Trying My Hand At Book Printing From Dale Raby of Ampersand Press

At Boxcar we enjoy the tales and trials shared by printers as they tackle a new project or skill.  We feel like we are right along with them (cheering) as they figure out each step, particularly when we can be a small part of the process.  And we love when someone sends us the final fruits of their labors. You are our heroes and we’d like to introduce to you one pressman who explored Book Printing.  In his own words, meet Dale Raby.

Dale Raby Sasquatch's Dilemma letterpress printed fine arts book; Let's See That Printed!
Dale Raby Sasquatch's Dilemma letterpress printed fine arts book; Let's See That Printed!

A little bit about me – Ampersand Storybooks produces primarily small single-signature books, written by myself, though we may soon be branching out to begin printing stuff written by others.  Our usual fare is serialized runs of just over a hundred impressions.

Dale Raby Sasquatch's Dilemma letterpress printed fine arts book; Let's See That Printed!
Dale Raby Sasquatch's Dilemma letterpress printed fine arts book; Let's See That Printed!

I have been writing for a few years now.  My first novel, The Wives of Jacob, Book I, In the Beginning, was and is only available as an ebook.  Now, while most of the customers at my day job were impressed that I had written even one book, let alone three, they were decidedly non-plussed when they found out that my books were only collections of pixels, not “real” books. 

I investigated the possibility of getting my work printed into “real” books, but like most beginning writers, I lacked the capital.  

Having had a brief introduction to letterpress printing some fifty-odd years ago, I did think about the possibility of a hand-operated tabletop platen press, if I could find one somewhere.  I did a little checking and discovered that most presses suitable for this kind of project were also beyond my means.

One day I met a man who was a printer and happened to have an old Craftsmen Superior for sale.  A price was named and the deal was done. Three weeks later we moved the press from his pickup truck to mine.  Now, like most semi-discarded platen presses, it needed some work, but eventually I was able to start making impressions.

At first I used standard copy paper to print things like receipt templates. Then I went to a local office supply store and ordered a quantity of business cards with nothing printed on them.  By the next week, I had some usable business cards, though they were not as flashy as “professional” cards.

I started to frequent Briar Press and Ladies of Letterpress among other locales on the web.  I exchanged countless emails with the folks at Boxcar Press, picking the brains of many people there.  I’m pretty sure that somebody there must’ve drawn the short straw there every time I got a response to an email!  I discovered the magic of photopolymer plates and the Boxcar Base. I gradually acquired more movable type fonts, a couple of line gauges and assorted other items of printer’s paraphernalia.  I took a rare day off from work and visited the Hamilton Wood Type Museum in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, which was a very educational trip.  Eventually, the dining room became the print shop. I still had much to learn, but by gosh, I was a printer of sorts!  

Dale Raby Sasquatch's Dilemma letterpress printed fine arts book; Let's See That Printed!

I thought that for my first “real” book project, I would do a single-signature book.  The Sasquatch’s Dilemma has only seven pages. The first page is my title page and is not numbered.  I decided right away that I wanted my books printed on some good stuff, not copy paper.  I did some investigating, got a few swatch books and eventually discovered Flurry paper – a 100% cotton paper.

As Flurry was associated with Boxcar Press, who would be making my plates, I decided that this was a good choice.  I did have some concerns at first. I was afraid that the text-weight paper would be too thin and the ink would bleed through it.  My initial fears proved unfounded.

Dale Raby Sasquatch's Dilemma letterpress printed fine arts book; Let's See That Printed!

The pages are printed upon Flurry cotton text-weight paper and the book covers are made from Flurry 118# pre-scored blank cards.  I use a three-hole pamphlet stitch with tails on the outside of the cover for binding. Each book comes in its own envelope, which was designed to fit the card that forms the cover.  I plan to continue using the envelope as long as the book is thin enough to fit.  

Did I mention I had a lot to learn? There was the question of format.  I hit upon the idea of using a pre-scored greeting card as a book cover quite early on.  The only thing then was to determine the optimal size. I gave myself headaches learning about paper grain and the proper use of a bone folder.  I developed a jig for binding my books. The stitching jig did not look like much, but it worked. After much consideration I decided upon the Flurry 10.5” x 7.25” greeting card.  The pages could be cut to 7” x 10” for a folded size of 5” x 7” out of the Flurry text-weight paper. This would give a nice cover overlap such as a hard-cover book might have.

