bospress.net
www.bospress.net
I'm talking about a short run international project. I'll PM you...
Bill
Bill
ATTN: letterpressers who want to talk about letterpressing (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter justine
- Start date
jordan
lothario speedwagon
he started with letterpress prints, but he's gotten into etchings, and even giclees now (which i care less about... since i like the handmade element of the stuff he puts out). check out his blog (www.pressureprinting.blogspot.com) where he talks about making the intaglio print for the ryden project (and in the archives, there's a post about bringing the etching press into the studio). it's good readin'.
Father Luke
Founding member
hey! hey! congratulations on a job well done!
glad to help and big congrats on the ACE.
bill: just now saw those incredible Ginsbing covers. WOW. what incredible work, my man. seriously. you got skillz.
of course, I MUST now have a BOSP hardcover book of cunningham poetry.
just one.
to hold and stare at here at the Compound.
just one.
*wistful*
it'll mean I'm a real live boy at last...
bill: just now saw those incredible Ginsbing covers. WOW. what incredible work, my man. seriously. you got skillz.
of course, I MUST now have a BOSP hardcover book of cunningham poetry.
just one.
to hold and stare at here at the Compound.
just one.
*wistful*
it'll mean I'm a real live boy at last...
bospress.net
www.bospress.net
In fairness, the hardbacks in question were bound by Ray Nichols & Jill Cypher of Wallflowers Press in Newark, DE. I helped a little bit, but it was mostly them...
BIll
justine
stop the penistry
i've managed to score a position as 'printer's devil' at my university's small press studio. i start there next tuesday; i'll let you know how it goes.
in other news, and completely unrelated: my visa application is well on its way and my ticket to the US is booked for the 10th of july!
in other news, and completely unrelated: my visa application is well on its way and my ticket to the US is booked for the 10th of july!
number6horse
okyoutwopixiesoutyougo
Outstanding !
Congrats on both the new job and the visa situation ! :)
Congrats on both the new job and the visa situation ! :)
mjp
Founding member
An interesting tidbit on one of the printer's devil's many tasks from ye olden dayes of printing:
Ink balls were a sheepskin leather ball attached to a hardwood handle. The leather was filled with wool. Used one in each hand the ink was applied, the two rubbed together, then padded onto the type, the challenge was in keeping the leather in soft condition in between use, this was a foul process involving the use of urine in a bucket kept out the back door, the job was always given to the young printer's devil.
Have fun at the new job!
;)
Gerard K H Love
Appreciate your friends
Rubyred Have a fun first day. I hope you do not have a shy bladder. It is more like I hope you have very kind co-workers.
Good luck in your new post Rubyred.
Not sure if this will work outside of the UK, or if it will work how interesting it might be to most, but the BBC had a documentary about the invention of the printing press tonight. I have not watched it yet, but it sounds interesting.
Stephen Fry and the Gutenberg Press
Not sure if this will work outside of the UK, or if it will work how interesting it might be to most, but the BBC had a documentary about the invention of the printing press tonight. I have not watched it yet, but it sounds interesting.
Stephen Fry and the Gutenberg Press
justine
stop the penistry
so i went in for 3 hours today, and thankfully urine was never mentioned.
it was just me and the printer, sydney, and i spent the morning working on a couple of pages: we're doing proofs for a theatre program (title page and cast list). the type had already been set for both, but i had to re-centre the whole title page and correct spelling errors/worn type on the other.
man, typesetting is extremely painstaking and slow, when you're just a newbie. so i did all that, then began printing off some proofs... bill, i need some tips on inking the type! i was using a really big and heavy roller because they were big pages, and the ink is really hard to coat evenly. i think i got maybe one decent proof out of 25 or so.
so i was finishing up, and i went to lift the chase off the press but i hadn't tightened the quoins enough and three lines of type fell out. this doesn't sound like a big deal, but IT IS. at the rate i set type, it takes about a goddamn hour per line. plus the type was in a big messed up pile that i had to slowly pick through, instead of an organised typecase.
my hands and wrists are covered in ink, but i had a great morning! i'm only doing one day a week at the moment (and it's non-paying, obviously) and sydney has work for me till she leaves in may. i'm pretty lucky to be getting the experience.
it was just me and the printer, sydney, and i spent the morning working on a couple of pages: we're doing proofs for a theatre program (title page and cast list). the type had already been set for both, but i had to re-centre the whole title page and correct spelling errors/worn type on the other.
man, typesetting is extremely painstaking and slow, when you're just a newbie. so i did all that, then began printing off some proofs... bill, i need some tips on inking the type! i was using a really big and heavy roller because they were big pages, and the ink is really hard to coat evenly. i think i got maybe one decent proof out of 25 or so.
