Diecutting + fancy edges

As a graphic designer, I am not new to the idea of diecuts and creating fancy page edges…though until I purchased my first letterpress and got involved in the physical creation of my work I never really considered how it was done. My printer would say something about a die, quote me a large amount of money, and we’d leave it at that.

I have a 10x15 C&P as well as a Craftsmen 10x6.5 tabletop. How do I diecut my prints? Do I get a die made somewhere that fits in the chase? What about kiss-cutting?

Any advice, or resources, would be appreciated! I’m learning all this purely through the internet, as sadly there’s no great letterpress studio to apprentice with in these parts.
If it helps, I’m in Edmonton, Canada.

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You’ve got the right idea. You’ll get a die made that fits into your chase, secure a die jacket to the platen (to avoid damaging your press), back off the platen bolts (if needed), and get started. That’s the very abbreviated version of the process. The good news is that you don’t need a letterpress studio to get information on diecutting. Whatever printer you have worked with in the past should be able to give you some pointers regarding the process they use. They may be using different presses, but the process itself won’t differ too much. Good luck!

Brad.

As was said above, you need a die cutting jacket to protect the press. You can likely get one from Bar-plate, or maybe another manufacturer in your area.
You will lightly build pressure till your die is cutting cleanly through the sheet. It may require some makeready behind the jacket, not unlike when you print, to balance the pressure evenly across the die. Be sure to remove your rollers, or raise them well above type high, or else you will chop them up with the die. Try to get your pressure as even as you can, so the die is meeting your paper at the most straightforward angle possible. If you are cutting with a heavy hit on the bottom, and light on top, or something, you will wear the die, and won’t get the cleanest cut.
I also like my die to be mounted in a board that is smaller than my chase, so i have room to move it around the chase when adjusting for registration and whatnot.
You may also find that you need to nick the die in some spot so that the die cut piece does not fall out of the sheet while running through the press. You might not have to, but if you do, pick a spot where it will be less obvious.
Otherwise, just net it up and start feeding that paper through and you will figure it out.
Good luck

When you order a die, you specify the height of the diecut rule. We used a .937 rule for diecutting and a .932 rule for kisscutting. We would even use the two rule heights on one die to do both at the same time. Sometimes we would use the diecutting die for kisscutting, baking of the press so it would not go through the material. I have just started into letterpress and have not yet ventured into diecutting on this equipment. I would call Owosso Graphics and speak with them about the specifics and your equipment.
Good Luck!

In my previous comment I meant to say backing off the press [not baked]. We would also specify the type of rule ie. center bevel, long center bevel, side bevel etc. depending on the material and thickness.

Thank you, this is a huge help. I’ll make sure to talk to my local offset printer of choice regarding getting dies made.

Dennis, when you say ‘backing off the press’ - do you mean lowering the platen a bit?