I resurrected an old photo trimmer from my film photography days and learned to trim my pages a few at a time, keeping the scraps to be used eventually for business cards for myself and a couple of other local businesses. The text-weight paper is not really optimal for business cards, but it gets the job done.

Dale Raby Sasquatch's Dilemma letterpress printed fine arts book; Let's See That Printed!

Kim and Diane, known as “the Copy Editors” badgered me about various things that were decidedly outside the traditional purview of copy editors. Kim was relentless, and not above using a hammer to get things into my head, so I learned a few more things.  I did mention I had a lot to learn, didn’t I? Under Kim’s tutelage, I became familiar with terms like “small caps”, “drop caps”, “orphans” & “widows”. At the time Kim was busy with college but continued to educate me. Kim has since graduated and now works in a print shop… which I think is pretty groovy!

I found many free type fonts out there on the web along with images for my cover image.  As most of them were intended primarily for either HTML documents on the web or inkjet printers, not all of them were suitable.  Naked Chicks didn’t make the cut as Diane hated it. Kim nixed Comic Sans as “The Devil’s Font”. Crimson Text (now Crimson Pro), Alice, Black Chancery and Typographer Woodcut were all incorporated into The Sasquatch’s Dilemma

When it came time to order plates, Kim showed me some of her poetry.  Shortly thereafter, Ocean Creature was hastily assembled into a second single-signature book manuscript.  Both were submitted to Boxcar Press as PDF’s and converted into plates.

Upon receipt of my polymer plates, I started learning about how to correctly assemble the leaves into pages for my book.  For those of you who have never assembled a book before, well, suffice to say that it is not quite like one of those books you might have made in first grade bound with an office stapler.  I used the proofs provided to assemble a dummy book so I could be sure of printing my books correctly.

Dale Raby Sasquatch's Dilemma letterpress printed fine arts book; Let's See That Printed!

When it came time to print, I had to learn how to properly set up and ink the press.  Proper inking and roller clearance was fairly important when printing those Typographer Woodcut drop caps at the beginning of each chapter.  Too much ink and the fine spiderweb inside the box of the letter would block up. Too little and it would not look right either. The paper seemed very forgiving of my errors in printing the pages. 

Printing the cover introduced me to another difficulty.  The cover image for The Sasquatch’s Dilemma is not a half-tone.  All printed areas are solid ink.  Large areas of solid ink are difficult to print in letterpress.  I found that I had to add more ink to the disc after about every third impression.  Pressure had to be high. There was no finesse involved here; I just piled on packing until I was almost afraid of breaking my press.

Flurry took the ink well, despite the heavy pressure I was using.  I did experiment with wetting the paper and then printing, but while it worked, it did not work well enough to justify the extra headaches.

I chose the soft white paper hue for both the cover and the pages for The Sasquatch’s Dilemma.  This is a sort of “off white” or cream-colored hue.  They do supply a very nicely done swatch book for those who want one.

Dale Raby Sasquatch's Dilemma letterpress printed fine arts book; Let's See That Printed!

I used silver ink to print the title and my name on the cover over the top of the black sasquatch image.  Now I found that the Flurry paper did take a nice “bite” from the polymer text and the silver ink showed up well enough to read, though it was really more gray than silver.  I had wanted to print the sasquatch’s eyes in red ink, but with my relative inexperience, I reasoned that registration would be somewhat of a nightmare, so I just left them white.

Public response to The Sasquatch’s Dilemma has mostly been positive, and at $7.99 each, I have sold enough copies to just about break even.  One positive comment I got was in response to the “tactile” nature of the cover, which is primarily the  “bite” from the title and my name as well as the wood type ampersand I am using as a trademark on the rear cover.  

Kim’s book, Ocean Creature, was, in many ways, very different from The Sasquatch’s Dilemma.  The cover was formed from a sandy beach image printed with gold ink.  The effect was very delicate and the image itself quite understated. I used the soft white card for the cover of Ocean Creature as for The Sasquatch’s Dilemma, but printed the pages on bright white text paper.

As I printed Ocean Creature in a second run, I had learned quite a bit about setting up the press and keeping my grubby paws off the work.  Ocean Creature exhibits much better pressmanship, in my opinion.

Dale Raby Sasquatch's Dilemma letterpress printed fine arts book; Let's See That Printed!

