A very curious machine, indeed.

We love wood type. Wood type is awesome, and I’m very pleased to note that we have a fair amount headed for the BPS studios (probably about 1 cabinet’s-worth, though it’s hard to guage when they’re all in paper-boxes, stored in an apartment). A LOT of it is a generic Futura knockoff, in a number of sizes (6, 8, 12, 18, and 25 line) and weights (standard and condensed widths) and some miscellaneous other fonts (Brush Script, Cooper Black, and Murray Hill, in various sizes), some unknown serifed font in 12 line (maybe?), and some mixed gothics of in various sizes and incomplete-ness.

We also have some gorgeous border material, and a wicked collection of numbers in 30, 60, and 120 line size (that’s 5 – 20 inches tall), and a nice set of calendar blocks.

But, as much as we love wood type, there are some people out there who might just love it more.

Nick Sherman is an outspoken typophile who runs woodtyper.com. While his day job involves digital font management, his real passion seems to be traveling the country and visiting incredible wood type collections around the country.

Woodtyper.com showcases a lot of things, all typography related, and is an incredible source of interviews and in-depth looks at other people’s wood-type and typography-related projects. For even more drool-worthy wood type goodness, check out his flickr stream (also a winning source of manhole cover and pizza photos).

End-Grain.com is the pet-project of Bethany Heck, who is still in school (studying design of course!).

Named after the cut of wood typically used for making wood type, end-grain.com is a lot of things at once, including a source of interviews and studio profiles, an aggregate of flickr and twitter feeds, and a showcase of her personal collection. She was even interviewed by Nick Sherman about the site.

I have to say, what I find most fascinating is her dedication to reviving incomplete and rare fonts using modern technology. Besides, we all know that pantograph routers would have been replaced by laser-cutters if they’d had the technology at the time…

Oh, and should I also make note of the fact that her collection is VERY enviable..? because it is! Kudos Bethany, keep up the amazing work.

Then we take it back to the beginning of wood type adoration. Rob Roy Kelly literally wrote the book on wood type. One of our more coveted books here at BPS is this one:
It is very out of print right now, and being offered up on Amazon, used, for a cool thousand (and that’s the paperback version). Dang. Luckily for us common folk, the Rob Roy Kelly collection, which is housed at the University of Texas, Austin, is all available online. It’s a pretty vast site, so pour another cup of coffee and tuck in.

In short, wood type is pretty hot right now. The Hamilton Type Museum is finally functioning again, and the subject of a documentary called Typeface.

What is the likelihood that you, the BPS customer, will want to print with wood type? Maybe 50-50, if we’re lucky.

What’s the likelihood that we’ll keep collecting? 100%!

Vandercook #1 Proof Press

Sometimes the equipment you’ve been looking for just appears out of nowhere, and not necessarily at the most opportunistic time (like when you can afford it and when you have somewhere to put it). That seems to be our problem lately. It’s all good though…

In the past 3 weeks, we have acquired 5 (count them 1-2-3-4-5!  – yeah, I KNOW! What are we thinking!?) new print-worthy pieces of equipment.  Some are presses, and some are other critical additions to print shops.  Some are in great condition, some are just ok, and some need some serious lovin’. Don’t worry, we’re up to the challenge.

In no particular order, here is what we have recently welcomed to the family:

Vandercook #1:
Yay! Another Vandercook.  This is early-design model, set to print from “Galley Height” (that’s an extra .050″ of daylight between the bed and the cylinder).  This is an ideal setup for proofing type before hitting the “automated” press.  They’re also really good for printing oversized, short-run jobs, and odd-ball relief prints. This one dates from late 1951, SN 14622, and is only  missing her little gripper fingers.  I think we can fabricate a set with not too much trouble. Will we over-engineer them? Yes. Of course.

A Craftsman Superior Old Style... Ours is decidedly more 50's mod.

Craftsman Superior New Style (a Pilot Press Clone):
This little guy is awesome.  He’s in great shape, and a very valuable press to have in a public print studio.

His history? He started in the public school system up in Bel Air, MD, and was adopted by a school employee who was interested in printing, only to be promptly eclipsed by 2 larger, more automated presses.  Don’t worry, we love you little Superior.

Challenge 19″ Paper Guillotine:
Who doesn’t need a guillotine?! No one, that’s who. These things are critical in any print shop, and this little guy is in good (but not yet great) shape.  He’s been re-welded here and there, and is a little surface-rusty at the moment – but not to worry… we’ve brought worse back to life.  It’s less a matter of how, and more an issue of when we can rehabilitate this little guy.  And of course, by little, we mean about 450 lbs. Anyone have some spare 19″ Challenge Guillotine Blades? Anyone?

A Golding Pearl #1 - not ours, sadly.

Golding Pearl #1 Platen Press:
This is a classic (classic) platen press. Sadly, she has seen some hard days in her life, and is in the most need of repairs of all our equipment. What’s wrong with her? She’s been broken, mis-re-welded, poorly welded, attacked with an angle grinder, and has had all her drawers and tables lost or stolen.  Tragic, I know.  But we’ve seen worse.  Her time will come, and it’ll be like it never happened, we promise.

All that said, she’s little, she’s cute, and she’s filthy dirty. And we love her unconditionally.

CAPS 30×40″ Vacuum Exposure Unit:
Our latest acquisition (and it’s only a half-acquisition) is a CAPS brand vacuum silkscreen exposure unit. We’re sharing her with the fine folks at Red Prairie Press (think joint-custody). She’s bright orange, a little dirty, and suspiciously modern for our shop. Everything about her works great though, including a digital timer (like it’s from the future!) and a nice quiet vacuum pump. There’s also the requisite a few holes in the blanket and some spilled ink.  Nothing that’s un-fix-able for sure.  Heck, it’s what we do. It also means we’re well on our way to being screenprinting-ready!

So – what’s next?  A space. Please, for the love of GOD we need a space.  We are preparing to work with a real estate agent.  We need a split, commercial/residential space. We’re gonna be picky, and we have some very important requirements. Do you think you have a space in mind? Please let us know.

This site will document the process of building a studio: Acquiring equipment, finding a space, renovating, building, organizing, cleaning, funding, etc. This is a big project and we’re very passionate about it.

First and foremost, we are looking for a space in the city.

Space Requirements:
-Approximately 2000 sq. ft.
-Ground Floor access with no steps up or down. A garage door would be ideal.
-2nd or 3rd fl. living space.

Empty, industrial space is OK ideal.
Zoned commercial/residential is desired.

photo via dolcepress.com

We’re also always looking for equipment. (Yes, of course, I realize the irony of collecting equipment while still hunting for a space. Believe me, it’s getting a little full on this end. But, when the time comes, we’ll be ready.)

Desired Equipment:

-Any and all letterpress equipment.
Vandercooks and Pilot Presses are most desirable.
-Silkscreen equipment, especially a large exposure unit. (Sign shops, I’m looking at you…)
-Flat files.
-Industrial tables.
-Large drying racks. (Sign shops, again, I’m looking at you.) 

Yes, its is an uphill battle.

Let’s do this together.

Check back. We’re not going anywhere.