Letterpresses can range from 2 to 4,000 pounds and cost from $0 to $10,000. This guide is for the person who wants to get started with letterpress printing and needs a working press instead of a display piece. It is excerpted with permission from the definitive Introduction to Letterpress Printing, available at www.fiveroses.org/intro.htm, which covers everything you need to know to start your own press, and has links to all of the reference and other sources mentioned below.

All letterpress printing shares certain similarities no matter what press you use. On the other hand, it is helpful to match the right kind of press to the particular things you plan to do with it. A rough categorization of letterpresses in no particular order, with very rough guidelines for current pricing (and with illustrations mostly from the indispensable Online Museum of the Briar Press, at www.briarpress.org) might be as follows:

Handpress

(examples: Hoe, Columbian, Albion)

These are the traditional, floor-standing, hand-operated, horizontal-bed, platen presses that are directly descended from Gutenberg's original of 1451. The old wooden presses, a la Gutenberg, remained basically unchanged for over 350 years, so that Johan could have walked into Ben Franklin's shop in 1760 and gotten straight to work. By the mid 19th century and the Industrial Revolution, improvements in engineering and metallurgy caused an explosion of new hand press designs, most of which were attempts to improve the weighting and leverage necessary to put the appropriate pressure on the form. A few (relatively speaking) of these presses from the 19th century still exist ($5,000 and up), and today are used by purists for true "hand printing". If you want to go back even further, you can build or purchase a reproduction of a Common Press such as might have been used by Franklin, in which case you should take a look at Neil Giroux's Common Press experience.

Low-end Tabletop Platen

(examples: Kelsey, Baltimorean, Excel)

The opposite end of the spectrum, these inexpensive presses were first developed at the end of the 19th century for use by hobbyists and small stationers and were broadly marketed by The Kelsey Company of Meriden, CT. Their form changed very little over almost a hundred years, and they were still being advertised in the back of magazines like Popular Mechanics as recently as the 1970s. They are plentiful, turn up on eBay with great regularity ($25-$250 or so, depending on a lot of different factors) and don't take up a lot of space. This is the way many people start out, and with practice a Kelsey can turn out acceptable work. Kelseys are fully supported by NA Graphics, the successor to Kelsey and the primary source for letterpress supplies. For more serious hobby work or small "professional" jobs, however, you may want to consider starting out with a Pilot instead.

High-end Lever Press/Tabletop Platen

(examples: C&P Pilot, Craftsmen, Golding Official, Sigwalt, Hohner)

The Chandler & Price Pilot is the definitive hobbyist hand-operated, tabletop press. It was invented around 1885 and manufactured through the 1970's. Craftsmen Machinery Company is still in business and supports their version of this type of press, although they no longer manufacture it. The Pilot and its several clones are sturdy, heavy, desktop presses. Most of them can print larger areas than the smaller Kelseys, thanks to a long side arm, which provides a lot of leverage for a good impression. Smaller ones, such as the Golding Official, are great for small jobs such as business cards or post cards. Pilots are also readily available ($250-$1250 depending on condition and whether you buy it from a dealer or on eBay) although somewhat harder to find than Kelseys, and many a small hobby shop does excellent work using only this press. This was the press that was given to Aariel Dore on the show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Your arm will get tired, however, if you plan to run hundreds of copies. A very informed discussion of just which Tabletop Platen Press you should look for was written by John Horn, the well-known printer and press collector, and is available online courtesy of Don Black Line Casting. Again, most of the supplies you might need for your tabletop press are available from NA Graphics, and Dave Churchman can furnish both new and used Pilot parts.

Full-size Platen Job Press

(examples: Chandler & Price, Golding Jobber, Pearl, Damon & Peets)

The floor-standing, full-size platen press was the workhorse of the printing job shop for most of the twentieth century. Originally developed shortly before the Civil War, these presses were powered by a foot-operated treadle, creating a "clamshell" action while the operator hand-fed the paper. By the early twentieth century they were updated to be turned by powered line-shafts, and later by individual motors. With the demise of commercial letterpress in the second half of the twentieth century, thousands of these presses were scrapped. Often available today from old print shops ($0-$750, depending on size, condition, location, and whether or not they are motorized) the biggest challenge and expense is moving these bulky, heavy machines. Nevertheless, they serve as the mainstay for hobbyists who do mostly longer runs (hundreds to thousands) of smaller-size jobs, as well as a few commercial printers who use them for scoring, perforating and die-cutting.