Some details about paper and ink in printing these two projects: Flurry paper handled it well by taking the ink without bleeding through.  It cuts and folds and there were no issues with piercing the holes and binding it with thread. The 80 lb text-weight paper is opaque enough to handle printing on both sides.  I use oil-based ink in my printing as rubber based ink frightens me just a little bit. Kinda like polymer plates did when I first learned about them. 

Now, there are many printers who have printed a book or two.  There are many writers who have had their books printed. Many people have designed books, set type for them, made up cover art and internal illustrations, selected the ink, selected the paper, cut the paper, bound each book, pulled the operating lever of a platen press to print each page of the book, marketed the book, and sold copies of the book.  I am proud enough to say I have joined the ranks of those who have written their own book and went through all the processes listed above to eventually take the money and sell their own book to the actual person who will read it.

Dale Raby Sasquatch's Dilemma letterpress printed fine arts book; Let's See That Printed!

My book may not be a literary masterpiece.  It isn’t especially well executed and you will find smudges and more typos than I would care to admit.  I did it all myself though, and I take a certain amount of pride in that. All in all, this was an interesting journey and as I have another dozen or so manuscripts in various stages of completion, the journey is not yet finished. 

Inquisitive Printers – Cool Things That Caught Our Eye

We’re still very much the same questioning, searching, and inquisitive bunch of folks and this month’s installment is a good testament to this. We enjoy the wonderful, creative, and just plain cool things that catch our eye day in and day out. In this latest installment that made us oooh and ahhhh, we bring you a cool kickstarter giving new life to an Okuma litho proof press, a hue-tastic interactive color exhibit, beautiful traditional bookbinding and much more! 

From Maddie:

Lithosphere: The Story of Big Dreams and A Big Press

Shelley Thornstensen of the Printmakers Open Forum has successfully completed a kickstarter that involves moving & setting up a big, beautiful Okuma flatbed lithography offset proof press. Thornstensen envisions a new life for large scale equipment for her print shop in Oxford, Pennsylvania. This press, 13.5 feet long and over 10,000 pounds is a versatile piece of equipment that will print woodblocks, litho plates, or litho stones. She has unique techniques to use on this press and looks forward to sharing this knowledge with other printmakers (please check out her summer print camp!).

Printmakers Open Forum Okuma Press Kickstarter
(image courtesy of Shelley Thornstensen and her Kickstarter)

In completing her financing campaign to move and perform maintenance on the press, she has found a wonderful amount of support and a lot of encouragement from the printmaking, as well as an online community. Thornstensen returns the favor with many rewards for participating in the fundraiser. These include stickers, totes, fine arts prints, and t-shirts with a bear design designed by Andrew Mullaly (fun fact: Okuma means “bear” in Japanese!).

Check out her social media page ( Facebook, Instagram, Tumbler ) to see the latest developments on this cool project and see the new press for yourself. Leave her a comment just to say “hey” and to remind her how awesome she is!

From Rebecca:

Hue Oughta Know: The Color Factory Exhibit in NYC

Grab your Pantone swatch book, camera, and sense of playful wonder for The Color Factory exhibit in the SoHo area in NYC!

TheColorFactory-NYC-exhibit
(images courtesy of The Color Factory)

The enchanting all-ages interactive exhibit features brilliantly colored rooms to dazzle the senses — from a light blue ball pit room, a history & origin of colors room (so cool!), custom-colored macarons in their gift shop, and more.

TheColorFactory-NYC-exhibit
(images courtesy of The Color Factory)

Originally based & started in 2017 in San Francisco, the exhibit’s popularity soon blossomed into the NYC and a Houston installment exhibit.  Currently, the pop-up experience exhibit is going from now until April 2020.

Grab tickets NYC here (https://colorfactory.co/tickets)! The Color factory is located at 251 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013.

New Archeology Find in Upstate New York: The World’s Oldest Forest 

Upstate New York is full of hidden science-y good gems: The Museum of Science & Technology, Herkimer Diamond mines, and the awesome Corning Museum of Glass. Recently, scientists and researchers in Cairo, New York have added another one:  evidence of perhaps the world’s oldest forest. 

Upstate New York Worlds Oldest Forest-1
(image photography credit: Cell Press / Current Biology science journal / William Stein)

A tree root system that is 385 million years old was discovered in the Catskills region in the fossil soils near Cairo, New York (about a 3-hour-ish car drive from us here at Boxcar Press). The findings show potential forests and flora evolved during the Devonian age (the age of fish as well as early forms of sharks, spiders, and insects).

