a refrigerator dolley to get it down the steps. Not fun, but it’s there and I never can move again. 🙂

Take a look at Letterpress Commons for some good advice too, especially about impression depth. Be careful to not smash your vintage type if you are going for the deep deboss. Use polymer! http://letterpresscommons.com/impression/

And they have a great schematic about acquiring a press! http://letterpresscommons.com/acquiring-a-press/

Hi Ladies,

Coming at it from a slightly different angle, I’d suggest a C&P floor model, either an 8×12 or a 10×15. I’ve owned both, and you can’t beat a little 8×12 for kicking out business or calling cards at around 2500 iph, hand-feeding! On the other hand, the 10×15 will give you more image area and more impression strength. As for moving—oy! I’ve moved more presses than I’d care to count, and the floor-model C&P machinery is nicely straightforward. On the O/S 10×15, if it is a treadle, just lift up the treadle arm and unhook it from the crank, remove the pulley and/or drive-gear on the gear-side of the press, remove the three screws holding the flywheel-side bushing in place, and lift the whole flywheel/drive-axle assembly out. It makes it fairly easy to move a 10×15 through a standard door—still fairly heavy, but doable by one person.

   I would, however, worry about the capacity of the floor if it were in a “spare room” unless that room has a concrete floor.

  (Mounting the press on 2×4 boards running parallel to the flywheel and using rollers is an easy way to move the press, as long as it is over a flat surface. I’d be *VERY* nervous about stairs!)

Whatever you choose, go with your instinct. If you love the press, it will perform at it’s best for you. (I really believe that—same with motorcycles!)

Best of luck,

Barb

I started on a Pearl. Its a lovely press. It has all the same functions of a large C&P but more delicate and less acary (not that my C&P is scary now…) Treddle driven is also a good starter feature.  Only draw back to the pearl is it doesn’t open very wide when hand feeding (Ie the platen is still at around 30-45 degrees when fully open & some models have no throw off leaver.) but all fine to work with as a beginner. 🙂

I started with a Kelsey 5×7 hobby press and found that it just wasn’t sturdy or large enough for what I wanted to do, but, like you, I didn’t have a ton of space. After a lot of looking, I went to TandT Press Restoration and got a tabletop press that was designed for people to do real work on it. It’s an 1860 Curtis & Mitchell, and it is way better than the Kelsey. http://www.tandtpressrestoration.com/ They do a meticulous job of renovating old tabletop presses and making them function like new. I highly recommend them.

     I’m currently looking at a C&P old model 10×15, just because it’s beautiful and I have decided I can stand to work in the basement if I do a better job of keeping it habitable. But I’ll never get rid of the Curtis & Mitchell.