New Briar Press Member

Hi, Just joined and was wondering how to proceed.
I have a letterpress department and am closing it down. Retiring.
I have lots of great equipment and would like to know the best way to sell it. Some is of the same quality as in the Printing Museum here in MA. Do I take photos and just publish them?
What about pricing and locally do people pick them up?
Any guidance would be helpful to this new member.
I believe I read you can only publish 3 pieces of equipment at a time. Is there a guidelines page to read. Thank you.

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you could donate it to me! I know this shop, everything is like new and very well maintained, if I wasn’t retiring myself I would buy some of this stuff.

Hello, Dickg, you’re retiring too! I’m finishing at the end of this year, 2017, after starting in 1965. William

I started in 1961 when I was 13 years old, last year I had some heart issues and it made me rethink the whole program. My wife and I bought an old farm and are moving there at the beginning of the summer. I still plan on taking a few presses with me along with my ludlows and linotype, not going to print commercially anymore but I still want to play with my toys.

Maybe post on usa colleges and universities letterpress association….CULPA…..would be nice if went/purchased by an educational establishment….eg in UK Kingston University spent 100000_£ on setting up letterpress with ttwo Vandercook and FAG presses……but that is probably rare-ish…..ain’t a lot of money around in the uk educational system for that kind of thing…..student numbers demographically are coming down a bit, student fee levels plus a few are kinda outsourcing specialist technical education eg Chelsea part of University Arts London sends students to New North Press I think it Is.. although most London and big UK arts uni’s have decent set ups.

Contact Don Black Linecasting in Toronto Canada

[email protected] | Information Request | Phone - (416) 751-5944 | Fax (416) 751-5413
120 Midwest Rd, Unit 5, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M1P 3B2, Copyright © 2017 Don Black Linecasting Ltd.

Don, Craig or Albert will help you.

dickG - you should start a printing summer camp and charge young artist printers to come play with your toys on your farm :-)

Speak with John Barrett at Letterpress Things http://www.letterpressthings.com
He may or may not be interested in purchasing but could help you out with the value of your equipment.
You can post up to 3 items in the classifieds here (I recommend making a donation to Briar Press when you do) or post items on Craigslist. You’d be surprised at how far folks will travel for letterpress equipment!
Best of luck
Steve
Whistle Pig Press

Hi - I am always looking for mats for my Ludlow should you want to sell any of them. Best - Neil

I am planning on setting up my ludlows and linotype and offering to teach people how to operate them when I get settled in my new place. Already have a few young kids who want to come by. I have a large collection of Ludlow mats, 18 cabinets with double fonts in 4 of 5 cabinets, plus about 80 fonts on gallies that are duplicate fonts. If I do downsize my old friend Theo Bell always gets first shot at the stuff, he has a passion for Ludlow and has a rather large collection. Only problem is my new place is out of the way, I don’t think many people will travel to me, I can only see one house from mine, even getting the equipment to me will be a challenge, large trucks won’t be able to travel down the road i’m on.

Dick,

I live in a century-old farmhouse out on the Iowa prairie. This is not the end of the earth, but if you go up in my attic you can see it from here.

If you offer to teach Ludlow and Linotype, people will come!!!!!!

Rick

Rick, i’m not worried about people coming, I am going to be retired and don’t have to work any more, I just want to play and enjoy my toys, and I like to share with others, it would be nice to have a few people come and learn what I have learned over the last 55 years in letterpress. The old timers and going very fast, it seems , very soon there will be hardly any one left from the old days of letterpress, I believe it is important to pass this knowledge on to some younger kids willing to learn.

Dick,

I usually teach one or two Letterpress Poster Printing classes at the Des Moines Art Center each summer. I love doing it, BUT, because they absolutely have zero letterpress equipment there I have to haul presses, furniture, paper, ink, aprons, composing sticks, pica poles, cans of ink, racks of reglets and furniture, cleaning rags, and a dozen or so cases of fancy wood type, borders and ornaments for the students to work with. EVERYTHING necessary for them to work with. A major pain in the ass!!!!!! I usually have one weekend workshop and then another two weekends later. That way I can leave everything there for two weeks and only have to haul everything back and forth one time.

Now, I am in the process of getting a Challenge proof press and lots of letterpress equipment donated so that I can help to set up a letterpress workshop facility about 7 miles away from me. The space it is going into will become a community art/workshop area. Not open all the time but set-up to host workshops for various art events. I am terribly excited about getting this going and teaching there once in a while. I would only have to haul-in the cases of type, etc. Much easier that taking truckloads back and forth!

We will see how this goes.

Rick

Hi!!!

I am in dire need of type and furniture if you have any left!
I just opened a studio and can’t find reasonably priced furniture anywhere…

Please let me know!!

with a table saw, you can make your own furniture

Hello, am always eager to buy linotype fonts if you decide to sell off any. Bob