For reference, the Tyrannosaurus rex was living between 68-66 million years ago. Woah!

From Cathy 

I enjoy all videos that show letterpress printing, printmaking and book arts.  This one appeals to me because it’s serene and zen-like.  It is pleasing to the eye with the colorful paper and the tools and watching her work.  Her voice and hands just soothe.  I hope it pleases you.

bookbinding - bbc - Judith Ivry
Click the image above to watch the video!

Photo and video courtesy of BBC.com

We hope you explore some of our links and perhaps learn a little bit more about what interests us here at Boxcar Press.  Email us at info@boxcarpress.com the things that delight you also!

International Printing Museum

Mark Barbour of the International Printing Museum highlights unique printing presses, fun printing trivia, and fantastic finds in the Carson, California museum. Come take a look!

The International Printing Museum in Carson, California, just south of downtown Los Angeles, is home to one of the largest collections of working antique printing presses in the part of this world that enjoys a type height of .918! Besides an extensive collection of metal and wood type, somewhere around 5,000 fonts, the Printing Museum is also home to some very unusual and rare printing presses. 

Of particular interest, while we focus this week on letterpress and type high, are the platen presses in the museum’s collections, presses that became the workhorse and the staple of every printing shop in America during the 19th and 20th centuries. Today’s book artists and letterpress enthusiasts are well familiar with the C & P Press, well described as the Ford 150 of printing presses. But have you heard of Gordon and his dream with Ben Franklin that birthed the modern platen press? Have your fingers ever been close to Gordon’s early press known as an Alligator (for good reason!)? What about Ruggles and his Jobber that made it to the California goldfields, and has a story to tell about Alcatraz and the Civil War? Or maybe the press that took you to the stars in 1875, known as the Asteroid?

In celebration of Type High Day and letterpress everywhere, this is an invitation to explore the stories of these very unique and rare platen presses of the 19th century with Curator Mark Barbour of the International Printing Museum… just click on the link to his video blog (his apologies for the quality and the sound…not enough makeready on the morning of .918!)

Why I Love Letterpress with David Clifford: Letterpress Printing – A Life

David Clifford of the Canadian-based Black Stone Press recounts how he started working in printing and then falling in love with the beauty and the craft that is letterpress.

In the fifties, practically all printing was letterpress printing. In October 1951, I started my six year apprenticeship as a machine operator (machine minder), at the age of fifteen. It was at a small printer in London at the Borough near Elephant and Castle. There were three compositors setting type and in the basement, the machine room had two Wharfedales (cylinder presses), a Heidelberg Platen and a hand-fed Arab Platen. It was a little limited, fortunately, my apprenticeship agreement meant that I attended a technical school (Camberwell School of Arts) once a week to learn the trade.

( Indenture – The apprenticeship papers from 1951 )

After the six years had gone I worked in a few different printer shops. One of them was Ever-Ready Battery Print Works. There were about eighteen to twenty machines printing the big battery covers on card stock. Another printer specialized in cigarette cards. Roughly 1.25” x 2.5” cards, these were put in cigarette packages to make them stiffer. They were very collectible with fifty cards to a sheet printed in four-color process, one color at a time. Subjects included: butterflies, birds, flowers, sports, etc. etc. These were printed on small Dutch cylinder machines – Glockners (to get an idea of the trading cards visit this link).

( Me in 1961 on the Heidelberg Cylinder )

In 1962, I moved to Nice, France and worked at the biggest printer in Nice: Imprimerie Meyerbeer. There were fifty to sixty workers. Presses included two hand fed big Miehles, Albert cylinder presses and Heidelberg platens. After the student riots and worker strikes in 1968, I felt it was time to move. In 1970, Vancouver, Canada was chosen. Not much letterpress printing was to be found in Vancouver, so I had to run offset presses (ugh), which have never been my favorite – too many chemicals. I spent about twenty years as a Graphic Designer and in 1996 Black Stone Press was born with one Heidelberg and polymer plates made by hand. Now there are three Heidelbergs, a Golding Platen, a Vandercook 4 and an 1846 Albion, crown size hand press.

(Yasmine (Yaz) on the Golding)

I still work a few hours a week, but do not have the strength I had before. Sixty-eight years of printing, I am worn out. Fortunately, my daughter, Yasmine has taken over. She keeps everything running.

