rubber letterpress teaser
- Thread starter Rekrab
- Start date
Gerard K H Love
Appreciate your friends
The angel is a nice touch and the printing makes it look like a priceless relic. I guess this means I need to get one.
Great stuff. That sort of tombstone can be seen around New England, but you have to go to the older cemeteries to find them. Very cool. I know you're not taking orders, but I'm looking forward to this.
LickTheStar
Sad Flower in the Sand
Looks excellent. I'd be interested in a copy as soon as they're ready. Can I sign up for your newsletter?
Rekrab
Usually wrong.
Thanks, you guys. A few of you have asked me to hold a copy for you, and I'm happy to do that. The way our house works is that my kids move in and out all the time, and I am always shifting my fugitive piles of papers from one room to another to accomodate them, and so the little notes I wrote myself about holds a month or two ago have gotten lost. So if you wrote me some time ago and asked to be put on the hold list, please send me a new PM to remind me. Meanwhile, I'll look for those lost notes (and a bunch of lost poems at the same time). Or if you want to be on the hold list but haven't asked until now, go ahead and PM me. These aren't orders because the books aren't ready and there are no prices yet. It's just for making sure you get a chance at ordering. I'll assume you want the hardcover unless you say you want the paperbound, but I won't hold you to it; you can switch from hardcover to paper when and if you order. Thanks.
ps: If you've said in the thread to hold one, you're already on the new hold list.
ps: If you've said in the thread to hold one, you're already on the new hold list.
As you did for Faded Bungalows, which won a Wormwood Award in 1981.
Rekrab
Usually wrong.
Thanks for reminding me of that honor. It's the only literary award I've ever won. Seems I always come back to using Rumba Train although I've played with many other press names. It's mood dependent -- not the mood of the work, but my mood at the moment when I have to decide what press name I'm using.
Rekrab
Usually wrong.
I've got the 30 paperbound copies completed, but I'm holding off on announcing them for sale until I also have some hardbacks done. There'll be 20 hardbacks total. I'll finish up 5 or 10 hardcovers and then start selling copies of both editions.
I've already mentioned that the printing on this book is pretty funky with some tilted lines, blotted letters, even a few small ink smudges. I ran 5 extra copies (55 total: 20 hardcover, 30 paperbound, and 5 "out of series" reject copies). Today I sorted all the printed pages into three groups, based on the presence and seriousness of the printing flaws. The groups are: "Good" (no flaws, or less serious flaws) "Okay" (more flaws than "Good" pages, but readable) and "Bad" (serious flaws). The 20 Good copies will be used in the hardcovers, the 30 Okay copies are in the paperbacks, and the 5 "Bad" copies I'll keep -- maybe give them away later, after the edition is sold out.)
With any lucky I'll have some hardcovers in a week or so and make the announcement.
I've already mentioned that the printing on this book is pretty funky with some tilted lines, blotted letters, even a few small ink smudges. I ran 5 extra copies (55 total: 20 hardcover, 30 paperbound, and 5 "out of series" reject copies). Today I sorted all the printed pages into three groups, based on the presence and seriousness of the printing flaws. The groups are: "Good" (no flaws, or less serious flaws) "Okay" (more flaws than "Good" pages, but readable) and "Bad" (serious flaws). The 20 Good copies will be used in the hardcovers, the 30 Okay copies are in the paperbacks, and the 5 "Bad" copies I'll keep -- maybe give them away later, after the edition is sold out.)
With any lucky I'll have some hardcovers in a week or so and make the announcement.
LickTheStar
Sad Flower in the Sand
I'm on pins and needles.
That sounds kinda gay. I'm drooling with anticipation.
Dammit!
That sounds kinda gay. I'm drooling with anticipation.
Dammit!
Rekrab
Usually wrong.
I may add some recent production photos, to further whip you into a bibliomaniacal frenzy.
Found some bookcloth I'd squirreled away, so there will be blue cloth hardcover and a reddish brown cloth, as well as possibly another color cloth that I may need to buy. I'm hoping to start on the first hardcover today.
