Last week I told you about the letterpress class I’m taking. Well this week was my first time to print on the press! It was a ton of fun!
The press at the place I’m taking the class is a Vandercook 4. It’s a fairly large press, at least it’s bigger than my little SP15. At first I was putting too much power into cranking the press and I crashed it a little hard into the end! Oops!! It was a little difficult to get the hang of how hard to roll the printing part of the press.
The Vandercooks are all hand operated; originally they were only intended for proofing, not large runs. They are not fast presses, even though there are some that have motors. The motors for the Vandercooks are more to help ink them faster. Another type of popular press, a Chandler & Price (C&P), is almost fully automated, but these can be dangerous because of that. I may get to use one next week.
Out of the 50 cards I printed, only this one fell off! It’s a one-of-a-kind collector’s item now 
SP15 Restoration
I’ve mentioned a couple of times in the comments and on other blogs that I’m restoring a Vandercook SP15. The first time I went to try and clean off some of the rust, it was a rather depressing prospect.
This weekend, armed with some Simple Green, CLR and Goo Gone I was able to make some considerable headway! I got brave and started taking things apart in order to clean them better.
Above is the gripper, before I cleaned it. The gripper is what grabs the paper in order to keep it in place as it rolls with the large cylinder and over the type or image that’s being printed. I still need to lubricate it and then put it back together. I’ve had quite a few experienced letterpress printers recommend using graphite powder to lubricate the gripper. Do you have any advice?
The place where my presses are located is owned by the local historical society and while I was cleaning stuff up on Saturday, a tour came through! It was a couple and their family celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary (aww!). It was kinda cool to have them asking questions and watching me clean. Hopefully when I get the press working again I’ll be able to be there when other tours come through!
Compare the left and right sides of the press. All that black was over the whole press. The right side is where I’ve cleaned things up a bit. I think all the black is old gummed up ink.
If you’d like to follow my progress on the restoration, you can visit the Flickr set I’ve put together. I’ll do my best to upload progress photos each time I go up to clean it (it’s about an hour’s drive from my house, so I only go up once/week or less).
Oh and if you’re interested in starting up in letterpress yourself, check out a recent post on I Love Typography by Benjamin of British Letterpress called Letterpress from Scratch. Interesting reading!
Loving the insight, Lauren!
Perhaps your collectors item could be a prize in a blog giveaway. ;)
David,
Pleased you are enjoying! I’m keeping a record of newbie questions I have (and any readers ask!) as I go through this so that if I decide to start a blog focused on my letterpress work, I’ll have some great source materials.
Blog giveaway! Fantastic idea! My blog’s birthday is coming up… Oh! This week!!! August 1st (Friday) CC will be 1 year old.
Inspiring to read this. And as Ben wrote, owing to the nature of letterpress, one of the “side shows” is the whole hands-on mechanical thing. I somehow can’t imagine you with your head under the bonnet, fixing a carburettor, but you really do look in your element, restoring that SP15.
Off to visit your Flickr set now. Looking forward to the next instalment.
John,
I had an insane amount of fun cleaning up the press on Saturday. Hehe, I felt like Kaylee from Firefly with all the grit and grease all over me. I had to tear myself away because it was getting too dark to see and my eyes were starting to hurt! I couldn’t sleep that night, thinking about how exciting it will be to see the press all bright and shiny and operating again! I think “geek” usually applies to technology stuffs, so I guest I’m just a nerd :P
Hey Lauren,
Great post.. I’m about a few weeks behind you in the letterpress world, actually. I managed to get a Heidelberg Windmill Platten (knowing the right people works wonders!) and I’m hoping to spend the next weekend cleaning the beast. It’s amazing how excited you get about it all, isn’t it?
You’re recent few posts on all things letterpress has been a great motivator to find out more! Thanks!
Alex,
Cool!! Hehe, yes, it’s amazing how exciting this is, though I think that only happens to a few people while everyone else is looking at us like we’re mad. It is all about knowing the right people in this industry, I think. And it helps even more to know them offline (though there are more and more good resources online). Will you be posting about your adventures, too? Love the style of your site, btw.
Thanks for visiting my site (and leaving a comment too! it’s really appreciated).
