just starting out :)
Hi! Any kind of help anyone can give me would be great. I am very new to letterpress and about to purchase an original 6x9 Cook Victor letterpress. I don’t know much about the press other than the fact that it is the original Victor design before Kelsey overtook the company (so hopefully that will mean a better press for me) and that the press is in working order with good rollers and ready to go. I will be restoring it to its former glory so it will be completely cleaned up, free of dirty and rust by the time I am finished with it. Now comes the fun part.
I have someone in my state who is willing to help teach me how to print on my press. I will be most likely working with photopolymer plates since I am a designer as well, and really don’t have TOO much interest in hand set type, besides the very basic things I may need it for. Most of my investment will be in the plates rather than type. In the future, I plan to begin a business starting out with just my tabletop. I am aware that most invitation businesses or printers accepting money for their work is most likely done on larger floor presses, but at the moment that’s just not in the cards for me. I feel it is best for me to start out with a smaller tabletop doing smaller runs, pretty much just practicing on my own until I get better at it and perhaps decide to purchase a floor press permitting I have the space. I may also design on the side and have a printer do the printing for me as I gain experience printing on my own press and learning to use larger ones.
My question is, what are the main problems that new printers seem to run into? I am a quick learner and also very eager, so I really hope this comes easy to me and isn’t as difficult as it seems. I have always loved letterpress ever since I discovered it and finally decided it is something I would like to pursue. It is not only a hope of mine to begin a business, but I truly get personal fulfillment out of the items I create. I want to bring that same fulfillment and happiness to others, which is why I would eventually like to provide a service with letterpress. So, I have noticed issues like ghosting, over-inking, roller roundness, packing, correct height of the rollers…from what I can see, all of this plays a part in how well your print comes out. Are there any specific guidelines of printing that a new printer should know? I have done some research and read as much as I can on the subject and have used Briar Press as a wonderful resource, but these problems seem fairly common. Are they easy to fix? I am hoping to get a good impression off this press (can anyone vouch for a Cook-style Victor?) I’m just trying to prepare myself for any frustration I might come across so that I can overcome it before I feel like I’m going to give up. lol.
Also, I have a question about “bleeding” off the edge of the paper. How exactly does this work? Do you just make sure your plate is slightly larger than your paper, or that your paper is slightly smaller than your plate? Would this cause the ink to ink onto the platen, or does the paper in between stop this from happening? I’m just a curious newbie. I am also interested in two-color printing. It seems like it would be very difficult to align the colors from the two different plates once you re-ink the machine in a new color. I’m guessing as long as the pins are in the same place this isn’t a difficult feat?
Any help is appreciated!! Thanks!
Easier to make bleeds by printing on larger paper and trimming down to size after the ink has dried. Printing on the tympan (or the back of a frisket) is to be avoided: ink will eventually find its way from the tympan to the back side of whatever you’re printing and/or your hands and then to everything including that nice new shirt you’re wearing. (A printers apron is recommended.)
Registering two or more colors is mostly a matter of taking care, but simple in concept only. You’ll most likely move the pins each time in response to where your image is printing. It’s easier to move the gauge pins than the type in very small increments unless you have a set of register quoins, then they are equally easy or difficult depending on your point of view. But I still move the pins most of the time. I don’t have to take the chase out to do that. Subsequent runs through the press of a sheet should always use the same two edges for registration against the gauge pins. Even the best cutters can have enough variation in a cut of a stack of paper to affect tight registration if you don’t use the same two edges each time.
It’s harder than you think; but then everything having to do with letterpress is more difficult than you think. Especially if you want to do it well enough to sell your work to others. There were reasons for apprenticeships. Since those are generally no longer available,we have to struggle along as best we can. But it makes for a much longer learning curve.
As lots of others have said…go buy one or more of the books recommended on David Rose’ web site http://www.fiveroses.org/intro.htm. Read them. Read them again. Hang out with other printers as much as possible. Most of them know more than you do. Even after 30 years of fairly constant hobby printing I’m learning new stuff constantly. Or unlearning something I thought I knew.
Thanks so much for your advice and help. Honestly if my persistence to learn this is and master it is anything like my determination to learn how to design and build websites was, I won’t stop until I get it right.
Now if I am just beginning, what would most people recommend I do about paper cutting/trimming? I imagine it’s much cheaper to buy larger sheets and cut them down, but instead of buying a paper cutter myself (which I would have NO IDEA how to use) would I outsource someone to do this? How do I go about finding this person? I understand this can amount to an expensive hobby, but as of right now I’m looking for materials that will suffice for getting me on my feet, and then from there I can experiment. However I do want to start with a very good press. Should I hold out for something better than a Cook-style Victor (not a Kelsey Victor, it’s the original design) or have I found a good thing?
TIA for any help…I think I will be contacting a printer I know to see if I can get the ball rolling soon. I’m very excited!
Hello,
I’m making my firts experiments in letterpress and I would like to know something very important before trying anything: how should I clean/wash the type after I used it? Should I wash it with something particular?
Thanks in advance for any answers!
Lots of ways depending on your limits. There’s the toluene based type wash. Really cleans type well, but there’s that toxicity problem.
Other materials used include kerosene, mineral spirits, lighter fluid, simple green variety of cleaners. The latter since it is water based needs to be thoroughly dried off the type. Lead oxide is just as nasty as toluene. I use the roller wash that NA Graphics sells through their web site.
Not cheap but works well and not particularly toxic and not too smelly and not very flammable.
Most of these are used with a rag while still in the form.
Crisco will also loosen up undried ink, but it’s hard to get off the type afterward and it will interfere with the next inking. Its pretty good for cleaning up ink tables and rollers though. You just have to follow it up with a second cleaning of simple green, etc to get the crisco off the press and rollers.
If you’re trying to clean old grungy type, lot of folks swear by a soak in Dave Churchaman’s baby shampoo and borax formula.
This topic gets hashed and rehashed here and on the Letpress list. Check both archives for details.
Oh! and go back and read my comments above about books.
Thank you very much!