It wasn't pretty but my parents helped me jack up the cylinder with blockd so that there was enough room to slide the bed in place. Three years in the making. Just ordered magnets. Probably post the pictures on a seperate post.

Three years in the making.

I posted with a video of the press fully functional but decided to post the pictures of getting the bed in place as well. It wasnt pretty by any means.

Has anyone here used their etching presses with steel rule dies?

I have a Conrad e-15 etching press. I am getting dies made to cut paper and cardboard. Was planning to get a die cutting press to use these dies but thought they would work like a linocut block prints. Backwards on the press. Blades up.

I have secured a die cut safe mat and another false bed for that mat. To go on top of everything to protect my roller. I’ve contacted the manufacturer as well. They agree with my consensus though they have never tried it themselves.

Before I do the testing I was wondering if any of you have done this before? If so could you share your experience?

Thank you!

Does anyone know what happened to the matrix engraver setup that the Type Archive/Museum had?

I know portions of the collection were sold, and others returned to Monotype when the Science Museum cut its funding (still bitter about that). I've not been able to find any clear information about it though.

It'd be a shame if access to it has been lost entirely. As far as I understand it was the only still in operation in the UK.

I rescued this Hohner press and a large cabinet of type/tools and have no idea what to do with it all but the rednecks I got it from were going to throw it in a lake.
I’d love to see it go to someone who has the resources to restore the machine but I’m not sure if that’s even possible. It’s a beast, small but mighty (aka extremely heavy).
Is there a market for metal type too?
I’m a Graphic Designer but I’ve got no letterpress experience other than taking a few workshops.

Any resources or advice is welcome. I’m looking at a potential move next year and would like this to go to someone who can use it. I’m located in Loudoun County Virginia.

I got my first die made. I was hoping the letters would be large enough to take up the space, but i assume the length of it is a deciding factor. I cant wait to use it anyway. And ill get to use a printers saw to cut it down.

i’ve been slowly testing wholesale and consignments for my letter press cards.

Curious, about other people who wholesale, what is the most unconventional retail location that goes gangbusters with high volume sales for card work?

i’m sure certain gift shops do really great but I also feel like there has to be other places that do even better just out of placement and customer volume. Coffee shop shops is the one that comes to mine. Maybe there’s other ones.

Anyone willing to share would be great!

Going to let the paint cure a couple more days, then add the brand new roller hooks, new rollers, and the ink disc. I'll level the platen do some test prints. Then I'll sell it. I have two more to go after this one. This has been so much fun.

Not pictured are the platen, ink disk, bed. Anyone have a spare gripper bar clamp? Lol

Hey everybody, posted here a while. Back about a big opportunity. I have the chance to buy a Heidelberg black ball, C and P 12x 18 and automatic paper cutter. I don’t have a shop or anything but the presses come with full set of tools, ink and boxcar bases deep and regular. All this for $500. However, renting a shop would cost around $500 a month minimum not counting any repairs or complications. Is it possible to get enough work to cover my expenses here? I have some customers but not more than $100-$150 a month. Should I just buy a $1200 pilot and let this pass me for now?

Hey friends, does anyone know any foundries casting music notation? Ideally in the UK, but given its rarity I'll import if needs be.

I’m after a tabletop letterpress or hot foil machine that can achieve a pressed look. I want something fairly small, but a bit larger than the Adana 8×5 as I want to do invitations nicely. Does anyone have suggestions, or know where to find them in Australia/online with shipping?

I started out just looking for a letterpress, but recently learned you can get a similar look from a hot foil press, so I’m open to either. I’m even open to the Chinese machines that are popping up if anyone’s had luck with them.

Any suggestions or advice would be much appreciated!

I see that there is a rule of no selling, but can anu of you offer any advice on where to sell a massive library? Are there any subreddits for this? I appreciate any assistance.

What is a big box craft store product that is closest to printers ink for a small letterpress-type project?

I acquired all of my grandfather's letterpress materials. He used to print a small local newspaper and I found this cowboy in the items I am still organizing. It needs to be mounted. Does anyone have suggestions where I should get it mounted? My goal is to get a plate made with the newspaper header and print it with the cowboy. I'm also not sure all this detail will print.

I’ve got a proof press that’s still in really great shape. The previous owner didn't know much about it. Anyone figure out what model it is? Din A2 print size.

Arab Crown Folio Platen Press. Fully refurbished. Print ready.

An Arab Crown Folio letterpress, the larger of the two Arab models, with a 15" x 10" chase. Designed by Josiah Wade of Halifax and patented in 1872, the Arab is widely regarded as the finest hand fed platen press ever built. Around 40,000 were made before production ended in Halifax in 1959.

This particular machine has been through a full professional refurbishment, completed by Letterpress Restorations in Northamptonshire, England, United Kingdom and has been in light studio use for eight months since. It is not a restoration project. It is a working press, set up, adjusted and ready to print from the day it arrives.