so i was finishing up, and i went to lift the chase off the press but i hadn't tightened the quoins enough and three lines of type fell out. this doesn't sound like a big deal, but IT IS. at the rate i set type, it takes about a goddamn hour per line. plus the type was in a big messed up pile that i had to slowly pick through, instead of an organised typecase.
my hands and wrists are covered in ink, but i had a great morning! i'm only doing one day a week at the moment (and it's non-paying, obviously) and sydney has work for me till she leaves in may. i'm pretty lucky to be getting the experience.
mjp
Founding member
Ha, well, everyone has to do that at least once. A pile of unsorted type like you had to deal with is said to be "Pied." I don't know why that is, maybe Bill knows. Maybe something to do with Pi being a never-ending number, and sorting mixed type a never-ending task. ;)
You're lucky it was only a few lines.
justine
stop the penistry
you should have seen how ridiculous i looked trying to salvage the mess: the type had half-slipped out and i was pointlessly trying to ram it back into the chase:o
it took me until i'd almost finished painfully recentering one frame to realise that putting the paper-thin spacers nearer the middle, rather than the outside, was far more practical. talk about being a slow learner.
it took me until i'd almost finished painfully recentering one frame to realise that putting the paper-thin spacers nearer the middle, rather than the outside, was far more practical. talk about being a slow learner.
bospress.net
www.bospress.net
Hi Justine,
You will get faster at setting type. I have friends come to town and we print (these are usually poets interested in letterpress), but have never done it). It is a slow process to learn the layout of a California Job case. Is that what you use there? The way to tell is to look for the "m". To the left should be "l (lowercase L)" and to the right should be "o", "h", "y", "p", "w". This seems strange, but once you are used to it, it can be sdone with your eyes closed. I impress my wife by typesetting with my eyes closed (this is true). The secret to not dropping those three lines of type is to very slowly lift the chase and look for movement in the type. Also, hand feeding the press is slow at first, but after 20 hours of hand feeding, you should be able to do it without thinking. I can handfeed 1200 impressions an hour and listed to music and carry on a conversation, all the while not losing any fingers. And there are many others that can feed much faster.
As far as inking... I have inked the covers for the S.A. Griffin poem. I got about 80% usable results. I wold make sure that you have as large of a roller as possible, spread the ink out as much as possible on the glass (pallet) and make sure you are using the right kind of roller. You do not want the very soft ones. The rollers should be about the same as the press rollers. Still hand inking is tough. Just be glad that you are not using the ink balls....
You'll do great. I know it.
Bill
justine
stop the penistry
thanks bill!
actually, i find the typecases pretty easy to use and seem to have picked that part up quickly; it's the whole bit of actually putting it into the composing stick and getting the spacers right - i feel like i'm all thumbs! i'm not sure if we use a california job case, i'll check next week.
the inking is something i'm really struggling with - but i guess i just need to keep practising. i want to be able to impress you with my amateur skills when we come print with you sometime later in the year ;)
actually, i find the typecases pretty easy to use and seem to have picked that part up quickly; it's the whole bit of actually putting it into the composing stick and getting the spacers right - i feel like i'm all thumbs! i'm not sure if we use a california job case, i'll check next week.
the inking is something i'm really struggling with - but i guess i just need to keep practising. i want to be able to impress you with my amateur skills when we come print with you sometime later in the year ;)
mjp
Founding member
setting type and inking are skills that you will learn through repetition. But I think inking is more of an art form that requires a lot of practice/experience to get right. So don't feel bad about inconsistency. You just started.
Even on offset equipment, when I had to move from one type of press to another (in other words, when I had to find a new job), it took a good month to learn the subtleties of the inking systems, and a few months to get to the point that I felt I really knew how to tweak and finesse it for any kind of circumstance or task (plus with offset you have the added bonus of what is basically water also being applied to the plate at the same time the ink is, so finding the balance on a new press was always tricky).
At least in letterpress you're only dealing with ink.
And the occasional bucket of piss.
bospress.net
www.bospress.net
Let me know when and I'll make sure that I take some time off. We have an extra room and my wife and I (and the kids) love having company.
Bill
justine
stop the penistry
two bookbinding forums i joined awhile ago that i kept meaning to mention here:
http://bookbindingforum.com/forum/
http://bookbinding.net.au/index.php
they're both pretty quiet and could use some new members (i'm looking at you, bill).
http://bookbindingforum.com/forum/
http://bookbinding.net.au/index.php
they're both pretty quiet and could use some new members (i'm looking at you, bill).
bospress.net
www.bospress.net
Hi Justine,
I just joined the first one. I even asked a question. It seems like a tough board to navigate. Not easy and clean like this one.
BIll
I just joined the first one. I even asked a question. It seems like a tough board to navigate. Not easy and clean like this one.
BIll
