Excelsior Chase Base vs. Boxcar Base

I have a kelsey 3x5 which I use to print gift tags for a local store. I am currently hand-setting type, but I’d like to branch out and design my own tags and print on photopolymer. I have been researching different bases to use with photopolymer plates and I’m contemplating using the excelsior chase base (mainly because it has a larger area than the boxcar base and the excelsior base is less than half the price of the boxcar base).

Has anyone used an excelisor base on a tabletop press? If so, are there any positive or negative experiences that you think could help in my decision? I have also read other posts that suggest mounting the plates on either spacing material or furniture. Is this a possibility? Any suggestions are appreciated.

Log in to reply   1 reply so far

“note: although these are an inexpensive alternative a well-known & popular photopolymer base, these are *not* machined metal, nor do they include the alignment grid.”

Well, that says it all for me right there- not metal.

But, for your purposes and the purposes of printing gift tag forms, it’s probably a good buy assuming the function works well- the gauge pin question really makes me wonder what those are made out of/and how, like is it just a plastic piece which is stuck to the tympan?

Anyhow, you CAN mount photopolymer to just about anything that is flat, relatively hard, and has a decent tolerance of flatness. All you need to do is make sure it’s type high once the polymer is mounted.

For a press like yours that shouldn’t be so difficult, because you’re not buying a huge amount of material that has to stay flat across a large distance- you just need a small piece of mdf at 3/4 inch, and enough manilla envelope paper cut up into the same size as the base, taped to the back, to get the form to the right approximate height.

After that it’s just inking adjustment with tape, and packing, both of which you were probably going to have to have done anyway.