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If your gauges are .75, it sounds like the 6x9 base will be too big. You most likely will not be able to print a form that large, so you should probably go for the smaller base.

What kind of press are you talking about? Tabletop?

Following guidelines found on this site and other recommended reading material, the largest forme I print is 5” X 7” with a 6” X 9” base on my 9” X 12” Craftsmen tabletop.

-Matthew

Thanks. I have a 6.5” x 10” Craftsmen tabletop. I would hate to smash my gauges, or break anything. Elum does tell me that I’m pretty safe with the 6” x 9” base and that’s why I’m confused.

They might be assuming that you’re using a different gauge. I haven’t used their base, but you need to look at the amount of space you’ll theoretically have once it’s in your chase.

6.5x10 chase minus 6x9 base equals half an inch on the short side and a quarter inch of clearance on the long side. Not much room to work with for registration, or anything else for that matter. Anything inside that base’s area will be crushed if you’re not careful.

Unless you’ve personally had success printing a large form on your press, most advice here suggests that your press will not have enough impression strength to print evenly across the entire size of your platen. I think this is also part of why boxcar recommends going with the smaller size base.

A 5x7 bleed with your press might be pushing it, but maybe not if you’re not doing any full floods. If you’re bleeding cash, maybe you can just go with the larger and then have it cut down if it doesn’t work for you. Then you’ll have 3 bases.

:D

The gage pins are on the platen, not the chase, so there may well be room to fit these on the tympan and still have plenty of room with the 6x9 base. I measured the platen of a C&P Pilot and found it 7.25”x12.25”, which would allow plenty of room for gage pin placement and room for the grippers, too.

One can print a large area if the coverage is not too heavy on such a press. The platen should be set to give you uniform impression anywhere within that 6x9 area. You may have to do some makeready of the images are not equally distributed, however.

I have the same press.

I also have BOTH of the bases from Boxcar… the 6x9 and the 4.5 X 7.5.

You cannot lock up the 6x9 base in the chase of this press. I have been able to wedge a small piece of furniture in place of a quoin on the long bottom edge in cases where I needed the larger base. This is not recommended for everyday use. And… if you do do that, you cannot use guage pins on the platen. There is not enough room for clearance.

The 4.5 X 7.5 base is an awkward shape for me, but it works. Boxcar will gladly cut down a base to the size of your liking. If I were to purchase another base I would purchase the 6 X 9 and have Boxcar cut it down to 6 X 8. That would give you maximum base area with the ability to still lock-up and use guage pins.

Feel free to send me a message if you have any other questions.

Thanks Cupcakepress. I think I am going to try the 6 x 8. I should cut down a piece of wood 6 x 8 to test out.