Plane Parish Letterpress

A couple weeks ago, I brought up that I was waiting on a delivery. Well, it showed up the day after I wrote that post.

Jimmy Diresta has a video where he restores a printing press almost identical to this one. I’ve been trying to track one down for a reasonable price ever since the first time I watched that video.

Ebay had a few listed from time to time, but not exactly what I was looking for. I eventually found briarpress.org, a forum for letterpress users. A member had this press for sale and was willing to ship it, so after a couple of weeks, it was on my front door.

This weekend, I finally got it into the shop and out of the shipping crate. The press is in great shape and not missing anything. I considered a new paint job for a little while, but eventually I decided that I’d rather use it for a while, then paint it.

After a good scrub with soap and water, I made sure every part was completely dry and put it back together.

All I had on hand was some water-based block printing ink, but I had to give it a try anyway.

I cut some blocking (called furniture) to hold the letters (type) in the press frame (called a chase). Like most trades letterpress has a language all of its own.

My first printed card proudly proclaimed “SUGNA” and I realized I had the type installed in reverse. Luckily, this was a quick and easy fix.

There’s a lot to learn, and I’ve got the right ink on the way, but I made a few prints with the ink I had on hand.

There’s a bit of a back story as to why this was the first thing I printed.

Long ago, my uncle owned and ran a print shop. Angus was the name of the mascot for his business. After a while, it became his nickname for me as well.

I remember visiting his shop as a kid, but I was so young, I can’t recall any details.

He left the business many years ago, but after my first kid was born, he sent me a few bits of type, ANGUS for me and some initials for my wife and son.

When the press was on the way, I went and measured the letters he sent.

In the US, 0.918″ is called “type-high”. Basically meaning the type he sent would work in my press. I knew what the first print run had to be.

I doubt he thought that type would ever see a working press again, but I’m glad I could bring something from my family back to life.