( Spring 2019 – me this last spring )

At the beginning, printing was just a job and I couldn’t wait to get off work. But the last thirty years I really appreciate the joy of letterpress printing.

All In The Printing Family With Two Tone Press

Thirteen years ago, printer and illustrator Michelle Dreher began the roots of Two Tone Press in Kansas City, Missouri. Joining forces with her sister, Angie, who helms the business side, brought exciting changes. It catapulted the growing letterpress print shop into a well-run machine full of creativity, fun & eye-catching prints and cards. They branched out with their blossoming printmaking community workshop. Michelle recounts the adventures of buying a building, expanding her studio for her sky-high printing visions, and what’s just around the bend.

EAST OR WEST, LETTERPRESS IS BEST

I grew up in a military family, so we moved around a lot. We lived in Germany and South Korea for several years before ending up back in the US. I later came to Kansas City to attend the Kansas City Art Institute and loved the city so much I never left.

Michelle Dreher of Two Tone Press (Kansas City, Missouri) creates beautifully printed letterpress cards, invitation suites, and more.

FALLING FOR THE PRECISION OF LETTERPRESS

At the Kansas City Art Institute, my degree was in illustration, but I spent a couple semesters in printmaking. While there, an interim instructor introduced me to the Vandercook. I immediately fell in love with its hairline precision and registration which made multi-color relief printing so easy.

ALL IN THE FAMILY

I started Two Tone Press in 2005 in a super-drafty warehouse loft on the top floor of an industrial brick building. I was later joined by my sister Angie in 2011 after buying a building in a soon-to-be up & coming neighborhood. She has a business background paired with a love for art and helped whip this place into shape. Together we built our own studio with a modest storefront and lots of open space and high ceilings. It’s been a long eight-year renovation journey but the studio is finally taking the shape of our initial vision.

KANSAS CITY COOL

When I purchased our building, there really wasn’t much going on around us. It has since started to flourish with other creative-minded folks who have banded together to build our own unique neighborhood.

Michelle Dreher of Two Tone Press (Kansas City, Missouri) creates beautifully printed letterpress cards, invitation suites, and more.

We even named our new area TowerEast District based on the very orange and prominent tv tower right next to us. It’s been interesting being a part of something new.

Michelle Dreher of Two Tone Press (Kansas City, Missouri) creates beautifully printed letterpress cards, invitation suites, and more.

PRINTING MENTORS

My passion lies in creating colorful relief block prints so I draw inspiration from my peers in the field. Our favorite shops are The Firecracker Press in St. Louis, MO and Tugboat Printshop in Pittsburgh, PA.

FULL TIME FUN

Two Tone Press is where I spend most of my time, but I do love to teach. I have been a part-time studio art instructor at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art for over 10 years. And just last year in 2017, my sister and I along with another colleague, Ani Volkan, started our own community printshop called Print League KC. It shares the same studio space as Two Tone Press. In addition to letterpress, Print League KC offers workshops of other print processes such as etching, lithography, and silkscreen.

Michelle Dreher of Two Tone Press (Kansas City, Missouri) creates beautifully printed letterpress cards, invitation suites, and more.

THE CREATIVE FLOW

At our studio, we create everything from custom wedding invitations to business cards. When there’s “free” time, we create our own line of colorful poster prints and cards. Due to my illustration background, I tend to incorporate hand-carved block images where I can.

Michelle Dreher of Two Tone Press (Kansas City, Missouri) creates beautifully printed letterpress cards, invitation suites, and more.

PRINTING FEATS

With the immense support of my family, buying my own building to create our unique studio was a huge accomplishment. And later, being able to give back by starting a community printshop felt really good. I enjoy sharing my passion for printmaking with others.

Michelle Dreher of Two Tone Press (Kansas City, Missouri) creates beautifully printed letterpress cards, invitation suites, and more.

PRESS HISTORY

I gained a lot of experience working at another local print shop, Hammerpress, for several years after I graduated college. Then in 2004, Brady Vest, the owner of Hammerpress, offered to sell me a Vandercook No. 3 for $400. I jumped at the opportunity.

Michelle Dreher of Two Tone Press (Kansas City, Missouri) creates beautifully printed letterpress cards, invitation suites, and more.

It was a clunky machine that had no motor and a funny little hand crank to distribute the ink. Once I started my own studio, I later traded it for an SP15 from Indianapolis which is still my favorite press to this day.

