Tympans for hand presses
I work with a couple of museums operating iron hand presses. They (we) are in desperate need of a substitute for tympan paper to cover tympans. I have a partial roll of 40” tympan paper but want to keep it for my own needs. Can anyone suggest a substitute for covering tympans on hand presses. The stuff that Rummonds recommended is no longer available. I have experimented with model airplane fabric but find it not sturdy enough for tympans. Does anyone have any recommendations?
JH
I suggested the use of model airplane fabric called Koverall, which is a very strong polyester fabric with a very fine tight weave, and is heat-shrinkable and quite durable. I made a tympan and frisket system for my Poco 0 proof press and with that tympan dressed with one layer of Koverall and frisket dressed with large rubber bands, a few years ago I printed a 350- page book hand set in Goudy’s Village type, printed one page at a time on the Poco in an edition of 50 copies. The same Koverall tympan cover is still in fine condition and has been used for other printing projects. I used Henry guides stuck to the Koverall to hold the paper. The Henry guides fell off a year or so after the book was finished, but otherwise the tympan and frisket are unchanged.
Almost any smooth and moderately heavy paper will work. I’ve used Tyvek mailing envelopes (works, not great), paper stock wrapping (a little light on the weight), heavy butcher paper, and the like.
Will have to try the Koverall, it’s not expensive.
If kraft paper is preferable to a gleaming white tympan, another solution could be the heavy kraft paper builders’ supply stores sell, for use to protect freshly-finished hardword floors from wear and tear of workers’ boots. It’s a bit stouter than wrapping paper; another option if you can find it is a heavy kraft paper binders and conservators often use, as a disposable work surface or for reinforcing a binding. I made a tympan covering and a frisket cover using that from the conservation department of the University of Coimbra Biblioteca Geral when we were restoring a roughly 250-year-old iron hand printing press they have. That was also very nice kraft paper.
An inexpensive, readily available substitute for tympan is butcher’s wrap. Having one surface waxed with the other a smooth, plain kraft, it is a stout paper easily serving the demands of tympan sheeting. Use either surface to meet print requirement. :o)
I have used Kraft paper with good results, blending Rummonds’ method to affix the paper and Lewis Alen’s recommendation to wet the paper so it stiffens tight. It is the heavier weight Kraft paper.
I use teflon fabric. It is durable, stable (won’t expand or contract, is waterproof ). I covered the tympan on my Reliance handpress in 2002 when I constructed a steel tympan and frisket frame and I have never changed it in 24 years. I use four nylon sliding straps on the frisket frame and no masking cover.. that is because I use lift-off aluminum u-shaped runners on my roller bearers that bring the bearers to type high. After I roll the ink using the bearers, I lift the covers off so that they don’t get ink on the paper or leave an impression on a large sheet. So I don’t need a paper mask on the frisket frame to keep ink from the final print. The straps keep the paper in place when the tympan and frisket are lowered. If you are a purist, I understand you can’t use space age material, though I suspect William Morris would have had a roll of Teflon at Kelmscott if it had been available. I’m not a purist, I just like printing without the constant need to change tympan covers.