Different brands have their own adherents, from the original designs having been produced by George Gordon in 1851. A useful buyer's guide to the different models, written by the late John Harrison, was published by Type & Press in 1983. The most common versions around today—and the ones that were 'standard issue' in most job shops throughout the twentieth century—were the solid, dependable presses made by Chandler & Price, for which there is quite a bit of information available online including comprehensive oiling charts, dimensions and parts lists. One of the nicest smaller presses for a hobby shop is William Golding's Pearl, which came in three models, 5 x 8, 7 x 11 and 9 x 14. The two smaller sizes can actually be lifted by a couple of people, and the Pearl (particularly the 7 x 11) is as popular today as it was in the 1870s. Another nice line of presses was marketed by Damon & Peets. A stunning site with photographs, descriptions and histories of most of these presses is available online in the Briar Press Museum, and if you would like to get the details from the horse's mouth, Dave Tribby has painstakingly scanned and reproduced online the entire 1908 Golding press catalog. If you are just getting started with printing, you might find that a treadle-operated press is easier to install and operate, not to mention safer, than a motorized press, although the latter is certainly better for very long runs. Many of these presses have been ill-served by the passage of time, and for a number of letterpress aficionados a lot of enjoyment can be found in restoring these workhorses to their original condition. A comprehensive selection of parts for floor model platen presses (particularly Chandler & Price versions) can be furnished by Dave Churchman.

(Note that a very few specialized platen press models, such as the large, heavy duty, parallel impression Colt's Armory and the related Thomson Universal/Laureate, were the finest platen presses ever made for book work and other exacting jobs, and are highly prized even today by certain discerning printers, who vie with each other to find these gems and restore them to operation. Daniel Petrzelka has posted online versions of a number of Colt's catalogs and manuals as an aid in recognizing and restoring these beauties. In good condition these relatively scarce presses can sometimes command several thousand dollars.)

Automatic Feed Platen Job Press

(examples: Original Heidelberg, Kluge, Chandler & Price Craftsman)

With platen press drives motorized, the next logical step was automating the paper feeding. This was originally done by companies such as Rice and Brandtjen & Kluge, who created add-on feeders for popular platen presses. Eventually, presses were designed from the ground up with automatic feed units. The dominant press of this type is the Original Heidelberg (colloquially known in America, although not Europe, as the "Windmill" for its moving arms) created in pre-war Germany. It was, and remains, the epitome of automated platen press design, and is a highly versatile press that can operate almost unattended, printing up to 5000 copies an hour of anything from thin business cards to boxes on cardboard. More Original Heidelbergs were sold than any other printing press in history, and it is the primary press in use today for the few remaining commercial letterpress printers ($2000-$7500 for a Heidelberg, depending on model, features and condition, with the newer 'Red Ball' units somewhat more desirable; much less for other brands). If only new will do, however, Brandtjen & Kluge, which continues to be run by the same family that founded the company in 1907, will still sell motorized letterpress platen presses, on a made-to-order basis (primarily for the export market) for about $35,000.

Automatic platen presses are still sold today, not for printing, but for finishing operations that can only be done on a sheet-by-sheet basis, including die-cutting, embossing, and hot foil stamping. Attachments are available for a number of letterpresses (including Heidelbergs and Kluges) that, with the rollers removed, can turn them from "inkers" to "foilers". The cost of stamping foil (available in a wide range of colors) is surprisingly low, and M. Swift & Sons, one of the largest foil producers, will send you on request their booklet "A Guide to Foil Stamping". Another source for foil in small rolls is Howard Imprinting in Tampa, FL (800-33-HOWIE). A discussion of the type for hot stamping and foiling is available online as well.

Motorized Flatbed Cylinder Press

(examples: Heidelberg KSBA, Miehle, Kelly-B, ATF Little Giant)

Cylinder presses can rapidly cycle through large sheets of paper on a continuous basis by automatically feeding the paper onto grippers attached to a rotating cylinder above a flat form of type that rolls back and forth underneath. While not as common in the typical job shop as a motorized platen such as the Heidelberg Windmill, these hefty (6,600-pound, 8.5-foot-long for a KSBA!) presses nevertheless found a significant role in handling large letterpress production runs. Pressmen appreciated the versatility which enabled them to run almost any kind of job work on a wide variety of paper stock, due to their small cylinders which printed only a thin line at a time as they revolved, as compared to a platen press which must print the entire form at one crunch. Cylinder presses such as the Miehle Vertical could exert about 400 pounds per square inch to the paper without embossing through the back of the sheet, and proprietors of print shops appreciated cylinder features which contributed to a minimum of non-production time in changing over from different varieties of job work. 11,000 of the Kelly-B alone were sold in the early twentieth century. A number of old-time letterpress printers still swear by them, and to quote Dan Rivers of the Indian Hill Press about their Heidelberg KSBA, "What's so special about this press? Almost everything. It is tremendously sturdy and gives perfectly even pressure with its 2,000-pound impression cylinder. It accepts a large enough sheet that we can print several pages of a book at once. It has automatic paper feeding and inking, unlike the Vandercook (our other cylinder press). And it is a Heidelberg, which means amazingly precise registration and systematic control over even the most erratic aspects of printing...Now, for the first time, nothing stands between us and a lifetime of books to come." Miehles, Kellys and Little Giants ($250-$1500) turn up with some regularity while Heidelberg KSBs are generally considered to be the Rolls Royce of cylinder presses ($4000-$8000).

