During the previous class, we were taken to see City Tech’s letter press. It was an interesting sight as I thought that this invention was completely scrapped. To my belief, it was actually in good condition for use.
Letterpress works by first placing reversed letter keys together on a line of type. The letter keys must be in reverse because the placement on the paper will be mirrored. Aside from letter keys, reversed images can also be used. Next, you have to put ink on the lines of type. There are many inks that can be used, such as transparent and opaque ink. Lastly, you can place a piece of paper on the inked type, press the type on it, and that’s how you do a simple letterpress.
For a serious job, a letterpress machine is required. To use it, spread some ink on the machine’s ink fountain. Once that is done, place lines of type that you want pressed under the ink fountain. Afterwards, the machine’s lever has to be pulled down and the wheel next to it has to be turned so the ink fountain can be activated. During this time, you have to wait for all of the ink to be spread on the fountain. Once the ink is spread on both the fountain and the type, put a piece of thick paper on the small stand in front of the letterpress. Lastly, just pull the lever down and quickly up so the type can be pressed on the paper properly.
One thing that I noticed is that the letterpress is not perfect. (Then again, nothing is.) What makes it imperfect is that the type will not show one hundred percent. I have seen that the corners will be more faded than every other part of the press. It can come from the type of ink used or the ink roller will not have enough ink for the corners. (At least from what I have seen.) Then again, the letterpress is over sixty years old, so wear and tear might contribute to the issue.
That was what I learned during my experience during this trip. It was rather interesting to see such an old contraption still work properly. I was amazed that such a machine can still make a proper print. The letterpress may be obsolete, but it can still be a useful tool. It will not die sooner than most people think.
