First-timer lessons

The moment of truth has come. Two months ago 1200lbs of letterpress rolled into our garage and we are finally putting ink on paper!

We have had to clean the press. Replace worn parts. Read industry books and massive amounts internet posts. Search for supply vendors and learn a whole new “letterpress printers” dialect. Learn to use new tools and the mechanics of prepping to print. We learned about paper, inks, plates, gauges and press washes. Tympan, padding, type height, quoins and furniture.

Best of all, we have experienced a tremendous welcoming from the letterpress community. As we reached out to other incredible letterpress printers, they actually responded in kind. No strings attached. Let me rephrase that… we asked “total strangers” to share their own personal, how-to knowledge AND THEY DID! 

Two months ago we bought a 1200lb pile of iron. Today, thanks to people that care more about mentoring then their super-duper trade secrets, we can say we have printed our first project ever! Is it perfect? Not by a long shot. The standard that my new letterpress friends have is out of this world. They are doing absolutely flawless and beautiful work and I can’t thank them enough for their willingness to help.

Oh and the biggest lesson learned? Help is closer then you think.. if you ask.

george

In the process of looking for all oil holes on the press, I found these strange wads of string inside. Is this supposed to be there? Reaching out to the letterpress community to find out!

Things which are different in order simply to be different are seldom better, but that which is made to be better is almost always different.
Dieter Rams

The joy of analog

Twitter, Facebook, Badoo, Ning, Google+, Yammer, Digg, StumbleUpon, reddit, Delicious, Dribbble, Pinterest, Behance, LinkedIn, Seesmic, Posturous, Hootsuite, Instagram, Tumblr, Wordpress, Foursquare, Gowalla, YouTube, Hulu, Vimeo and Flickr… all meant to improve our lives somehow. And they do. They allow us instant connections with friends and family, promptly communicating our whereabouts and immediately sharing the latest photos of our current happening. Everything is a moment to capture. Everything is a moment to share. Everything is a memory. Everything must happen now.

Curious how our lives have seemingly sped up, chasing the technology that is meant to enhance our lives. No wonder we need Starbucks and Redbull like never before!

Contrast that to an old letterpress. Nothing happens instantly. It doesn’t sync, upload or post. It doesn’t multitask and it’s definitely not portable. You insert paper by hand and quit by pulling a lever. You print “art” instead of making copies. You “create” instead of duplicate and obsess over quality instead of quantity. Nothing happens fast and time is your friend, not your nemesis.

No doubt digital has it’s perfect purpose, but when it comes to living, nothing beats analog.

Now to check my Klout score;)

Today my wife and I were blown away.

Living in Miami, Florida where customer service is seen more as a personality flaw rather then a kind gesture towards a stranger, we thought we would never experience the warmth of a polite “Hello. I’ll be with you in a moment.” in our life time.

Today. November 7, 2011 we stepped into the Twilight Zone.

Our problem… we had a 12”x12”x1” block of aluminum we needed cut down by 3”. We are using it to make a base for our vintage, 1913 letterpress. We thought the company that we got the block from was going to cut it but it arrived as one big chunk. Oh well.

Solution… Laura, again, exercising her internet sleuthing abilities came across a local company, C&R Metals. She called to verify they had the capability to cut the block which was returned with a “Sure we can!” Awesome! We jumped in the car, drove north to a busy industrial side of town and as soon as we walked into the shop we were hooked.

First off, the fact that these guys have so much metal and cutting tools is just simply not fair. Upon getting to the counter, we met Ralph. For a dude in a metal shop he sure looked spiffy even though he had a slick tribal tattoo on his arm. (I’m a designer. I notice those things.) Seeming like he had known us for years he told us to wait a moment as he finished taking care of the customer that was there before us.

Not two minutes later, as I plopped the metal block on the counter, he instantly connected us with the phone call! He asked for the specifics of our needs and went to work. As he worked we made small talk about how cool the place was. How he was a local to Miami as I was. He went to Columbus High School, I went to Gables. Meanwhile the machine is working it’s magic and slicing the aluminum block like butter.