Simple Tabletop Proof Press

(examples: Nolan, Triumph, Morgan LinoScribe, SignPress, Sirio, Atlas)

Originally developed as "galley" proof presses to let a compositor take a quick check of his hand-set type, these small, lightweight units usually consist of a flat bed and a simple, single roller on a track above it. The galley of type was set on the bed, inked by hand with a small roller (a "brayer"), a sheet of paper laid on top, and the roller pulled across to get an impression. This was an improvement over the "proof planer" method, in which the impression is made by lightly tapping a block of felt-covered wood over the type. In the twentieth century, this sort of press found use, usually with large wood type, as an economical, in-house way of making signs for stores and showcards for theaters. Some printers find these a useful second press, as they are inexpensive, lightweight (although the larger 15 x 24 models can weigh upwards of 150 lbs.), and portable, but they are not at all suited to careful impression, precision registration, or runs of more than a few copies ($50-$250, depending on features and size).

Precision Cylinder Proof Press

(examples: Vandercook, and imitations such as the Challenge 15MP and the Reprex)

Originally an improvement on the simple galley press, the first Vandercook press was designed in 1908, and gave rise to an increasingly more sophisticated series of precision presses that lasted into the offset era. The most popular models, the #3, #4, Universal, and SP series, (the latter two of which come in 15" and 20" wide versions, the Univeral I and III, and the SP-15 and SP-20, respectively) were designed for reproduction proofing of metal type to make masters for photo-offset printing, and for testing ink, paper, color, etc. These presses are the gold standard for high-quality modern letterpress work, particularly for computer-generated material printed from photopolymer plates, and are what most "professional" letterpress art printers and private presses use. Since Vandercooks were not designed for production-quantity runs, these large, heavy presses ($500-$3000 for the most common ones, depending on model, size and condition although some large, pristine, powered models have recently gone for as much as $5000-$6000) are best for runs in the hundreds of impressions. An excellent overview of the most useful Vandercooks, along with their sizes, weights, etc. appeared in Type & Press, and is online courtesy of the APA. Vandercook, after passing through several hands, was finally acquired by NA Graphics which supports the presses and can tell you, from the serial number, who the original owner was of your specific press. Paul Moxon has brought together many of the original brochures, photographs and manuals in his comprehensive Vandercook Reference page at www.vandercookpress.info.

A second choice (and correspondingly less expensive) cylinder proof press is the Challenge, which was a knock-off of the famous Vandercook SP-15. While many people have had good experiences with this press, others are somewhat more skeptical...and everyone would prefer a Vandercook, given the choice.

Choosing a Press

So, what this boils down to is something like the following:

• If you just want to dip your toe in the letterpress waters without a substantial expenditure of space, time and money ...go for a Kelsey or equivalent.
• If you want to take printing rather seriously and have a few dollars, but don't have a lot of space ...go for a Pilot or equivalent.
• If you are thinking about longer runs (hundreds to thousands of copies) and have space and time, and some money for movers ...get a floor model C&P or equivalent.
• If you want the highest quality for short runs or large sheets, and have space and a lot of money ...get a Vandercook.
• If you only want to do very short runs of large (often wood) type for things like ephemeral signs, where print quality isn’t particularly important, or else need a second small press for portability ...get a Nolan style tabletop proof press.
• If you want to go into the business of commercial letterpress printing, foil-stamping, embossing or die-cutting ...get a Heidelberg.
• If you want to own a museum-quality antique, can spend a fortune and want to go back to the pure basics ...get a hand press.
• If you want to print long, large runs, or a small newspaper by letterpress ...get a flatbed cylinder.

(By the way, if you found this guide helpful, please click the button below that says so. The effect will be to raise the visibility of the guide so that others will be able to find it more easily. (And if for some reason you don't find it helpful, please email the author directly at info@fiveroses.org to let me know how I can make it better.) Thanks!)

Exceprted with permission from The Introduction to Letterpress Printing in the 21st Century (www.fiveroses.org/intro.htm) , Copyright (c) 2002-2006 by David S. Rose / info@fiveroses.org