Category: Letterpress

First letterpress home project complete! Success! Here are a couple of teaser photos. More soon.

Last night, I pulled my very first impressions from my recently-restored Chandler & Price (C&P) Pilot. A lot of work has gone into even getting to this point, and one might be surprised that this is the very first time I’ve actually put ink on my press and made an image. The purpose of last [...]

I didn’t set out on Saturday to spend three or four hours deeply cleaning and rehabbing a piece of Industrial-Revolution-era machinery, but so it goes. I have a slug cutter, which is used to cut leading (spacing between lines) and slugs (thicker pieces of lead to provide support to set type forms). It’s probably a [...]

Letterpress is good for me because it forces me to do tedious things that require patience. I seek character development and aesthetic, and this gives me both. Last week, I attacked a drawer full of spaces. I feel fortunate to have a drawer (which appears to be a Hamilton Wells job case: not a particularly [...]

It came! It came! The poor UPS guy was confused because I received a box that didn’t say “Amazon.com” on it. I’m known around here as a black hole for Amazon products. He had to wheel this stuff in. The Caslon stuff itself wasn’t too hefty, but the spaces and the leading–well, they are made [...]

“When in doubt, use Caslon.” –Traditional Printer’s Adage Today I ordered my first ever fresh foundry type, from M&H in San Francisco. To do this I talked on the phone with Louie. Another M&H rep said Louie had worked there for 58 years. While this is a mathematical improbability, Louie knows his stuff. I will [...]

This past weekend was immense in terms of moving towards having a working letterpress setup. It started with a trip to Silverton, Ore.–I am always amazed at how long that drive takes–to pick up a type cabinet full of type, accessories and a Kelsey Exceslsior 5×8″ press. I didn’t need the press, but it was [...]

My life is full and also full of excuses, but I am finally embarking on an important project: getting my Chandler & Price 6 1/2×10″ press in spanking great shape, and finding all of the necessary bits and bots to get a home letterpress studio going. Here’s my starting point: David bought this press for [...]