Your cart
Close Alternative Icon

Blog

Restoring a Golding Pearl No. 11 Improved Press

Before and After Golding Pearl #11 Improved Letterpress

Before, and after.

The above photos clearly show the restoration work done to our Golding Pearl No. 11 Improved Press serial #1918 built c. 1920 in Massachusetts, USA.

When I decided to open Inkwell, one of my goals was to have at least one working floor model letterpress in the shop. Finding an old piece of equipment such as this, in working order can be a costly and time consuming quest. So with some patience and hard work we can now introduce our working floor model press that we affectionately named Isabella aka "Pretty Izzy".

Restoring a Golding Pearl No. 11 Improved Press

We first found Isabella for sale on the letterpress classifieds at Briar Press. She was located in Connecticut. After negotiations with the owner, we agreed on a purchase price and pick-up date. This happened in December 2010, just as winter was beginning in Atlantic Canada and the New England states. Not an ideal time to plan a road trip, but with a clear forecast, and borrowed new van (thanks Mom & Dad!) my partner Daniel and I began the 2800 km (roundtrip) journey.

Restoring a Golding Pearl No. 11 Improved Press

Weather was fantastic during our travels and we found our way around easily. We disassembled Isabella (would we remember how it all goes back together!?) and with the help of some local movers to do the heavy lifting, loaded Isabella into the van for her journey to Canada.

As you can see she was a colourful beast. Previous owners had really botched her surfaces with poorly applied paint. She was pretty beat up, but still in working order, so we were excited to have her and knew her potential.

Restoring a Golding Pearl No. 11 Improved Press

The next few months were spent stripping and sanding her various cast iron parts. Working in an un-heated garage during a Canadian winter makes cast iron VERY cold to work with.

Restoring a Golding Pearl No. 11 Improved Press

Work continued into the spring when weather allowed for more outdoor work, including painting and varnishing. So many parts, so many screws and bolts collected. Fingers were crossed through the whole process that we'd know how she went together.

Restoring a Golding Pearl No. 11 Improved Press

Parts we painted, gears were oiled and everything fit together. Every part has its own specific function which made assembly quite easy. Everything fit into place nicely.

Restoring a Golding Pearl No. 11 Improved Press

Here she is today. Our 90 year old black beauty - Isabella. On a warm Saturday in August we ran our first prints on her. With very little adjustment she was printing great. It was us, as press operators that needed more work. We ran about 100 Inkwell Boutique business cards and cleaned her up.

Stop by soon and see her in person!

Originally posted: Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Continue reading

Hope is Action Print Exchange

hope is action letterpress print

We're excited to share with you the print we made for the Ladies of Letterpress print exchange. The inspiration for the message came out of a virtual conference held last fall.

"At the Ladies of Letterpress 2020 conference, Jenny Wilkson of Partners in Print (formerly the SVC Letterpress Program) reminded and inspired us that hope can be more than a feeling, it can be a call to action. By the same token, taking action—working with meaningful purpose—inspires hope. As artists and printers, let’s use the power of print to create and disperse messages of hope amongst each other and throughout our communities. Messages that will inspire action, new ways of thinking, and new ways of being."

When we started to think about what our submission would be, the decision was made to use a polymer plate on our Vandercook SP-15 because we've been having great success with it. The idea of doing a reduction print was very appealing both to explore the technique, and as a cost saving measure. Is it possible to do a reduction print with polymer? After a few tests with older plates we determined we could not make deliberate cuts into the polymer and it did not seem like it was something that would produce results we were happy with. But then, we decided to do an untested technique we'll call 'destructive printing'!

destructive polymer letterpress printing

The first colour, blue, was printed using the plate as we normally do, with some extra packing to ensure we get an impression in the paper. For the green colour run, we used a painters tool and a rusty hacksaw plate to chop, hack, and scratch the polymer. It felt so counterproductive to how we normally treat polymers! Bits and pieces were flying off, and a mess was made, but would it be enough? Would it have any impact on the next print run? It did!

hope is action letterpress print close up

We were so pleased to see how the scratches and indentations on the polymer translated to the print. Not only did the destructive marks translate visually, they resulted in an impressive tactile feel on the final print.

Thanks to Ladies of LetterpressPartners in Print and the Printing Museum for arranging the print exchange, and to Jenny Wilkson for the inspiration for the print. We look forward to seeing what others have created. Remember, hope is action!

Printed on a Vandercook SP-15, January 2021 by Inkwell Originals
Polymer plate from Boxcar Press
Light grey 92lb coverstock from Reich Savoy
Printed with Pantone process blue and Pantone 2255

Continue reading