“So what?” you might ask. It seems like the Ralph was doing his job. Wrong-o!

Ralph today greeted us warmly. He spoke to us as friends NOT as a customer. He showed us the labor of his hands and through our brief interchange… are you ready for this… didn’t charge us for having done the cut.

Now let me be clear. I don’t think Ralph and his company are great because I scored a freebie. I’m NOT suggesting that anyone walk into their shop and say “Hey you did it for that guy, why not me?” You would be “that customer” that I’d want out of my shop. (I’m actually hoping that I just didn’t throw Ralph under the bus with any superiors he may have.) 

All I know is this… Today, Ralph showed that through a genuine desire to assist a stranger one can change a “customer” into a “friend”. Ralph showed that sacrificing a little now could potentially go a long way later. Ralph showed that one person in a company can impact the face of an entire company… for good or bad.

Most importantly, today, Ralph made a customer for life. I especially cannot wait to have another excuse to step foot in that shop.

And Ralph, once again, thanks so much for your kindness, generosity and example. You’re a legend in my book. Best to you my friend.

So excited to be sending out our first designs for plates! Any newbie letterpress advice welcomed;)
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So excited to be sending out our first designs for plates! Any newbie letterpress advice welcomed;)

In the midst of serious clean up.

  • tooth brush
  • fine steel wool pads
  • Simple Green - Heavy duty cleaner
  • vinyl gloves (lots) 
  • rags
  • WD40

Removing a lot of red ink since this machine was used mostly for numbering forms. I still love just turning it on, even all grimy and dirty, to see it’s big arms move. It is so cool!

Got any suggestions for clean up, please pass them on!

Best regards, george

Top question people are asking me about the press… Where did you find it?!
When my wife told me about having found the letterpress on Craigslist, my next question was, “Does it work?” (Like I would know the difference). Yet the listing said “In excellent working condition!” Hmmm… I saw the price and figured what do I have to lose? After making a call to the owner we agreed that I would go over his house and check out the press. It had been sitting in his garage for four years. As time happens, his wife wanted the garage space so the press had to go… this time into my garage!
How did I know this was for me? Well, I didn’t… till I saw it move. I must preface that I did not go to purchase this press alone. I took a very close friend that owns a commercial printing plant here in Miami. He thought I was crazy for wanting an antique letterpress but the beauty of our friendship is that we mutually respect each other’s craft. He got a huge kick out of starting the press and seeing it run. I was dumb founded. I could not believe that a machine, so old, so raw would move with such grace. It effortlessly swung it’s large cast iron arms back and forth. At the end of every rotation a distinct “clink” sound would come out from beneath the ink plate as it is was gently nudged to rotate. It was a thing of beauty. I wanted this thing like a kid wants a Christmas gift. I could not wait to get it home. Oh yeah. Ummm… guys… how do I get this home?
Two weeks later… My printer friend put me in contact with his super-Cuban truck driver friend. This guy was a piece of work! He whipped out his electric “pale yak” and was moving that 1200lb baby as if it were on butter. Mind you the prior two weeks were spent opening a hole through a garage wall that leads into my home office. You read right… my wife cut a hole in the wall to allow enough room for the press to slide through. Now it is sitting pretty. Pretty dirty and grimy from industrial use. 
So what’s next? Clean up!

How did it begin? Craigslist. My wife was killing some time cruising the net and she looked up “letterpress”. She saw a listing come up and nonchalantly asked if I was interested in buying it. Next thing I know, she cut a hole in our garage wall and I was unloading a 1200lb, 1913 C&P press into our home office! Stay tuned as the story continues to unfold. There is so much to tell.

The need to create

Even constant change can become routine. So when I’m bored with routine, I yearn to create. To go through the process of dreaming something into reality. To both “think” of an idea AND to “do” the idea.

Join us as we embark on a journey with no particular destination. Where turning left is just as good as turning right. Where the passing of time is enjoyed and stress is ignored. Where life is sipped and not chugged. Where making a difference is more important then being different.

This is the beginning of Circa Letterpress.

Cheers ~ george