Found some bookcloth I'd squirreled away, so there will be blue cloth hardcover and a reddish brown cloth, as well as possibly another color cloth that I may need to buy. I'm hoping to start on the first hardcover today.
bospress.net
www.bospress.net
let me know what your preferred color of bookcloth is and what size you would like and I'll send you some. I have probably 50 yards of various colors of bookcloth. No kidding.
Bill
Bill
Rekrab
Usually wrong.
Here are some photos from making the covers for the paperbacks:
The linoleum block before being inked.
The inked block, ready to print.
I roll out some ink in a metal tray and then roll it onto the block, lay the paper over the block and rub the back of the paper with a spoon.
When I pull away the paper, the ink has been transfered to it from the block.
A bunch of covers, before they have the title.
The titles are printed, one letter at a time, with this alphabet stamp set.
...I didn't get any hardcovers made today. Spent all afternoon trimming a bush that was turning into a tree and taking over one side of our house. But soon...
The linoleum block before being inked.
The inked block, ready to print.
I roll out some ink in a metal tray and then roll it onto the block, lay the paper over the block and rub the back of the paper with a spoon.
When I pull away the paper, the ink has been transfered to it from the block.
A bunch of covers, before they have the title.
The titles are printed, one letter at a time, with this alphabet stamp set.
...I didn't get any hardcovers made today. Spent all afternoon trimming a bush that was turning into a tree and taking over one side of our house. But soon...
It's great to see how projects like these start taking over dining room tables and such. Just keep things out of the bathtub and you'll be fine. The paperbacks are looking great, which bodes well for the hardcovers.
Rekrab
Usually wrong.
I do my printing on the kitchen table, and spread out pages to dry on the dinning room table. I have a ping pong table upstairs that I call my desk, but right now it's covered in Steve Richmond letters and books (a writing project) and there's no space for working on anything else there. I've been eyeing an usued bath tub upstairs -- might make a good area for a darkroom on another project I have planned.
Rekrab
Usually wrong.
Thanks, kilgore. This may be the last project that I use this rotary press for. It's showing it's age. I compared the printing I've just done with it to that in a book I published years ago, Ideal Tourist, and the print is now far less sharp and precise. I think that's because the rubber rings at the edges of the press drum that hold the lines of type in place have lost their strength. They are stretched out and the type shifts about as I print. I was constantly repositioning it as I printed. I may buy a different one on eBay, one that hasn't been used much. Mine is effectively worn out. These old toy printing presses are very cheap on eBay. Anyway, I made it behave as well as possible, but there are small defects in the printing, which, I think, gives the book character, or makes it fucked up, depending on your perspective.
Bought the paper for the endpapers yesterday. A cool pale green Mango paper with leaves and flowers of Mango plants in it. It's machine made but looks like handmade paper. I normally don't like green, but I loved this shade immediately. Still experimenting with the first hardcover. Had to do some surgery on it due to a miscalculation. It's full blue cloth, with a printed label. I'll post a photo when it's done. Now I need to feed the dog her chicken.
Bought the paper for the endpapers yesterday. A cool pale green Mango paper with leaves and flowers of Mango plants in it. It's machine made but looks like handmade paper. I normally don't like green, but I loved this shade immediately. Still experimenting with the first hardcover. Had to do some surgery on it due to a miscalculation. It's full blue cloth, with a printed label. I'll post a photo when it's done. Now I need to feed the dog her chicken.
LickTheStar
Sad Flower in the Sand
I did a little letterpress printing downtown in Portland and I loved it when I got a letter or two with a nick. It was a cool little difference between the "e" in the word "the" and the "e" in the word "hell." I can't wait to find a press of my own.
I've done a fair amount of 1 color screenprinting and love it when different editions are marked by 'junk in the screen'. Those little errors are just great. I've been poking around to find an actual printing press, and just today came across an AB Dick 8820, which I'm terribly tempted by, but man, what a COMMITMENT!
mjp
Founding member
Servicing of small offset presses was typically done by the operator, which is why I asked if kilgore was "good with tools" in the other thread. If you aren't mechanically inclined it's not going to be an easy road. Aside from repairs, they need constant mechanical adjustment to provide good results. Especially an older press, which, I would assume, the 8820 is.
