An Albion Story

2009-03-28T09:52:00.003Z

Both handpresses have been in constant use since the last post and they are both running extremely well with just a little routine maintenance. I still need to get a handle cast for the 1865 Albion but it certainly works as it is. My next job is to recover both tympans - this time, I think, with cloth as the strong brown paper has ripped in a few places.

Here is a photo of "Red" in an untidy studio:

*Click* on the photo to enlarge it

I am printing engravings for a special edition of a chapter from Philip Pullman's "Northern Lights". Here is the title page block in place:

Here is the inking table:

And here, proofs are drying on the ceiling rack:

2008-01-10T11:19:00.000Z

New Year Maintainance

The small 1865 Albion has has a great deal of use during the last year - I have used it for almost everything that I have printed; most jobs in an edition of at least 100 prints. With all but the smallest blocks, I brace myself against the rails to add power to my pull. As a result, they have gradually slipped and I need to sort that out with much work lined up in the studio. The first photograph shows the problem:

The main body of the press if facing the camera squarely. The two rails at the front are distictly turned to the right. Here is the rather worn tympan which will be removed first:

After removing the tympan, I can undo the turning tapes, carefully lift the bed of the press off the rails and then remove the turning mechanism.

The rails easily pulled back into position and I could tighten them some more. There is a balance to be struck here - I wanted the rails to be tight but I don't like to overtighten these Victorian bolts. If the rail still moves a little over the next few months, I can always repeat this procedure.

Here is the turning mechanism. The next job was to lift it and fix it back into position:

I ran a thin line of oil along the rails before lifting the bed back into place. I am always wary of this as my foot is still marked from breaking the fall of this piece on the first day that I saw the press (see July 2005).

The tapes were then reconnected to the bed. Experienced handpress users will note that, in my haste, I had not threaded them over the cross bar of the rails - I had to do this again after realising that the bed would not wind in.

Once I wound the bed in, I could check the alignment of the platen against the line that I marked that I made on the tympan when I first re-covered it. As you see, the line is nicely parallel to the edge of the platen:

Here is the "after" photograph to compare with the first. The rails are now back in their proper place. Notice that the platen is slightly askew. This is very common in Albions. Since it does not affect the printing process, I am happy to leave it be.

Job Done! The Albion is back in operation and I am covered in oil. Does life get better than this?

2007-07-03T22:15:00.001+01:00

Covering the Tympan of the 1902 Albion Handpress

I have rather neglected the large Albion press recently. It was a question of making time to cover the tympan; there was always something else that I had to do.

Finally, I needed to print from some larger blocks and so I could delay no longer. Here we go...

2007-06-16T11:11:00.001+01:00

Catching Up

Its such a long time since I posted to this blog. The small Albion is in regular use for day to day printing from engraving blocks. I have made some small improvements which I will highlight soon. In the meantime, I made a short "peepshow" style video of the printing of a bookplate.

Notes

1. I am using lots of layers of very thin ink to get the result I want with this block.
2. I use sections cut from clear plastic folders to hold the paper during printing.

Now... on with the video

2006-09-06T22:32:00.000+01:00

A Bigger Press

My new Albion arrives on Monday. I am buying this unseen, though I have received a photo of part of it:

This is much bigger than my current Albion and the idea is that I can not only edition current large blocks but also plan larger images for the future.

This has all set a flurry of activity; I need to clear space in the studio and also find the money to fund this purchase; thesepresses are not cheap! I will continue to work on the money tomorrow but the current task is to dis-assemble the Arab press to point that it will get through the door. This Herculean task continues tomorrow.

2005-10-29T10:47:00.000+01:00

October 2005

Here are some photos of the press as it stands at the end of October 2005. It is working well but still needs a little work.

2005-10-29T10:46:00.000+01:00

Here is the press as it stands at the end of October 2005, nearly a year after receiving it. The tympan works, but needs a new cover - and there is a bright new counterweight.

2005-10-29T10:45:00.000+01:00

Here is another view of the repaired hinge bar.

2005-10-29T10:44:00.000+01:00

Here you can see the new counterweight and the bar that fixes the tympan to the bed

2005-10-29T10:42:00.000+01:00

Here is the new metal counterweight. I have decided to keep the bright metal, rather than paint it.

2005-09-22T22:21:00.000+01:00

More Parts Arrive

After a brief exchange of emails, I met up with Jeremy again and received two more parts. The first of these was the repaired bar that fixes to the front of the bed and receives the tympan. The second was a beautiful hand-turned metal counterweight that fixes onto the tympan. These arrived in time to print some of the proofs from the larger blocks of theShakespeare illustrations I have been engraving for Barbarian Press. Everything worked like a dream. I definately need to recover the tympan but things are working well.

I am only short of the drop handle now. I will pass the details to J who thinks he can "fettle something". Firstly, I need to get another batch of work on eBay to finish paying for these latest pieces and to save for the handle.

2005-07-21T12:57:00.000+01:00

Periodic Welcome

This is just a regular note that I will post to remind new readers to read from the bottom to the top.

2005-07-21T12:22:00.000+01:00

July 2005

The press is working well at the moment, despite the fact that I still need several parts:

Repaired hinge at the front of the bed.
Counterweight for the tympan
Drop handle.

The first has been done and the second needs to be finished before they are both sent. The third is more of a problem and I am considering having one cast from an existing handle.

This hasn't stopped me from using the press. The bed is light enough to be pulled in and out by hand. There have been one or two concerns. A squeak developed recently but a spot of oil seems to have smoothed that out. I am more concerned that the handle is a little loose and so I am going to stop trying to print larger blocks that need great pressure. The trouble is that the Arab press is waiting for a repair and so I am going to go out and borrow a larger handpress to edition bigger works. Deep down inside, I know that I need to replace the Arab with a larger Albion!

