Agreed on the crack. Sweet serendipity!

You might consider contacting the Hamilton Type Museum up in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. I’ve been told that they have all sorts of items, including raw wood blanks that were never cut into type. They might just have a full cross section or something close that will lend you. They are at www.woodtype.org.

THE LOG PRINTING WORKED!!!! After several versions and making slight adjustments to the press, we found out what nature would print if she were getting on board with the letterpress revival. I would have been OK with getting a cut or plate made from a photography of growth rings like Paul mentioned, but it just wouldn’t have been the same. It is great to include something in your design that didn’t touch a computer or even a camera. This part of the printing was important to me, because the story of the process becomes part of the design. I think this is one of the reasons that Sagmeister is so intriguing. He always has a unique story behind his designs.

This was the first time I printed with Lucy (my 1920s letterpress). She worked beautifully. It was amazing to see the press move. I kept thinking about the scrap yard she would be sitting in if my mother-in-law hadn’t stumbled across Lucy’s path. So Lucy lives on, and she looked like she was enjoying it, although probably a little confused as to why there was a log in the chase and not a local newspaper.

The sad part of the printing was that we had to print on the smooth side of the beautiful Eames paper. Sorry Nate. The texture of the paper was just too much for the tree stump to actually show up as rings. I have a feeling that we would have had the same problem with the halftone photographs. No worry. It is still going to be very tactile.

Nate, I look forward to showing you the press tomorrow night, and printing the next two colors. This will be my first time printing wood type.

No sneak peeks! Or sneak peaks, like that slippery Everest character. We’ll have a full-gallery recap after the weekend, though!

You know, I forgot to mention how completly ruined I am that we have to print on the smooth side of the paper. That Eames stuff墜ｶ so good墜ｶ such a waste of the most beautiful sheet of paper I’ve ever seen. When you guys oick up your Limited Edition prints, be sure to flip them over once, just to see what could have been.

And click that Neenah link for us.

I had planned on showing a sneak peek, but I won’t even tell you how late I was up printing it. The 12x18 isn’t all that bad to work with. I can’t imagine trying to run it with a treadle instead of the motor. The motor is old as well, so there is only one speed. That has been a bit of a learning experience … more in coordination than anything. You also really have to want to take it off impression at times. It is tough to pull the lever at certain points in the cycle.

Sorry about the paper Nate. I did everythingl that I could think of.

JonSel, What kind of press do you have again? The only full size platten presses that I have worked with are C&Ps. I didn’t know they made full size presses without an impression lever. Well, the world of letterpress is dominated by C&Ps so I’m sure you have a more unique press than I. Doesn’t that about jerk your arm out of it’s socket, when you try to stop the fly wheel before the next impression?

When you say, “order these things”, I assume you mean third arms. I will have to look into that.

I tried the treadle on someone else’s machine and desperately failed. It is so much easier to have a motor.