Starting something different
I was the shy kid in school, so it would make sense that I start this project…
I’m starting to drag a camera out to my garage when I’m engaged in my printing related antics, recording, editing and posting the results to YouTube. Im still working in getting my press up and running, but I’m very close at this point, so the current videos are more about things for letterpress than about letterpress.
I am by no means an expert on this topic, but some might find my pre-printing antics informative, or hopefully at least marginally entertaining. As I start to put ink to paper, I’m hoping that by showing how terrible I am, that I’ll be able to learn from my mistakes!
Without further ado, the place where my stuff can be found:
I can’t wait for Keelan to start work on his Linotype.
Fritz, didn’t the man who invented the linotype have a breakdown, hope Keelan knows what he is in for.
Fritz,
Once I have the press up and running, I’ll be turning my attention to the Model 31. I have all the replacement parts ferreted away, ready to go.
Ferreted? That’s a very polite description. Does it make me apprehensive? Maybe by Video #30 of the Linotype rebuild, after the 20 on setting up the press, we’ll know why Keelan’s wife doesn’t make an appearance, as in, “Honey, are you ok?” If the roller box was a challenge, the first squirt on the Linotype will be a monumental experience. A series I hope I live long enough to view.
We just toured the former location for my shop and supply business a few minutes ago and it is being reconfigured into a commercial hot tub operation. Where my Linotype sat is now the boiler room for the hot water supply, and where all the ATF type was shelved is now the site for 2 of the 3 hot tubs. But then my new shop, under construction, has a hot tub room so maybe that’s the trend. Maybe I can start taking some videos?
Fritz,
I have 400 square feet with two linotypes, a fairly large press, my woodworking stuff, as well as crap stored from the house in it. It’s cramped, but it’s not entirely chaotic. None of the activities I do in my garage are my day job, so I don’t have a lot of time or money or space to direct towards them.
You’re welcome to take all the videos you want. There are a lot of people terrified of tools and mystified by making things. The point of my video is not to show how a professional would build a roller box, but how I built a roller box with limited tools and materials.
I’m not sure what angle you’re playing here… Should I just stick to what I do as a profession and not bother trying anything else?
What I think Fritz is saying is the linotype is a complex machine, there is not many who can run them any more let alone fix them. I think its great that you are interested in fixing them, its good to see young people trying to keep these machines running. You don’t have to stick to what you do as a profession, a hobby or two gives you a break from your profession. Wish we were closer to each other, I’d love to help you with your machines.
Just kidding—I stayed up well past my bedtime to watch your videos and laughed most of the way through them. I was truly amazed at the electrical one wondering if each battery recharge would be your last one (on Earth, anyway) and the roller box video show-cased some fine looking rollers. That’s why your next video will be well received, by me at least. I didn’t see any first aid supplies, so that worried me at first. Too many people, new to letterpress, are afraid to try anything without being led by the hand and your videos show that the best approach to the unknown is a full frontal attack. There is something to be said about “damn the torpedoes. Full speed ahead” approach or why else would you have 2 Linotypes? Don’t take any of my remarks as being disparaging to your cinematic or letterpress endeavors.
Whoops, sorry, Fellas. I over-reacted there a bit! Please accept my apologies.
I have two Linotypes, but I am trying to unload one of them. Wish me luck! I found one guy that is interested, but he needs a house before he can have a Linotype.
Dick, I appreciate the offer. If you’re ever up for a vacation in the sometimes-too-warm-but-rarely-too-humid-semi-arid-desert region of BC that I live in, you’re always welcome :-)
Fritz, they are very nice rollers, which is why I felt that a proper box to store them in was in order. There’s no first-aid kit in there, I will definitely get one. Lots of fire extinguishers, though.
Thanks for the kind words.
On a related note, I checked my local tool store for a 9/16” forstner bit. They had two brands, and both appear to have been beaten out of pieces of slag, filed until shiny, and sharpened on a concrete paver.