Packing

coco bella

It would be useful to know what kind of press you have, but yes, I actually do buy packing for my press, a Vandercook. If you are using a platen, yes, I would say it is worth buying the red pressboard. The better the materials you use, the better you will print. Depending.

Gerald

The red pressboard is best, but I have seen some people use cereal boxes and manila folders for packing on a platen press, with decent results. Too-soft packing can make the type wear out prematurely.

Try a sheet of soft acrylic that is non-shattering and dosen’t have a “memory” instead of the red pressboard. I have been using it on platen and cylinder presses for years without having to change the base of the packing.

Try a sheet of soft acrylic that is non-shattering and dosen’t have a “memory” instead of the red pressboard. I have been using it on platen and cylinder presses for years without having to change the base of the packing.

Halfpenny

This may be true, but it is really bad advice to give to newbies (who are the majority of folks on this list). Folks have taken apart presses and pleaded for help, and completely puzzled those in the know, when all that was the matter was that they needed to change their packing out because it was damaged by previous (over-heavy) impression.

Gerald

Bielerpr

How does that make it bad advice? Red pressboard wears quickly and in the hands of a novice can wear type as they try to get better impression. The impression is softened enough by the few sheets of tympan paper that cover the acrylic. Why shouldn’t ‘newbies’ benefit from tips from people who have successfully experimented with non-traditional materials?

Halfpenney Press

Halfpenny

I suspect it is never useful to another how successful one (personally) is at something unless that can be explained so carefully that anyone reading it can understand it.

Even a hard packing needs a bit of “give.” Or why else even offer the option? Why didn’t press manufacturers just figure the maximum thickness of paper and just undercut to that?

Plastics and polymers (acrylic, polyester, mylar, tape, etc.), are hardly non-traditional letterpress materials, since they have been used for well over half-a-century.

Gerald

Gerald

I offer a suggestion that has worked well and by your own admission has been used for years and yet, since it was not your answer it is dismissed outright. I think there is room for discussion:

There are softer non-shattering acrylics that have “give” (spend some time at the plastic store, they will be glad to show you). The non-memory plastics can take a impact and return to the original shape and can be used over and over as a base for packing just like the pressboard. I think the sheet I used was .020 where the red pressboard mics closer to .017. These plastics have been used for years in the hot-foil stamping industry with great success.

Variations of this idea were used on hand-presses a hundred years ago (called India Rubber), and Lew Allen recommended a sheet .050 vinyl and even a piece of thin formica! I even have a plastic surfaced outer tympan on a Vandercook (it was sold by Vandercook) that has taken thousands of ‘hits’ and still works great. It’s too bad that this product is no longer available because it works very well.

There is another recently introduced product called “Yupo Paper”, sold at art stores, that is a plastic paper product, impervious to water, that can be cleaned with simple solvents like kerosene. It makes a perfect tympan for printing dampened sheets, accepts paste for guides, can be written on for make-ready purposes; yet won’t distort when damp.

Every old pressman I have ever known has adapted materials on hand to try to make the job print better and easier, and there are plenty of new tricks for old dogs as well as old tricks for young ones. I have been printing for 35 years and I still learn new things all the time. My teacher (who had printed for 60 years when I met him) called himself a ‘practicing’ printer. When asked why he used that appellation he stated flatly, “I’m still practicing.”

Halfpenny

Halfpenny

This is very good detailed information. Thanks.

Gerald