Not to worry, Pat will keep this cutter warm by trimming our printed cards in the multitudes of grey bins. This shelf refills itself all day with assistance from our busy team of printers. 
Don’t let this machine get cold!
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Category Archives: Ephemera
Sleek Heidelberg Windmills
Today’s news is to highlight the different impression levers (what sets paper to touch inked form) on two models of Heidelberg Windmills. Our general workhorse for letterpressing invitation sets is the 10 x 15 windmill, with it’s solid bar capped by a red ball. The hulking cousin to this press is the 12 x 18 model with wider feed tables and more of a yoke for putting a firm handshake into to get it on impression. Can you see the family resemblance with their yellow eyes? How sweet!
Vandercook magic
Here is a bellyband being run on our Vandercook Universal 1. Using the tape registration method lets the grippers take the sheet forward across the inked form then the tapes hold it against the cylinder for the ride back to the operator’s waiting hand.
Flap-tacular
Tim is getting ready to run some Smock bamboo envelopes, house style is a pointy flap. Piles of envelopes have been counted out, press is in gripper (also called commercial) registration, plate is in position. Next ink will be added in just the right amount to get the right shade of color.
Our First Retiree!
With much handshaking and fanfare, Boxcar has made way for our first retiree, Greg from platemaking. He started with the company in the early day of 2005 when Harold (owner) was a fresh face from Minneapolis. With Greg’s well-rounded printshop experience, he was a steadfast and “mature” presence helping the shop grow while churning out thousands of plates and training others along the way. It has been a long road from those early days to the far-reaching impact our photopolymer plates have had on the letterpress industry. Greg has been here taking care of our platemaking customers and entertaining those around him with stories and jokes while educating the incoming folks in how things are done. Thank you so very much for being with us for this exhilarating ride, Greg! We wish you many happy adventures with friends and family in Retirement Land!
The Boxcar Press Valentine’s Day Gift Guide: 14 Gifts for Your Letterpress Sweetie
With letterpress love in the air, we’ve put together a list of 14 of our favorite gifts for this upcoming Valentine’s Day—we found some amazing letterpress gifts online, alongside some great books and sweet supplies that your printer will gush about!
1. Boxcar Base: Protective Base Sleeve from Boxcar Press | 2. Typewriter Key Bracelets by Joy Sparks Design | 3. We Just Click card by Waterknot | 4. To the Letterpress Magnet Set from Modcloth.com | 5. 2013 Color of the Year Mug – Emerald by Pantone | 6. Alphabet Coaster Set by 1Canoe2 | 7. 100 Postcards by Pantone | 8. Scale Printing Press Wooden Model Kit by Revell | 9. Chandler & Price Wall Clock from Zazzle | 10. Boxcar Press Printing Apron | 11. LetterPressed Type-Style Cookie Cutters by Fred and Friends | 12. Love Letterpress Necklace by belrossa | 13. New Kraft Letterpress Valentine tags from Word Letterpress | 14. Gutenberg’s Gift pop-up book by Nancy Willard
Letterpress Love Free Vector Set
Fall in love with our cheery vector set to lighten the mood for Valentine’s Day! This (free!) heartwarming set includes a Celtic heart border, a dazzling flower art deco pattern, a bubbly mini-card, and a plethora of fun graphics to share for the fabulous Valentine’s Day season. All are free for use and in both EPS and PDF format . Cheers!
A fun slide
If you are running lightweight stock on your windmill, a slide can be very helpful. This is a plastic sleeve that fits over the sucker bar reducing air flow that can cause too much fluffing into top of feed pile and subsequent misfeeds. There are several colors of slides with differing sizes of air holes for the particular kind of stock being run. Make sure when running thin stock that as little air as necessary is being used, that your Thin Stock Knob is pulled out and speed of press is reduced to allow more control.
We stayed safe!
Despite the terrible storm that came close, we were spared and got only rain. Halloween brought fun, more damp weather, a bad ole witch, 2 good witches and an american hero! No bystanders in the shop were harmed or terribly frightened by ghouls or goblins.
Not ready to diecut just yet
Printer Jim pauses for a moment of contemplation before pulling the die he needs from the storage shelf.
