Iron Press Lockup
I’ve only ever worked with presses that use a chase, but now I’ve encountered a large R. Hoe iron press that only uses corner irons. I’m curious about how furniture is arranged in this setup. Am I correct in thinking that four long pieces of furniture are needed to span the distance between the corner irons and those same pieces of furniture are used every time? The distance between the corner irons on the long side of the press bed is nearly 42.5 inches, which isn’t a size you’d typically find in a furniture cabinet.
One thing that puzzles me is that wooden furniture would bow outward when the forme is locked in place, much more than steel would in a typical chase.
I also wonder how the system of using only corner irons developed. Why wasn’t a chase used from the beginning, even if it was only made of wood?
Finally, the corner irons have an inside angle of 95 degrees which I’ve read better grips the furniture, but I don’t understand the actual physics behind this. The furniture only contacts the corner iron at a single point, leaving the rest of the inner surface unused.
The Hoe you are discussing is probably a Washington. The corner irons are used to brace the chase on the bed, and in the chase the type forme to be printed is locked up, so the quoins bear on the chase sides, and not on the corner irons. So you need a chase big enough to hold the largest type area you wish to print. Pieces of ordinary lumber no more than 3/4 inch thick can be cut to fit between the corner irons on all four sides so they hold the chase in position. If the press has its corner irons it may also have its tympan, or at least the hinge half made as part of the corner irons, for the tympan. Where is this press located? I would like to ensure it is recorded in the Worldwide Hand Press Database.
Bob
I had the same issue with our Hoe press. I bought some 5/8” x 1 1/2” iron bar and had it cut to fill the perimeter of the bed like a picture frame. I did not cut the corners as 45 degree angles, but you certainly could. I then fill the bed with standard 1-by wood boards of varying widths to position the form in the middle of the bed.
John Johnson
It is normal to set a chase on the bed of a handpress. That way makeready is done at another station. However, it is also normal to use whatever method suits the printer. So at the moment I have a pretty big chase on the bed of my Washington, and I have locked it in place with regular furniture and quoins, and then I lay my type in the chase as I set the galleys. I am doing a book so I need consistency.
It is nice to have a variety of sizes of chase and place them as the job demands. Always centre in the handpress and be prepared to use roller bearers and even platen bearers in the corners. A chase can be held in place with tape or strong magnets just outside it. Not every job requires close or consistent register.
Good luck! Rummonds’ book on handpress operation is well worth having.
Hello Bob, et al,
Bob, you may remember helping us troubleshoot our R. Hoe press here at the University of Calgary, in Alberta, Canada. At the time, we discovered the raised text on the press head was missing, leaving only a faint outline. You suggested it might be a knockoff of an authentic R. Hoe press. Unfortunately, after tackling several issues, we ultimately ran out of steam and had to shift focus to other pressing matters in our book art lab.
I appreciate the feedback you and others shared about the use of a chase with this type of press. What I didn’t mention is how this leads to the same question for older wooden hand presses, like the Ben Franklin press, or on even earlier presses like the kind Gutenberg created?
Currently, we have six engineering students designing their interpretation of a Gutenberg-era press, complete with a wooden screw, for our book arts lab. In their final year of studies, all engineering students complete an immersive team assignment called the capstone design project. The project gives students the opportunity to put all they’ve learned into practice. They plan to complete the design by the end of this year, start construction in early January, and aim to finish by March 2025. Some of you may be familiar with similar student-led projects at MIT and RIT.
I’m one of three sponsors overseeing the project. We meet with the students as needed, typically every other week. While I’m not deeply versed in this field (I dabble in letterpress printing on my Vandercook SP15 along with some platen presses), I was the best candidate we had. I also bring a background in drafting and 3D modeling, with 45 years in manufacturing.
During our last meeting, the students asked how the forme would have been held in place on a Gutenberg-era press. Of course, we can never know the answer to that question for sure but Gaskell states in his book, A New Introduction to Bibliography, which I’ve just now referenced: Sixteenth-century chases might be made of wood, as some of Plantin’s were.
This seems this answer my question, but I’m still wrapping my head around the purpose of casting or forging corner irons only to drop a chase inside them. John, your approach of adding iron bars essentially creates a kind of chase. I do understand however the benefit of creating forms within a chase on a separate table.
Thanks again for all your insights! More questions to come!
Brian Queen
I would think museums like the Plantin-Moretus might give information on how chases were held in the beds of wooden presses. Wooden wedges? Not a lot of power should be needed to hold the chase from shifting.
Corner irons on the bed of a metal handpress are of course handy for fixing the chase; they oblige us to imagine some setup of furniture and quoins not unlike the lockup within the chase. Think of a press without those corners: now you have a slippier situation.
There are historic texts on printing practices that go back to the late 1500s (?) I see a publication date on Moxon of 1603.
I believe type was always set at a station: first from the case, into the stick, onto a slab or a galley tray, then moved into the chase and locked up. The chase was carried to the press.
Rummonds, chapter 16, “Locking up a Form” has many illustrations of how he locked a chase on the bed. There is one quoin and long straddling bars from corner piece to corner piece. Since the chase must simply not shift, lockup is in one direction only — lengthwise.
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Brian Queen, I’m sorry to hear that you had to give up on the Washington - I don’t now remember what all issues you were dealing with. I am still available to help at long distance as before, no charge, and I am curious as to how the wooden press is taking shape. The old wooden presses had corner irons also, on the wooden rim of the “coffin” of the bed, and the type sat on the stone bed in the shallow wood “coffin”. The chase would have been fixed in place by some sort of wedges between it and the corner irons - because the tympan was hinged to the “plank” that was the base of the whole bed, it was important that the chase could not shift position during the press run to maintain register. So some form of device to fix the chase on the bed so it can not move during the press run is very important.
Bob