2005-07-21T12:20:00.000+01:00

I am starting to sort through the type I have accumulated over the years. This was my first attempt at letterpress on the Albion, following a weekend with Claire Bolton at the Alembic Press, near Oxford.

2005-07-21T12:18:00.000+01:00

Here is a better view of the bed with everything in place. This is more or less the position that I am in now in Juyl 2005.

2005-07-21T12:17:00.000+01:00

I am still waiting for the hinge that accepts the tympan to be repaired and returned. In the meantime, I am using hinged card as a temporary tympan. Iain Bain used this method when printing from William Blake's original engraved blocks. I find that it works well and may keep using it for small blocks, even when the press is repaired.

2005-07-21T12:11:00.000+01:00

One of the very positive aspects of the new workspace is that I can engrave right next to the press, making it very easy to stop and take a proof.

2005-07-21T12:09:00.000+01:00

I fixed a strip of wood to the front and back of the bed and used quoins to secure a chase. I will mostly use the press to print wood engravings from relatively small blocks and so I nested a smaller Harrild chase inside the larger ones.

2005-07-21T12:07:00.000+01:00

I spent many hours of December 2004 and January 2005 converting part of a large garage building into a pressroom/studio. At last I could work in light and comfort. My local blacksmith repaired one of the cornerpieces at the front of the bed and I worked out how to fix a chase in place.

2005-07-20T23:57:00.000+01:00

Further work, and then a couple of coats of paint, worked wonders. The press was starting to be transformed.

2005-07-20T23:54:00.001+01:00

Even the coat of arms started to reveal it secrets.

2005-07-20T23:54:00.000+01:00

I continued to work on the surface, revealing a suprising array of colours.

2005-07-20T23:51:00.000+01:00

The surface of the metal was already pitted with rust but the surface started to respond to the effort. With paint flaking off all the time, I knew that I had to carry on.

2005-07-20T23:49:00.000+01:00

The handle revealed its date; 1865.

2005-07-20T23:48:00.000+01:00

Wire wool and "elbow grease" started to reveal polished bare metal.

2005-07-20T23:36:00.000+01:00

Refinishing

Once I had decided to strip the loose paint from the press, I had to decide whether to leave the bare metal or repaint it. I finally decided to use paint, although I know that some would prefer a duller finish. To be honest, I had seen and admired both finishes. One thing that tipped the balance of the argument towards paint was that damp conditions could be anticipated until I had converted the pressroom and I wanted to deal with the rust. I started to work at the old paint, which seemed to have been applied to almot any surface.

2005-07-20T23:35:00.000+01:00

Finally. the press was set up, next to the Arab Treadle. I cleaned the worst of the dust off but the paint was very flaky and I decided that I would strip it down before printing as the fragments were almost certain to fall on to the inked blocks. Overall, I was very pleased with the press, despite the work that needed top be done .The mechanism worked well after Jeremy had adjusted it.

2005-07-20T23:29:00.000+01:00

Gradually, the press took shape. It was an invaluable lesson to watch and learn the process.

2005-07-20T23:28:00.000+01:00

Jeremy had stripped the press down to transport it. Here, he and his mate start to put it back together in the far end of the garage that was to become the press room.

2005-07-20T15:33:00.000+01:00

Albion Stigma

As the press stood on its trolley in the warehouse, I had not realised that it was just loosely stacked and not not bolted together. As I examined it, the press shifted and started to collapse. The bed started to fall and I knew that the cast iron would probably shatter as it hit the floor. Without thinking, I stuck out my foot to break the fall. I hadn't thought about the possibility of breaking my foot. I limped to the car and drove for a couple of hours with a swollen and painful foot.

I reached Ely and pulled into the minor injuries clinic. They had a good poke about (ouch!)n and decided that the bone was probably not broken. They asked how I had injured myself and I told them. They did very well as far as keeping a straight face was concerned.

Today, nine months later, I still bear a small, clear red mark on the top of my right foot. My press had marked me. It seemed inevitable that I should buy it.

However, I still had concerns and set up a temporary website to show what I had found. I posted the URL on several printing lists anbd received several positive replies. I also contacted Jeremy Winkworth who I found through the Briar Press classifieds. Jeremy was experienced at moving and setting up presses and came highly recommended. He gave me a quote which I accepted and I settled a price with the seller. Fnally, I took out a loan to cover all of this and anything else that I would need to bring this fine old press back to life.

2005-07-20T15:13:00.000+01:00

The drop handle for winding the bed in and out was missing, as were the straps to attach to the bed. It was obvious that there was plenty of work to be done. At this stage, I still was not sure that I would buy the press. I tookplenty of photographs and left for home.

2005-07-20T15:10:00.000+01:00

Even more worrying were repairs that needed to be done. There was no way that the tympan would hinge until this was fixed.

2005-07-20T15:09:00.000+01:00

I was bothered by signs of old repairs. How strong would the rails be?

2005-07-20T15:08:00.000+01:00

The press was sitting on a trolley and was a bit of a mess. The mechanism was simply not working properly and the paint was flaking off. Where there was no paint, there was rust.

2005-07-20T15:04:00.000+01:00

Here is my first view of the press. I had tracked a simiar model on eBay and the seller had mentioned that he had another, less fancy, Albion for sale. The price seemed good and I headed out to have a look.

2005-06-21T18:30:00.000+01:00

People are often kind enough to ask about the progress that I am making with the restoration of my Albion handpress. I have set up this site to tell the story so far and to record the new developments as they occur.