Do I need all this?
Hi, I’ve just acquired my very first press and it’s being shipped a long way to me. The seller is offering to include a lot of type, keys, and spacers, but I’m wondering if I need all that if I plan to print from polymer plates? It would save me a lot on shipping if I only need the press. Any advice is welcome. Thank you so much!
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Hi,
Without knowing anything about the press you are purchasing, I’d be tempted to say play it safe and take the lot !
What if you discover there is a specific item that isn’t attached to the press that you really need (but have declined to have shipped) and is otherwise very hard to come by ? What if you later decide to use type as well as polymer plates ?
Once you are set up with your press, the stuff you find you genuinely will never need could be sold on to offset your original shipping costs.
My first press shipped with bucket-loads of bits and pieces. I am glad to have been able to learn about their usefullness (or otherwise) at my leasure.
I hope this helps…
Good luck with your new press !
Ian.
Looking at your pic….. I see two composing sticks, two quion keys, and a pile of furniture. I’d guess that somewhere in there are also some quoins and other goodies. These are things that you’ll probably need sooner or later. If it were me, i’d keep it all.
You can never have too much furniture !
I would have them send everything. you don’t want to kick yourself later when you find out that you have a need for it.
I’ll chime in on that “kicking yourself later” part.
When I got my press the man we bought it from rummaged through his shop & loaded us up with a few miscellaneous parts & a bunch of old rollers. One pair of rollers he handed to me I noticed looked much smaller & not the same as the others - I questioned if they belonged to my press (noting they were different) he took a second look & said I was right they were different, setting them back down…
After getting acquainted with the press, printing a few things & troubleshooting the projects I’d been working on. I learned my press was originally equipped with a set of rider/vibrator rollers (that I needed & are now very hard to come by) which were probably what the original owner tried to give to me. Ouch!
If the sellers throwin it in & you can afford the shipping, take it. In my case the Original owner had to be out of his building soon after & despite having some contact information I haven’t been able to get in touch with him since.
I’ll chime in with a view on shipping — you shouldn’t pay more than $20 I’m guessing if it’s shipped via UPS Ground. You’d be amazed how little it costs to ship some pretty hefty stuff.
If you find any quoins and keys you dont need I would be happy to pay for them.. I have 4 quions and no key (looks a lot like the key in your photos..)
And yes I kick myself every day because I messed and thats why im short on quoins and keys.. Not because I didn’t ship it but because I thought there was an understanding and well no go someone else went in and got them all before I got there.. So do yourself a favor and ship them (or I would be happy to take it off your hands!)
Wow, thanks for all the responses! I guess I should take everything. The reason why I’m asking is because I’m shipping them internationally, and the shipping may cost more than what I’m paying for the press. Thanks for all the helpful comments. I’ll let you guys know if I decide to give up all the furniture and maybe someone who needs it can take it. Thanks again!