Category: Letterpress for beginners
Later topic: Die Cutting Pressure
Earlier topic: Foundry Type in a Ludlow Cabinet?

C&P 12x18 Old Style

Hi, looking for a platen for short run die cutting of pressure sensitive label stock. I have found a 12x18 C&P old style in good shape for $400. Is there any reason to believe a new style would be significantly better? How much is this going to weigh? Thanks.

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For die cutting, the newer press will be better. Even better would be a C&P Craftsman press, but the 12x18 Craftsman weighs around 3300 lbs, so that might not be your cup of cake (or your piece of tea for that matter).

According to this page:

http://excelsiorpress.org/dimensions.html

You’re looking at 2000 lbs for an OS 12x18.

A 12 x 18 C&P OS may handily suit your needs, but it depends on how big your forms are. If you are running small jobs, with less than 50 inches of cutting rule (a 12 x 12 box), I think the press would be quite handy.

Kiss cutting requires a press to be fairly tight however, or the impression will vary and be quite maddening. Also, lots of oil during operation, especially if running toward capacity.

OK, how would you determine how many inches of die a particular press will cut?