Paekakariki Press
The Paekakariki Press was recently established to continue the tradition of fine letterpress printing that is in danger of disappearing in the digital age.
It started with the acquisition of a Furnival Guillotine and an AutoVic platen, currently under restoration, and continues with the collection of type and other materials from retiring letterpress printers - most recently a Ludlow caster.
We held a successful opening exhibition in our Press Gallery for the Walthamstow 2010 E17 Arts Trail. On 28th May 2011, we held a launch for our first publication: London Rivers.
Composing Room
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The Composing Room in its current state. Not yet honed to ergonomic perfection, but making best use of what light comes in through the windows. We've just managed to acquire a large imposing stone! At last room for the Heidelberg chase and the type.
Heidelberg KS Cylinder
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| The Heidelberg KS Cylinder acquired from Presspac, Coventry. |
This 2.6 tonne beast was installed into its specially cleared space in September 2010 just in time for the second weekend of the E17 Arts Trail. Whilst it is not as antiquated as the rest of our equipment, it was still made before 1960! Now after a visit from some Heidelberg engineers it has been levelled and runs very smoothly.
Furnival 20" Guillotine
The Furnival Guillotine has now finally made it to our workshop. It has been thoroughly cleaned oiled and greased and the mechanism slides beautifully. Unfortunately over the last 100 years, the blade has been sharpened so much such that it doesn't quite hit the cutting stick any more, still a bit of mill board makes up the difference.
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AutoVic Art Platen
The tail lift of the truck used to transport our two AutoVic art platen machines is now repaired, although they've yet to make it into our workshop.
The information below comes from britishletterpress.co.uk and will be supplemented by our own measurements when we get to grips with the beast.
| Max Sheet Size | Inside Chase Size | Platen Size | Space Occupied | Power Required | Net Weight |
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| 13.375" x 18.125" (34 x 46cm) |
13.5" x 17.75" (34.5 x 45cm) |
14.25" x 18.875" (36 x 48cm) |
56" x 65" (141 x 165cm) (with auto feeder in position) |
1.5hp | 24cwt (1220kg) |
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| One of the two AutoVics. |
The rollers were in a rather poor state with most of the composition dripping down the wall. We've had the rollers re-covered by Böttcher UK and when we can persuade someone to install it we'll be able to set it off doing some printing.
Model Printing Press No 3, Treadle Platen
Also in the collection is a Model Printing Press Co. No 3 Treadle Platen. It came with only one roller stock, so we had another one made by our lathe-owning friend. With the press was a brass roller mould, but so far the experiments in roller composition mixtures have resembled those that drip down the walls in old printing shops.
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In the end we sent the rollers off to Böttcher UK. They're now a lovely soft squidgy rubber. The roller runners run on a couple of strips of leather which had stretched and thinned over the years and needed packing to get the rollers to the right height over the forme. They've now been replaced, but the thickness is still not quite right and they still need to packed out. The rollers are the correct diameter as we have the original roller mould!
Ludlow Caster
Just acquired, a Ludlow Caster. It is nestling in our back room which is supposed to be the bindery and paper handling area, but at the moment seems to be the repository for anything that doesn't fit in the main room. It was a job to get it up the 45 degree ramp but we managed eventually. Even after the pot has been simmering for a while, it's still cold in the back room.
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John Southward
John Southward (1840-1902), was a writer on typography and author of a number of standard texts on printing in the latter part of the nineteenth century. In his introduction to Gould's Letter-Press Printer he expresses his enthusiasm at the progress in the art of printing and would doubtless have been excited at how things have changed 100 years later.
Such is a rapid review of the progress of typography during the past four hundred years. Perhaps no industrial art has received such a development; yet it must not be concluded that invention has exhausted itself. To the art of printing “Thus far shalt thou go and no further,” cannot possibly be said. There is no limit to the improvement of which even yet it is capable ; the products of the present will inevitably be eclipsed by the products of the future, just as the achievements of the past have been outshone by those of the present.
John Southward's Practical Printing is an excellent text on the art of letterpress printing and many modern letterpress printers would benefit from its study.
News
Poetry - The Slow Wheel
08 May 2012At last, we've finished our latest poetry pamphlet: The Slow Wheel, by Darius Victor Snieckus.
Darius was born in Canada in 1967 and lives in England with his wife and two children. His poems have appeared in European, North American and Australian literary journals. He works as an energy journalist.
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