My Love Affair with a Press

I have always loved typography. There is something sexy yet strong about a simple letter in the perfect font, color size and it can say so much more then what the letters spell out. I have always wanted to be a designer of some sort, but letterpressed stationary, simple cards for fun, decorating envelopes or small posters.... this is my new obsession! Even the way the plates imprint into the paper is sexy! Oh and it doesn't end there! Even graphics and designs look crisp and limited. Yep, I love it!

Alas, I am of course, broke! And living in a small mountain town, resources are slim. Even with a great uncle who holds a soft spot for print and presses not far from me, I found myself still at a loss on finding information on how I could actually "do" instead of just "dream it up." Even the internet was sparse on information, or at least beginner information. But I have finally found the treasures I was searching for, well at least on this quest. And just in case there is anyone else out there looking for how to build a homemade letterpress, I thought I would share some of my finds.

Here is a guy who made a homemade press to print his own 'save the dates' cards.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8pTri90JoE

Over at ReadyMade Magazine, one site I am amazed I ever lived without! they have also come up with another version of the homemade press. Although lacking a bit on construction pictures, still a great start. As stated in the instructions, this press is good for line art.
http://readymademag.com/printarchive/article?id=1230
and here is the pdf link of what the press should look like:
http://readymademag.com/letterpress/letterpress_illo.pdf
Again from ReadyMade, a great description on how to print with this press:
http://readymademag.com/letterpress/

Then there is the great Charles Morgan who unselfishly shows how to build a hydraulic press. You may need protective ear wear with the bungees, but maybe there is room for improvement on these hazards?

http://www.mossworks.com/docs/BottleJackPress.pdf

And last, but of course not least there is instructables.com, another site I can't live without. Here is a post of another version of the homemade press:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-a-Letterpress-&-Use-It-to-Print-Things

And it looks like there is one better place to go then Briar Press for printing press information.
http://www.briarpress.org/ or Vandercook at http://vandercookpress.info


I am at that place where I want to burst and do it all, but stuck in mud at the same time. I guess I will start with the design and have it sent off for a plate and hopefully by the time I get it back I will have constructed a homemade press that will help me live out some of my offbeat fantasies!
I will be sure to post all progress on this off course!