Hand alignment
Hello!
I recently built a hand tabletop letterpress using plans off Readymade (http://www.readymade.com/projects/article/tabletop_letterpress). The press looks great and I think it will do well for the simple projects I have planned.
I purchased a set of the alphabet off ebay (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260514653812&ssPageNa...) to use on the press.
What are some solutions to hold the letters in place to put ink on them and also hold them in place while turning them upside down onto the paper?
First: Read, among other items… http://www.fiveroses.org/intro.htm
Second: Be prepared to spend a few bucks for…composing stick, leads, slugs, spaces, quads, lock-up furniture, quoins, quoin key, gauge pins, tympan paper, ink, and probably a few more items that you’ll need along the way.
HAVE FUN!!
Yes, read something about standard practice, if only to learn the terminology, and then make a chase (a holding frame) from plywood (maybe with bearers built in to level the impression), wooden wedge quoins, a wood composing stick, etc. You could even figure out a way to attach tympan and packing to the platen (the top piece of plywood). The paper will have to be placed on top of the form, not the other way around. To ink, you’ll need a brayer; and you will probably need to remove the chase to ink it.
I think you’ll still need to get lead spacing material to put between words and lines.
When building your chase, you could add form screws to the design. These are screws that go through the chase and apply pressure on the type. This would eliminate the need for quoins. If you’ve built the press, you have the skills needed for this endeavor. You may prefer to have a chase made from angle iron if you can weld.
Like others said, you will want lead spacing, and possibly some wood furniture. If you have a planer, you could make some reasonably useful furniture, but purchasing some of this will be a worthwhile investment.
Would these work for my Quoins if I had 8x10 (inner size) cast iron chase?
http://cgi.ebay.com/Challenge-Letterpress-Lockup-Quoins-with-Key-Vintage...