9x12 Deep Relief Boxcar Base

Avivona:

You know best what type of work you hope to produce with the press and what investment you wish to make. I think I would be inclined to purchase the largest base you can so you have the flexibility to do larger work, although you will find limits to the inking and impression capability at some point.

One thing to remember is that the base should fit within the area of the grippers (frisket fingers) of the press as if they collide with the base, you could damage the base. You most likely will not be able to use standard gage pins to support the paper as they will be crushed or crush the base if they are within the base area. I use an almost full-chase base in my platen press, and use folded paper guides to eliminate the interference of the pins. I also keep my grippers positioned at the full outside edge of their positioning bar to avoid that conflict.

Some folks have opted to get a larger base in sections so that if printing a small image, one could use a small base section and combine them in the chase for larger image areas. You might check with the supplier for the cost of a sectional base, as I believe they price them at a better per square inch price than purchase of the individual small bases.

Well, any size larger than the chase would be rather useless unless you were planning to cut it up into pieces small enough to lock up inside the chase.

I’m guessing that you want some practical advice on how much smaller. As a practical matter presses can print an area up to 1/2 or maybe 2/3 the inside chase area without degradation of the print quality. If you increase the packing to get a stronger impression of a larger area, then you risk damaging the press.

Of course you will need to lock up the base in the chase so the largest possible base you could use would be about 1” smaller in both width and height of the actual inside chase dimensions. Some have bought a large single base and had it cut up into sections that could be mixed and matched as needed.

Give Boxcar a call — they’ll advise on size but my guess is you’ll buy the 9 x 12 and they’ll cut it to 7 x 10 or so. It will certainly have to be smaller than the chase size so that you can lock it up.

Thanks for the help everyone! :)

I also have a Monarch. I called Boxcar and was advised to get a 6x9 Base. Give them a call…they are very helpful and will explain why and what you need