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Archive for the ‘press’ Category

Moving Day

January 15, 2012

This weekend my crew and I moved Frankenstein, my Universal III Vandercook, to Asheville. I myself drove the dump truck! I was nervous, I mean up at night nervous, about the whole thing. Mostly because it takes a lot to orchestrate this kind of move, but also because everything is changing so quickly. In a little over a month I will move from Penland to Asheville. It has snuck up on me, but when I leave I now know that I will have a sweet shop in Asheville. Plus Frankenstein has a beautiful new feed table made by my friend Jack Mauch.

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New Studio!

December 21, 2011

Here it is the new home of Two Step Press, Quill and Arrow and Flatbed Splendor. We are so happy to have found a nice home in West Asheville. The moving in starts on January 1st and hopefully by mid January will be wrapping up. We just have to get a Vandercook #4, Universal III, C&P, guillotine, and 4 Cabinets of type in. No sweat right?

I am so excited to be sharing space with such lovely and talented ladies! I couldn’t imagine a better way to start a new shop.

Tags:west asheville
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Vandercook Die Cutting Jacket

December 11, 2011

I recently decided to make a die cutting jacket for my Vandercook Universal III. The thought of being able to cut whatever shape I want out of paper sounds amazing. I could make boxes, hang tags, perforated pages! This is MAYBE a little nerdy but it got me really excited about new possibilities on the letterpress. So here is what it took — 1 piece of stainless steel sheet metal, 1 slip roller, 1 metal brake, 1 tig welder, 1 metal lathe, 1 vise, 1 file, 3 turn buckles, 1 guy who knows what he is doing, and me to run around getting screw drivers and files. Well that is most of what it took… We finished up the project today and as you can see from the last photo she make a nice clean cut. If you are also in need of a die jacket or if you have questions about how this thing work let me know. I am not an expert, but I know the guy who is.

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November Adventures and Bounty

December 1, 2011

I just got back from an adventure to New England. It was great to see new places and old friends (Jessica Heikes is rad!). I especially enjoyed my time in the middle of the snowy Maine woods sitting next to a very very old wood stove. Also, I finally got to visit John Barret’s Letterpress Things shop in Massachusetts. Above are photos of the bounty I left with! If you ever get the chance I highly recommend visiting his shop. It is stocked well, organized well, and John was a delight to speak with.

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Hellbender Press

October 31, 2011

Last week our class went to visit Loy McWhirter at Hellbender Press. It was truly a treat. Loy has a vast collection of presses, type, books, and such. Some of my favorite things were the ATF Specimen book and Loy’s collection of oil cans.

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September 30

September 30, 2011

A peek at my tent sculpture. With a few more late nights and early mornings I might just get this thing done.

Ian Henderson’s amazing toolbox hardware. Come check out the finished piece at this years Core Show. Opening October 14th at Penland.

I am back in the letterpress studio! This fall I get to spend eight weeks in the shop with Paul Moxon. I picked up a copy of his new book, Vandercook Presses, and you should too! It features a beautiful letterpress cover and loads of information about Vandercooks. I am also in the midst of looking for studio space in Asheville. Beth and I found a 1450sqft space, we just need 3 friends to join us.

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Progress Report #5

March 2, 2011

Safe and sound. My Uni III has found a home. Through a wonderful twist of events I ended up being able to put my press in the old printshop here at Penland. This is grand because I will actually be able to print with it in this space. Also, made possible by a very generous contribution I was able to get my rubber rollers resurfaced. I have truly been lucky in this process and I owe a lot of people thanks. The short list is something like this: First and foremost Justin Turcotte (the brains behind the operation), Leah Frost, Daniel Beck, Jon Shearin, John Horn, Paul Moxon, NA Graphics, Hoss Haley, Scott Klein, and Jerry Jackson. Thank you. If there is one thing I have realized through this process it is that I have good friends.

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Thank You Cards / High Five Cards

February 19, 2011

More new cards! These were my last two print projects for the winter. You can find them on my etsy shop if you so wish. Spring is coming quickly here in the mountains… or at least I hope so.

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Progress Report #4

January 19, 2011

I don’t have the words to go with these next 4 pictures. I just can’t believe this is the same press I bought. Speechless… I hope to do my first test run on Saturday! Cross your fingers. I hope the next update is the finale.

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Progress Report #3

January 11, 2011

The battle with the carriage of the press has begun. It actually hasn’t been too much of a battle so far, just a lot of cleaning to do. So for todays update I am going to show some of the parts I have been cleaning. This involves me and a big jug of acetone hanging out too much. I like to channel my dear friend Jess when I am cleaning, because her eye for detail is impeccable. Anyhow, thanks to Justin things are moving along nicely and I am optimistic that by the end of February I will be done with this project. Now I just have to find a home for this sucker! Any suggestions?