Letterpress isn’t all about cast iron presses, in fact there are a wide variety of machines out there. A while back we wrote about a new Adana press that was being manufactured in Japan. So when we came across pictures of this plywood press made by a machinist (Chris Vanderbroeck) from Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1960 we had to share them with you.

The press was built around a Kelsey 5×8 chase and is constructed primarily from plywood and readily available hardware with specific parts machined from masonite and aluminum. Surprisingly, plywood is incredibly strong and has held up over the years although some of the adhesive in the plywood has begun to deteriorate.

The press has some great features including custom built tympan bales and a specially constructed clip which holds the chase in place. If you’ve ever used or taken apart a press like this you can understand the complexity and precision involved in making a press like this. This is certainly a one-of-a-kind machine that demonstrates the craftsmanship of the machinist who made it.

Here are some more pictures of the press:

We promised so here it is …

We’d like to introduce the first card of many to come in Dolce Press’ new greeting card line. This A2 (4.5″ x 5.25″) sized folded card is printed on 110# 100% cotton paper in two colors (midnight blue and silver) and reads: “you’re out of this world”. The card comes with a matching navy blue A2 envelope and highlights a whimsical silver spaceship taking off - you might even say that the spaceship is symbolic of our greeting card line taking off!

Here are two more pictures of the design close up:

We will be debuting many more cards, stationery sets, and invitations so stay tuned for more posts and pictures coming soon. In the mean time if you have any questions about our greeting cards or a custom design we are always available to answer your questions (contact us).

Here are some samples of business cards we’ve printed in the shop recently. Our house paper is 110# 100% cotton paper but a variety of other stock (texture, weight, color, etc.) is also available, just ask. Since paper for cards is cut down from parent sheets we can print your business cards in any size.

As a small letterpress print shop and design studio we work one on one with our clients to personalize their cards. If you’re interested in having something printed whether its business cards, stationery, invitations, or something else special don’t hesitate to contact us.

We’ve got some other things in the works at Dolce Press including new greeting cards, stationery sets, wedding invitations, and wax seals so stay tuned for updates this week. We also just picked up a new tabletop press which we’ll be sure to post pictures and a description of.  

For more pictures and samples of cards take a look at our Letterpress Cards photo album. Happy Letterpressing! 

On large printed areas, I find it hard to get consistent ink coverage on cotton paper.  Sometimes if the image is really large, I break up the plate into 2 pieces which works, but man, what a pain!  Recently I started to wet my paper and it makes a world of difference.  I take a cloth or sponge and wet it and wring out most of the water so your cloth is slightly damp.  Depending on where the image is I will just moisten that portion of the paper.  Make sure to just moisten the paper not drench it.  I read somewhere that someone puts the paper in front of a humidifier to moisten their sheets.   I think that’s genuis and I think I will give it a try.