Wood type vs print-a-sign type?

I have come across a few fonts of Print-a-sign type that I am going to offer for sale but I do not know anything about it.
This type is in very good shape and prints well.
But it is not wood, so my question is….what is it made out of?
& what is a fair price?
It has a great patina, the typeface is 2.5”, it is .918 high and has 130 total pieces. Thank you all in advance for any and all advice you have, Jd/Mpls

image: type 1.jpg

type 1.jpg

image: type 2.jpg

type 2.jpg

image: type 3.jpg

type 3.jpg

image: type 4.jpg

type 4.jpg

image: t1.jpg

t1.jpg

Log in to reply   7 replies so far

From what I have seen it is a form of plastic. Unlike certain traditional surfaces—foundry type, wood type, photopolymer, copper plate—not the best. I like the turtles.

Gerald

Probably acrylic giving a harder surface compared to wood.
Like the Sofadi wood poster type the blocks sit on rails across the bed and are held in place by clips on the rails.

Poster type does not appear often and given it is a font with some character it will be of interest to many printers who have presses that can print from A4 upwards.

those turtles are cool, i don’t think they are the kind you use in printing, my friend has a turtle that he uses for a stone.

Where I worked, we had only one letter D for newspaper posters, so I made another with a piece of Formica or Laminex (used as a table or counter top in the kitchen) stuck on piece of wood and made up to type-high with card; about 2 inches high, but that was the full depth of the character, no beard allowance. It worked well and made the journalists happier (to have 2 letters D).

In the newspaper where my elder son worked as electrician special class, they used an old newspaper rotary offset press for their posters.

At two of the newspapers where I worked, wheels detached from turtles, one somewhat disastrously, the other no loss of type.

Alan.

I have some of this as well, but mine is wood. Mine came with a Showcard Press set-up. I am not near my reference material right now, but I believe the typeface is Century Nova.

Rick

I think I’ll agree with Platenprinter that it is acrylic. That is what it feels like and it does not ‘melt’ when I used a fast typewash on it. Any idea about a $ range?. When I inked it up and ran a few proofs it held and released ink as well, or better, than any wood type I have. I am looking for a real shop turtle but will have to do with these two for now. The one in the foreground is named Mrs. Joseph E. Johnson for the confederate general at the battle of Kennisaw Mountain Georgia where she was found wandering in traffic.

There is quite a collection of this type along with a Print-a-sign in a Museum I work at. I am trying to find any information on the Print-a-sign to create info cards and to possibly get it printing. Any help would be much appreciated