When you run one of those things you're like an Oakie in Grapes of Wrath driving an old jalopy across the desert toward California. You have to be able to feel potential problems in subtle variations and vibrations of the steering wheel...or in the sound of the engine. And you have to be able to fix the shit when it fails or you'll end up sitting by the side of the road for a long, long time.
Damn, that's a good book.
When you run one of those things you're like an Oakie in Grapes of Wrath driving an old jalopy across the desert toward California. You have to be able to feel potential problems in subtle variations and vibrations of the steering wheel...or in the sound of the engine. And you have to be able to fix the shit when it fails or you'll end up sitting by the side of the road for a long, long time.
Damn, that's a good book.
I think you should. it's a great book.
Rekrab
Usually wrong.
More pictures. The paperbacks are all bound and ready, and the hardcovers are coming along. I finished the first, prototype hardcover, which is shown below.
A bunch of paperback copies.
A paperback.
Stamp letters used to print the title on the covers.
Labels for the hardcovers.
Prototype hardcover with Mango endpapers.
Prototype hardcover, before I pasted on a label.
Prototype hardcover with it's label. I'm not sure about the cream paper at the bottom of the label. I'm thinking I may trim it off on other copies. Or should I keep it?
As you can see, the paperbacks have the grave headstone printed in black while the hardcovers have it in violet ink.
All the boards are cut for the hardcovers, and all the labels are printed. Also, all the Mango endpapers are cut. Couldn't find my big papercutter (it's about 24 by 24 by 5 inches, and heavy -- how can I misplace something like that? But it hasn't turned up after a half hour search of the house) -- so I cut the endpapers by hand.
The paperbacks are staple bound, but the hardcovers will be sewn. I've done enough prep work that it shouldn't take much more time for me to have enough hardcovers completed to make a "for sale" announcement. Stay tuned...
A bunch of paperback copies.
A paperback.
Stamp letters used to print the title on the covers.
Labels for the hardcovers.
Prototype hardcover with Mango endpapers.
Prototype hardcover, before I pasted on a label.
Prototype hardcover with it's label. I'm not sure about the cream paper at the bottom of the label. I'm thinking I may trim it off on other copies. Or should I keep it?
As you can see, the paperbacks have the grave headstone printed in black while the hardcovers have it in violet ink.
All the boards are cut for the hardcovers, and all the labels are printed. Also, all the Mango endpapers are cut. Couldn't find my big papercutter (it's about 24 by 24 by 5 inches, and heavy -- how can I misplace something like that? But it hasn't turned up after a half hour search of the house) -- so I cut the endpapers by hand.
The paperbacks are staple bound, but the hardcovers will be sewn. I've done enough prep work that it shouldn't take much more time for me to have enough hardcovers completed to make a "for sale" announcement. Stay tuned...
reasonknot
Founding member
fun post about old letter press sounds great while listening to my record player sing.thanks
Those mango endpapers are spectacular. Seriously great touch there. But are they really endpapers? You've got what looks like cream endpapers "outside" the mango paper.
My 2 cents on the hardcover labels is that I'd vote for trimming off the cream bottom border. More work for you, though, so do whatever you like.
My 2 cents on the hardcover labels is that I'd vote for trimming off the cream bottom border. More work for you, though, so do whatever you like.
Rekrab
Usually wrong.
You're right about the Mango not being a real endpaper, Purple Stickpin. The Mango paper is very thin, like a tissue, and I'm not sure it's strong enough to act as a pastedown sheet, holding the book in the covers. I thought it might rip loose, so I made it more a sheet surrounding the text, with a cream color endpaper that is the same stock as the printed text.
It won't take much work to trim off the cream bottom of the label -- a few seconds -- so if I decide it looks better, I'll do it that way. Maybe I'll make a second test copy like that to make sure I like it.
It won't take much work to trim off the cream bottom of the label -- a few seconds -- so if I decide it looks better, I'll do it that way. Maybe I'll make a second test copy like that to make sure I like it.