I probably will post about what happens with the press.. I’m about 90% of the way through writing and piecing together an article that is filled with photos of how we got the press into the garage, as well as some detail shots of the press its self and some Linotype I got my hands on
what i really need to do is find some metal type
Alex,
Can’t wait to see pictures of your press! Did you take a class or attend a workshop to learn how to use it or are you figuring that out on your own? What kinds of things would you like to print with it?
As to the type, I’ve heard the best way to obtain it is to keep your eyes and ears out for estate sales or print shops getting rid of their unused letterpress stuff. Often times if you will come to take it away, they’ll give it to you free. eBay is terribly overpriced, but may be suitable for image plates or dingbat sets every so often, if you care to pay a sniping service to bid at the last second for you (otherwise good luck getting anything except Buy It Now items!).
I’ve learnt a fair bit from my wifes dad (who has a printing business and this exact machine actually), so he can teach me most of what I need to know. After that, it’s mostly going to be from reading the manual and trial and error, which may prove to be a royal pain, but fun!
With the type — I’ve kept an eye on ebay and every now and then something pops up and doesn’t go for too much, but because I’m in Australia the shipping is a real problem. There are a few printers where I live, so going to call around to see if they have anything they want to get rid of
What about you? Are you learning everything you need to know for your machine, in your class? And what about type? Managed to get your hands on any yet?
Alex Charchars last blog post..The Garden of the Mind ~ Part Two
“Fell off”, as in the only one that came off correctly? Ah… new lingo!
Good job cleaning! It’s pretty satisfying seeing all that muck come away.
Heh, Kaylee… I love how she’s always so dirty and Simon is so clean. And her line at the start of Serenity, “They’ll be back before you can spit… not that you spit.”
Alex,
Oh that’s so cool that you have someone close that can answer your press questions! I wish I had someone like that. The owner of my press is willing to answer questions, but he’s not always available. I learned quite a bit about the Vandercook in the class. The one at the Armory (where I took the class) is a different model than mine, but it’s still very similar. Never got on the platen press. At the home of my SP15 there are loads of type, but I’m not sure about the condition and if there’s enough for composing. I know for sure that there is some brand new wood type (well, unused at least), which is in high demand these days.
Kris,
No, “fell off” as in came off the grippers that hold it in its proper place as it goes over the type. That’s why it’s crooked. And I love Kaylee!!! She’s so cute, though I liked her better when she was a little chubbier; Jewel Staite had to gain something like 30 lbs to play that part originally. And now she’s on Atlantis! There sure are a lot of cross-overs. Adam Baldwin (Jayne) was in two episodes of SG-1 and of course Morena Baccarin (Inara) played the Orici at the end of SG-1. Oh! And Continuum just came out on DVD last week!! I haven’t watched it yet.
Oh… fell off in the traditional sense then. I didn’t get it because the angle works, even if it’s a little unconventional.
I think Kaylee is a little more quirky and loveable than Jennifer (Gah I’m so useless with last names in Atlantis), but still nice to get some of her acting prowess.
Yeah, heaps of cross overs. Same production company or something?
kristarellas last blog post..Google Streetview in Australia
Kris,
Hehe, yes, “fell off” in the traditional sense. Quite a few people have said they’ll take that one because they like the angle.
I think that the sci-fi genre stars just cross over a lot. Robert Picardo (Woolsey) played the medical holo in Star Trek: First Contact and other doctor characters in the Star Trek world (Deep Space 9, Voyager). Colm Meaney (Cowan, the leader of the Genii) was the transportor chief in Star Trek TNG, and I think he had a regular role in Deep Space 9, too, but I didn’t watch that show.
Hehe, there have also been quite a few cross overs from SG-1 to Atlantis, only the actors don’t play the same characters! Ever notice who plays Dr. Weir’s boyfriend, Simon, in Atlantis? Yup, same guy who plays Narim of the Tollan in several episodes of SG-1. There are at least 3 other actor cross-overs that play different characters in SG-1 and Atlantis that I can think of off the top of my head. Ok… so enough super geek for one comment! ;)
I must ask… in that first picture, in the background? What is that an image of? It looks like it may be against the wall?
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Erika,
These presses used to belong to the Women’s Building, which was absorbed into the Armory of the Arts a number of years ago, and that is their poster in the background, printed (or painted?) on cloth.