STOP the PRESS! or START the PRESS!

Bet that got your attention…

I lost track when the last floor press was made and I believe the last tabletops were made in the 70s, maybe 80s.

Well….
That just changed. It was only a matter of time.
It is possible to buy a NEW tabletop press!

I just saw one on EBAY, its a 7.5x10.
It looks like the Chinese have revived the manufacturing of tabletop presses.
Considering that they invented relief printing a few thousand years ago (Sorry Herr G!) it seems strangely appropriate.

The posting is a bit odd, but it does bear researching.
The auction shows a sidearm press, with feet reminding me of a Craftsman.

They also show pages from the instruction book included, but the instructions show a front handle, probably Adana clone.
This is confusing indeed, but but intruiging nonetheless.

Supposedly they are banging these things out on a CNC rig.

Im still unsure whether to be thriled to see machines back in production or whether to be afraid…

Joking aside, if someone went all this trouble, to set up production, the future of Letterpress might be heading for brighter days.

$2k is a tad high, but this is a NEW machine.

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It is the Salama Antiqua. The makers also offer 3 Adana 8 x5 clones. http://www.robundo.com/salama/blog/?tag=salama-antiqua

image: salama antiqua.jpg

salama antiqua.jpg

This press and others made by Robundo have been around for several years. Their tabletop 21-J platen was introduced as far back as March 2008.

Robundo “borrowed” the Adana name almost 10 years ago, to the annoyance of the trademark owners, but have dropped it from more recent machines and adopted the name “Salama” (Salamander). Robundo do not currently export their presses outside of Japan, so although they look good they are almost impossible to get hold of.

They are also eye-wateringly expensive.

The Robundo link lead to some very interesting things about letterpress in Japan including typecasting and printing. There was one video that I found very interesting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzZhLVwyWMU

Is it just me or does the platen look like aluminum in the photo?

Rick

It would appear to be that they are all aluminum, from what I read.
I didnt know they had been around that long.
Last week, I started seeing them on EBAY.

It would appear to be that they are all aluminum, from what I read.
I didnt know they had been around that long.
Last week, I started seeing them on EBAY.