Letterpress odds and ends

I have the luxury of a quick ride north to Letterpress things in Mass.

I’ve been really wishing that I had that luxury! I’m out in California (Bay Area) but keep hearing about all of the great resources back east…

That’s funny, AnnieR - I’m in Indiana and keep seeing ads for all the great things in California!

You all are funny, I am in California and I’m having a hard time getting rid of those things! I would say to keep watching the classifieds here, check ebay and find out who the old equipment dealers are. Not old equipment per se but old as in years. They have a lot of info in their heads and may have a contact or two to help you out. In the north bay there is a paper salesman named Glenn Bauder. He has some stuff and knows of more. In San Francisco there is Norman Hicks of Hicks Brothers. He sells used equipment. If you contact him, please do not say that I hinted he was old! LOL. I am in the process of closing my letterpress shop and I am retiring. My last day is tomorrow. I have a fair amount of reglets, leads, spacers, etc…..you know, stuff……if you are interested. I would love to help out somebody just getting started. Rich

Thanks for the input, all. Rich- I will send you a message to get more details about what you have available. I’m sure that you have plenty that I could use!

You can contact Craig Black at www.donblack.ca . They have a huge inventory of interesting things. Nice folks.

I’ve seen Don Black’s site and will definitely look into that- for some reason I was thinking he only had presses… not sure why I thought that- there is a ton of stuff there!

Also, is it true that Jim Heagy no longer has his warehouse in S.F.? I keep hearing that but I’m hoping maybe he’s still there…

At this point, I’m really looking for reglets and leading/slugs. I really only need a pretty small amount because my press is an Adana 5x3. Really little- so I don’t need a ton of stuff for locking up.

Okay- since everyone has been so helpful thus far, I’d like to add another question to the rest… I notice that wood type is really pricey on Ebay. What does everyone think is a reasonable amount of money to pay for wood type? Obviously, it would vary by size, amount etc. but maybe just some ballpark figures? Is there such thing as anyone who makes new wood type or is it really limited to what is already out there?

Thanks all- you’ve been really nice about giving advice to a newbie :)

Yes, the prices for wood type is crazy. I think it is because that kind of type has become ‘antique’ artifact and that drives the prices up. I have found brand new wood type at:
http://www.woodtype.org/
Actually their type is expensive, but the least it is new… :-)

The new type is pretty expensive but you know, some sets of used wood type have been going for nearly as much on ebay. Crazy considering that wood type doesn’t probably wear all that well so you could spend a ton of money on type that won’t print all that great. Especially since a lot of the folks selling it on ebay don’t seem to have enough knowledge of how it is used to say whether or not it is in decent shape. If I ever have the cash I’d probably buy a small set new- just to support the effort of keeping it in production and because the whole phenomena of people paying a ton of money to sell if for more money in antique shops makes me crazy!

Russ or Claire Clements and daughter, Chris Clements Ashe

Type-Tiques, Inc.
Lebanon OH
513-932-5020.

http://members.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=type-tiques