Michelle Dreher of Two Tone Press (Kansas City, Missouri) creates beautifully printed letterpress cards, invitation suites, and more.

BOXCAR PRESS’ ROLE

We started by using metal-backed polymer plates that we spray-mounted to MDF boards. This made precision printing challenging because the boards were never perfectly flat. Then in 2013, my sister recommended we finally invest in a Boxcar Base so we bought the biggest one that would fit on our Vandercook, a 19×13.

Michelle Dreher of Two Tone Press (Kansas City, Missouri) creates beautifully printed letterpress cards, invitation suites, and more.

I can’t even express how much it changed our whole world by making setup so much faster and easier. The grid marks were totally worth it. I’ve never regretted the purchase for even a second and can’t believe I didn’t invest in one sooner.

PRINTING TIPS

Here is one of our useful letterpress printing techniques. We like using a sheet of mylar on top of the tympan sheets around the cylinder to keep a clean surface and then we also like to use removable sticker paper on it to bump up certain areas of the print.

WHAT’S NEXT

We look forward to expanding our store to offer print work from all over the world. We also recently bought the building next door which now has a gallery space on the second floor. We’re excited to put together interesting exhibits that will include letterpress and other print work.

Replacing the spring on your Windmill’s swing away lay gauge

Our swing away lay gauge makes printing all types of forms on the windmill a snap. It allows the tight registration of lay gauges but conveniently swings out of the way before impression, meaning that no part of the lay gauge will come into contact with the plate or base.

Occasionally the spring that swings the arm back into position can break with use, so we sell a replacement spring.

Another repair that you may encounter is needing to replace the arm itself. You might have a broken arm if you’ve tried to use the swing away lay gauge for die cutting. No worries, we sell replacement arms as well.

In this article we’ll review how to disassemble and reassemble the lay gauge so you can replace either of these parts. Step one is to find a small wrench to remove the nut holding the gauge’s shaft.

replacing-lay-gauge-spring-1

Once you’ve removed the nut, carefully remove the washer underneath. Then you can flip the gauge upside down and carefully slide out the shaft that connects to the roller arm. Note how the spring’s end turns upward and fits into a small hole in the roller arm. When you reassemble you’ll have to align the spring in the same way. Once the roller arm is out, you can remove the larger swing away arm. Note how this swing away arm is keyed to fit onto the roller arm, because you’ll also have to align this when you reassemble.

replacing-lay-gauge-spring-2

replacing-lay-gauge-spring-3

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To put the gauge back together, place the spring into the slot in the side.

replacing-lay-gauge-spring-5

Then, slide in the swing away arm and align the key hole with the hole through the body of the gauge.

replacing-lay-gauge-spring-6

This next step takes all ten fingers, and a little bit of patience. Slide in the roller arm. The spring’s end needs to fit into the hole on the roller arm, while the end of the shaft needs to fit into the swing away arm’s key hole.

replacing-lay-gauge-spring-7

Once the shaft is in place, the spring fits through the hole of the roller arm, and the swing away arm is keyed in place, you can then put the washer back onto the shaft by its threads.

replacing-lay-gauge-spring-8

We recommend one small drop of blue Threadlocker Loctite 242 to hold the bolt in place after reassembly. The swinging motion of the shaft can work the bolt loose during operation, so the Loctite holds the bolt in place.

replacing-lay-gauge-spring-10
replacing-lay-gauge-spring-9 

Quickly replace the nut and tighten up with your wrench. Don’t overtighten or you will restrict the swinging motion of the swinging arm–it should be as tight as possible without causing the swing away arm to bind. If you used Loctite (as recommended) you should leave the nut to sit 15 minutes to harden into place.

replacing-lay-gauge-spring-11

Congratulations! You now have a swing away lay gauge ready to print AND the use of both your hands again. Let us know if you have any other tips to keeping your swing away lay gauge working well. Oh, and don’t forget to add a drop of machine oil down the oil hole at the end of the gauge. This helps keep the shaft from wearing out over years of use.

replacing-lay-gauge-spring-12

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.boxcar press letterpress printshop boxcar press letterpress printshop

Who is that?!

This hungry little face is found on the delivery side of a Heidelberg KSBA cylinder press. While it has lurked there unknown, it has eaten many wandering scoring matrices – those are the blue strips inside – plus other mysterious dainties. If your scoring matrix or lunch is missing, ask this fella if he has seen it.

One of the Boxcar Press cylinder presses