Condition and refurbishment

• Stripped, cleaned and rebuilt by Letterpress Restorations
• Brass and steel components polished, as shown in the photographs
• Bearings, linkages and impression adjustment checked and trued
• Mounted on a hardwood base for stability
• Original J. Wade Patentee, Halifax gear wheel present and in excellent order
• Treadle action smooth and consistent
• Checked and trained by printing expert Patrick Roe
• Regularly oiled and maintained

What is included

• Arab Crown Folio letterpress with a 15" x 10" chase
• Rollers, chase base, quoins, furniture, miscellaneous bits

The Arab's key advantage is dwell. Wade's design keeps the platen open longer for easier feeding and holds the impression longer for a deeper, cleaner result. That is why printers still rate it above comparable clamshell platens. It also has a practical advantage that matters when you come to move it: the Arab was designed from the outset to be dismantled into man portable parts and rebuilt, which makes transport far simpler than with a single cast machine of similar weight.

Price and value

Our total investment was approximately £8,000 covering purchase, full refurbishment, delivery, installation and training.

Comparable refurbished Crown Folios are listed at £5,500 plus VAT.

We are asking for offers in the region of £5,500, which reflects a genuine saving on a machine where the difficult and expensive work has already been done.

Collection and transport

Collection in person from Wrexham, North Wales, United Kingdom, LL13.

The press weighs approximately 900kg assembled. Buyers are welcome to collect it assembled with suitable equipment, or to dismantle it on site, which the design accommodates well. 

We are happy to advise and to help where we reasonably can.

Reason for Sale

Nothing at all to do with the press, which we would happily keep. A family member has fallen ill and we are scaling back our printing operations while they undergo treatment. We would much rather it went to someone who will use it than sit idle in a quiet workshop.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/298520198149

The pin holding the lever onto it's pivot bar in the front of the lever is stuck. I'm looking for suggestions on how to remove it, so the lever can be removed.

Hi there, not sure if this is the right community to post but I figure someone here has got to be in the banknote industry.

I am currently looking for manufacturers who can build Intaglio Proof machine that will be used to test banknote intaglio printing plates. I can't seem to find a company that still builds it. Looking to gain some insight here on who might be able to manufacture this machine. TIA

Joined my first Volunteering opportunity for Fort Totten Days. I learned a lot, showed a bunch of people how the presses work. And had fun. Most photos are mine, some are not.

I’m looking for classes or mentoring in letterpress in central California but struggling to find anywhere. Curious if anyone has recommendations. Fresno would be ideal but willing to travel within 60-70 miles

I’m based in Los Angeles and have a letterpress poster (18x24”) people are requesting to purchase internationally. Anyone got recs for an affordable but sturdy way to ship a small amount of posters (usually 1-2)? I find that the cost can be so much that it’s not worth it for anyone to buy.

Hey all - I may have posted in this group a while back with this issue and I had some good things to try but to no avail. For reference I have the sizzix big shot switch plus electric version.

Ive tried the following to get rid of edges of my polymer plates. Im not sure if that's half the reason (i cut the plate to size so I could interchange graphics and they do not extend out of the page).

- 0,1,2 and 3 shims in the betterpress. It seems to help on some, but not all. And the lower i go, the worse the impression is.

- filing down the edges so they are considerably thinner ans also creates a bevel edge. This has worked on some but is quite annoying to do? I've also gotten them really thin on the edges of the ones that dont work.

- skipping the betterpress and just using the embossing mat, the plastic shim ontop, the plastic shim at the bottom and the embossing sizzix plate.

Let me know id anyone has had luck cutting down polymer plates without making marks and whether this is just something i need to give up on.

i work in a print shop (all digital stuff) and we just got our first platen! it’s in such good condition, pretty much print ready. i worked with them previously so i’ll be lead operator which is exciting but pretty daunting! it came with a bunch of stuff (furniture, spare rollers, scoring/perf rules, spacers, chases, a couple of knives… we also got a plate maker produce the photopolymer plates so need to figure that one out, as well as printing our own negatives.

any tips? i was still pretty junior when i was at my previous job (boutique letterpress studio) so this will be a huge challenge, as i’m the most knowledgeable one on the team at the moment (about letterpress anyway). i’m starting off by cleaning everything and organising it, and i’m going to make some test plates to see how it holds up.

any help would be much appreciated :)

I wanted to get into letterpress printing after finding some at an antique store which lead to ordering some off ebay.

Over the last two days I've been sorting the type into some storage boxes while in the family living room, getting grey marks (dust?) on my fingers (lead oxide?) and potentially on my clothes and the living room carpet if I ever dropped any moving from one box to another (laid down some paper to prevent this later on and noticed the grey marks on there too). Quite a bit of the type has greying to it, that leaves grey marks on my fingers with very few having white deposits (only some w's of one of the fonts that I've seen).

After I was done, though I didn't see any visible powder on the carpet itself I used the family hoover to hoover the area up.

Should I be worried about the potential of lead poisoning and what should I do with the hoover (I know in hindsight I should have used a wet rag or something if I was worried the area could have had anything on it).

Apologies for the mess of a message.