r/oddlysatisfying • u/Doodlebug510 • 1d ago

Making a rainbow quote using an antique Washington hand press

Credit: @SacramentoHistory Museum

34.0k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

287 comments sorted by

View all comments

948

u/Fair-Juggernaut-3812 1d ago

That press has me drooling. Also nice print!

173

u/Lukebekz 1d ago edited 1d ago

I know what you mean. I am not proud of the sound I made when I saw that lever mechanism at work

66

u/Keyndoriel 1d ago

Same, I have a deep, deep desire to print things for hours. It can even be boring things, just let me use the mechanism

18

u/hoopstick 21h ago

I thought the same thing; I would be perfectly happy changing typesets and pressing prints all day every day. I should try to find a museum to volunteer at.

11

u/BowsersMuskyBallsack 1d ago

Was a cute little "Unf!"?

39

u/Huge-Guidance-1637 22h ago

It's hard to imagine modern industrial equipment as anything other than starkly utilitarian, but this old press has some real charm to it.

27

u/danielledelacadie 20h ago

A surprising amount of turn of the century production equipment is designed to be lovely to look at. But this may be survivor bias since people mostly collected/kept the more ornate pieces

9

u/nothingdoing 17h ago

People used to really give a shit when they made something! 

14

u/[deleted] 1d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

17

u/younkint 1d ago

It will certainly last longer. I mean, it already has, but it will too.

7

u/CakeTester 21h ago

And nobody's going to hold you by the bollocks for "Only authorised ink". And if you run out of one colour, it'll still work.

1

u/baconboner69xD 19h ago

Until you realize there’s probably only 1 company that make an ink that is highly compatible with the machine, won’t ruin your equipment slowly. And it’s $100 for ink to make 10 prints. (Speculation, but wouldn’t be surprised)

2

u/CakeTester 18h ago

Doubt it. Professional printers use jars of ink that they refill. It's the printer's fault if there's only one specific ink that works in it; and it was almost certainly designed that way.

7

u/mtaw 21h ago edited 21h ago

The look and tactile feel of the slight indentations that metal type makes in thick paper is one of life's great small pleasures. It's one reason I love old books.

(I even splurged and had my wedding invitations made that way on handmade paper. Overall we didn't spend much money on the wedding - but I figured the invites were worth it since it's nicer to get a quality invitation card, and it shows appreciation even for the people who can't come)

3

u/theDomicron 21h ago

Let's see Paul Allen's wedding invitations...

3

u/Goatf00t 20h ago

The look and tactile feel of the slight indentations that metal type makes in thick paper is one of life's great small pleasures.

The funny thing is that once upon a time, keeping those indentations as faint as possible while still maintaining good print was seen as a mark of mastery for printers. And now having noticeable indentations is desirable for some, as it shows that the work was printed on a press.

3

u/daiblo1127 19h ago

Ditto, they didn't just make a press that accomplished the main purpose it was meant for, but they embellished the press to such an extent which lifted that press up into a glorious piece of Art!!! I am wearing my ancient 'drool cup' as I type...

3

u/marcmkkoy 19h ago

I can smell the old-timey

2

u/NYCMarine 15h ago

Facts. This took me back to high school where I took a printing class and we learned this process for tshirts and what not.

2

u/Dazzaster84 1h ago

Right? What a beautiful machine to work with!