This February has been full of firsts, not the least of which was my first set of custom letterpress business cards. I made them for my sweet and wonderful friend Jina. This simple project turned out to be much more than I bargained for. After setting the type and owl design, and getting it just right in the chase, the
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I finally took some pictures of the alterations that Doug and I made to the C&P. These changes were needed in order to slow the press down and make it a bit safer. First, we replaced the large pulley on the motor with a much smaller one. This resulted in slowing the press down slightly. It isn’t a drastic change,
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Abut a week ago I purchased an amazing press! The press is a Chandler & Price 12×18 New Series. This style of press was was manufactured between 1911 and 1964. According to the C&P Press catalog, “In many a [print] shop, this press is the one that is always busy.” It can handle any job up to about 11″x14″ without
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While I was building the base for my Kelsey Printing Press, Doug worked on a stand to hold the rollers. He designed it, and built it in no time. I was thoroughly impressed! It is truly original and functional. I just had to share it with everyone. He cut two slots into each side piece to hold the roller cores,
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I finished the Kelsey Press wooden base! Actually, I finished it last weekend, but I am just getting around to posting pictures. I sanded, painted with stain, then coated it with a couple coats of polyurethane. Then I bolted the press on, and voila! I made the base from reclaimed wood, so it has some reminders of its previous use.
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For those of you who follow me, you know that I have been out of commission recently due to an elbow injury. As a result, I have had to find ways of being useful without hurting myself. This weekend, I made a base for my press! I am not in a position to just screw my little Kelsey into a
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Recently Doug and I finished making new roller hooks for the Kelsey press. The old hooks were both bent out of shape, and visibly worn down inside the hook area. Yet again I find that I forgot to take making-of photos for this step, but I hope finished product photos will do. In the picture above, the top hook is
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My latest listing on Etsy has just gone live! It is a hand-colored version of “Don’t Play Koi with Me!” I used calligraphy inks and watercolors for the color. Also, I added a calligraphy gold ink in the tail and body to make the koi fish scales pop! Click on the image to see the Etsy listing and more photographs!
Every part of the Kelsey press has finally been put back together! And here are pictures! The only thing missing are the roller hooks. The old ones are bent and I believe we will have to make new ones. Other than that, it’s finished. This is what it looked like BEFORE: And AFTER: The next step is to make a
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Shims and grease are two things that are quite important when reassembling a press, and I did not want them to get lost in the glitz and glam of retaining rings and finished pictures. While they aren’t as pretty, they are necessary! Shims: When we first started fitting the dowels in the press, I noticed that some of the cast
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